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I have two questions.

What are sins and what are mistakes? When we do something against the command of God in unawareness; is it a sin or mistake?

Did prophets make mistakes only or they sin also? I read in my textbook that the prophets were sin-proof. Satan could not reach them.

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“Verily, all actions are but driven by intention and for everyone is what he intended.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

From this hadith, we can conclude that everything comes down to your intention. If your intention is to do an evil act, you will be accounted for that evil act (this is what i understand you were referring to as a 'sin') If however you did something against the command of god in unawareness, it would be referred to as a mistake, as it was unintentional.

Prophets were sent to deliver messages of religion to their people. For this reason, sin would be the wrong word to use on them, rather they made mistakes as all humans did. So prophets did make mistakes, and these mistakes could be something we learn from, but they did not commit sins.

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    A sin is considered an evil deed that God commanded you to NOT do. For example: Riba. A mistake is never a sin. The prophets indeed never sinned, for they were protected from sin, and sin-free. They couldn't sin, basically. But a mistake is when you do something wrong, yet it's not a sin, out of being imperfect. So if you say that a mistake is when you go against the command of God in unawareness (sinning, but in unawareness and unintentional), then you're actually saying that the prophets DID sin, but unintentionally and unaware. This isn't correct, is it? Can you please clarify this?
    – user13313
    Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 13:04
  • And the hadith just tells us about that the intention of a deed is more important than the deed itself. But if I sin, and I know it's wrong, but I make an intention not to do the wrong, it's still a sin. Whether you have that intention or not. This hadith talks about, for example, when you donate to get known by the people, and not for God, then your action is a big zero, because your intention was bad.
    – user13313
    Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 13:12
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    @TruthSeeker i can provide you with an example. If you saw the speed as 80, but you were in a hurry and were going 90, you would be speeding intentionally. if however you were going 90 but didnt realise it, or you didnt know the speed limit was 80, it would be a mistake. The action is still the same but the intention different. The first would be classified under sin and the second mistake
    – Tash C
    Commented Jul 16, 2015 at 9:34
  • That's not really a good example, because driving too fast is not a sin, and the police doesn't care if you intentionally or unintentionally speed up. What the police sees is the crime. A sin is an act that God forbade you to do, and if you do it "unintentionally" it's still a sin. I mean, can you commit Zina, Riba, rape and murder unintentionally? When you say that you unintentionally did Zina, you're saying that you were not "realizing" that you were doing Zina, while doing it. That doesn't make any sense. How can you not realize something like that? Can you also "unintentionally" rape?
    – user13313
    Commented Jul 16, 2015 at 16:50
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    i gave you an anology that you can refer to. Yes what the police see is a crime, but the police are humans and dont know your INTENTIONS which is kind of what this question evolves around, dont you think? God knows your intentions, police dont "he knows what is in every heart" (67:13). How on earth can you commit any of those unintentionally? "excuse me your honour, but i 'accidently' raped that 5 year old". Sounds pretty stupid dont you think?
    – Tash C
    Commented Jul 21, 2015 at 1:06
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let me clarify that breaking laws set by the Divine God or the laws set by the society intentionally is a crime or sin.Basically laws are set by the God,society,organisation,company and so on to make the environment crime free and peaceful living.Islam is based on three criteria LOVE,PEACE AND KNOWLEDGE. Syeda Massarath.

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    Hello an welcome to Islam.se. Please go through How to Answer to find out what kind of answers are expected on this site. :)
    – Bleeding Fingers
    Commented Jul 15, 2017 at 16:29

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