The significance of 14:41(14:41 the prayer for forgiveness on the Day of Judgement, is not a prayer given by God, it was a prayer spoken by Abraham).

The significance of 14:41

(14:41 the prayer for forgiveness on the Day of Judgement, is not a prayer given by God, it was a prayer spoken by Abraham).

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Some writers have quoted 14:41 to claim that we are invited in the Quran to pray for our parents and implore God to have mercy on them on Judgement Day:

My Lord, forgive me, my parents and the believers on the Day when the reckoning takes place. 14:41

Immediately, we note a very important difference between 17:24 (https://muktabulraf.blogspot.com/2022/04/1723-24-prayers-for-believers-who-are.html?m=1) and 14:41. In 17:24, the prayer was for the parents in their lifetime. However, in 14:41 the prayer for forgiveness on the Day of Judgement, is not a prayer given by God, it was a prayer spoken by Abraham.

Many would quickly say, "Is a prayer spoken by God's own prophet Abraham not good enough as a prayer that we should follow?"

The answer to this question is as follows:

1- The prayer in 14:41 was a personal prayer spoken by Abraham, thus it cannot be regarded as an instruction from God for us to follow.

2- We are told later that Abraham was not to pray for his father who was an idol worshipper. This indicates that this prayer offered by Abraham (for his parents) could not have been authorised by God. We learn later that this prayer of Abraham was not accepted by God. We also read in 9:114 that Abraham's prayer was unrighteous.

3- Just because a prayer was offered by a messenger does not mean that we should follow it or that it is a prayer that God would answer. In 11:74, we read how Abraham attempted to offer another prayer for the people of Lot, which was also rejected by God (11:76). Similarly, the prayers of Noah for his son (11:46) and of Muhammad for his relatives (9:80) were all rejected by God.

4- If we examine 14:41 one more time, we would be able to see how it stands in disharmony with other Quranic words:

My Lord, forgive me, my parents and the believers on the Day when the reckoning takes place. 14:41

It is necessary now to compare the above words to the following Quranic words:

Intercession with Him does not benefit except the one whom He has granted permission. 34:23

These words are quite conclusive in asserting that on the Day of Judgement, nothing will have any weight in our judgement except our own deeds and faith and not on how devoutly others may have prayed for us.

courtesy.quran.islamsite.