شفاعة
Shafāʿa
Intercession with God: a plea made on behalf of another, which on the Day of Judgement is possible only with God’s permission.
What it means
Shafāʿa is the noun for intercession, the act of pleading with God for another person. Faruqi defines it simply as intercession with God. The Quran treats it as something that belongs wholly to God: “Say, ‘To God belongs all intercession’” (39:44), and no one can intercede “except after His permission” (10:3). Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
will be granted the right to intercede on the Day of Judgement. Scholars also hold that others whom God permits, such as prophets, the righteous and martyrs, may intercede. Intercession differs from the idea of a priest or saint who stands between a worshipper and God. In this life every believer addresses God directly, and the Quran says that He is near and answers (2:186).
Often misunderstood as
Intercession is often compared with the Christian idea of a mediator, although in Islam no one acts as a mediator in this life and every act of intercession in the next depends on God’s leave.
What the sources say
The Quran rejects the claim of the idolaters who worshipped others in the hope of intercession, and says that those they invoke have no power to intercede (10:18, 39:43). The hadith reports on intercession are many, and scholars of the main schools affirm it as part of belief, while they disagree about who will receive it.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 37, listed as SHAFĀ'AH. The definition is restated here.