Mistakes of the Messengers 

God gives us numerous examples in the Quran of mistakes made by the messengers—none are mistakes in the message they delivered, but rather in their personal actions. In fact more than half of the messengers who are discussed at any length in the Quran have at least one mistake recorded there.

Adam directly disobeyed God by eating from the forbidden tree:

We said, “O Adam, live with your wife in Paradise, and eat therefrom generously, as you please, but do not approach this tree, lest you sin.”  But the devil duped them, and caused their eviction.… (2:35-36)

Noah questioned God when his son was drowned in the flood:

Noah implored his Lord: “My Lord, my son is a member of my family, and Your promise is the truth. You are the wisest of the wise.”  He said, “O Noah, he is not of your family. It is unrighteous to ask Me for something you do not know. I enlighten you, lest you be like the ignorant.” (11:45-46)

Abraham asked for forgiveness for his father who was an enemy of God:

….A mistake was committed by Abraham when he said to his father, “I will pray for your forgiveness, but I possess no power to protect you from GOD…. (60:4)

Jonah abandoned his mission thinking that God could not control him:

And Zan-Noon (Jonah, “the one with an ‘N’ in his name”), abandoned his mission in protest, thinking that we could not control him. He ended up imploring from the darkness (of the big fish’s belly  (21:87)

Joseph turned to someone other than God for help:

“O my prison mates, one of you will be the wine butler for his lord, while the other will be crucified....  He then said to the one to be saved “Remember me at your lord.” Thus, the devil caused him to forget his Lord, and, consequently, he remained in prison a few more years. (12:41-42)

Moses killed a man:

…The one from his people called on him for help against his enemy. Moses punched him, killing him. He said, “This is the work of the devil; he is a real enemy, and a profound misleader.”  He said, “My Lord, I have wronged my soul. Please forgive me,” and He forgave him…. (28:15-16)

Solomon forgot his prayer:

One day he became preoccupied with beautiful horses, until the night fell.  He then said, “I enjoyed the material things more than I enjoyed worshiping my Lord, until the sun was gone….  (38:31-33)

David seems to have ruled using his own opinion when the brothers asked for a ruling on combining their sheep:

He said, “He is being unfair to you by asking to combine your sheep with his. Most people who combine their properties treat each other unfairly….”

Cont’d on page 2