• WHO KNOWS AND OWNS THE EXCLUSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF UNSEEN AND HIDDEN BEYOND THE REACH OF A CREATED BEINGS PERCEPTION IN THE HEAVEN AND ON EARTH? Answer: ‘No One, as Allah said in the Qur’an: قُل لَّا يَعْلَمُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ الْغَيْبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ Say: None in the heavens or on earth knows what is hidden and absolute unseen beyond the reach of a created being’s perception, except Allah.” (Al-Quran: Surah Al-Naml 27: 65) Allah said in the Qur’an: عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا He (alone) is the All-Knower of the Absolute Unseen beyond the reach of a created being’s perception, and He reveals to none His Absolute Unseen.” (Al-Quran: Surah Al-Jinn 72: 26) The knowledge of the Absolute Unseen, the Absolute Mystery, or Allahs Mystery, is something which no creature can know or see, except insofar as Allah reveals it through divine revelation (wahy) to His chosen prophets and messengers, the last and final among them is Muhammad (swalla-Allaahu alayhi wa-sallam). For example, the exact time of the Day of Judgment has not been so shown, because we must not know for its specific hour, but live as if it is to be at any hour. Allah has told us of the Hereafter, and therefore we know it is true. Belief in resurrection, reckoning and reward is an integral and indispensable element of faith. The life to come is part of the realm that lies beyond our faculties of perception and which is known only to Allah, and He alone knows the world beyond, and that human knowledge of the hereafter is very limited: It is not only man who has been denied access to Allah’s knowledge. All creatures that live anywhere in the universe, including the angels and the jinn, are assigned missions and tasks that do not require knowledge of what Allah has kept secret. Therefore, the above Verse is a definitive statement which leaves no room for anyone to make false claims. This is a negation of any knowledge of the timing of resurrection, even in the most undefined form of knowledge, which is perception. It is not only that they lack any definite knowledge of when resurrection will take place; they cannot perceive it as it approaches. Such knowledge is part of what is hidden, which none in the heavens or earth knows anything about. Allah said in the Qur’an: وَعِندَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا إِلَّا هُوَ With Him are the keys of the absolute unseen to what lies beyond the reach of human perception: none knows them but He. (Al-Qur’an: Surah Al-An’aam 6: 59) This is an image of Allah’s complete knowledge that leaves out nothing in terms of time or place, land, sea or sky, in the depths of the world or in the wild expanse of space, including what is dead or alive, dry or fresh, green or withering away. We try to imagine the limitless nature of Allah’s knowledge as it encompasses the whole universe and goes far beyond what we know of that universe. This is a complete world extending beyond our imagination. But the keys to all of it are with Allah, and He alone knows them. We visualize the leaves that drop from the trees: innumerable as they are, yet every single one of them, wherever it falls, is seen by Allah. Every single grain, buried in the darkest depths of the earth, is beheld by Allah who sees everything, whether fresh or dry, dead or alive, anywhere in the universe. It is only the Absolute Creator who knows and cares about every falling leaf, buried grain and the like, as He does about other things, fresh or dry. No human being could ever contemplate that each falling leaf, each buried grain, every fresh object and also every dry one should be recorded in a clear book. They cannot see any benefit to them from keeping such a record. But the Sovereign of the whole universe is the One who has all that recorded because everything in the whole universe, large or small, visible or hidden, distant or close, apparent or unknown, is part of His dominion and, as such, is accounted for. Nevertheless, it is a powerful scene that tells us much about Allah’s knowledge, reminding us that God oversees and records everything. This verse takes us first into the unfathomable reaches of the world beyond, stretching into time and place, as well as the past, present and future and into what takes place both in this life and in our imagination. It is an essential element of the Islamic concept of faith, existence and life. In the Qur’ān, Allah often describes the believers as those who believe in what lies beyond the reach of human perception (2:2-5) The life to come also lies beyond the reach of human perception. Everything that relates to the Day of Judgment, the reckoning, the reward, and the punishment, the life in the Qabr, Paradise and Hell, Resurrection, - all belong to the world beyond. We believe in all these because Allah has told us about them. Every believer, then, must also believe in what Allah has revealed to His Messenger (peace be upon him). Believing in the angels is also part of believing in the imperceptible, because we only know about angels what Allah has chosen to tell us. In addition, we have to believe in Allah’s will and its operation. Man is, however, surrounded by imperceptibles in every direction. Part of this relates to time: past, present and future. Another part exists within man himself, and more is available in the universe. All this lies beyond man’s perception. Indeed, man does not know what occurs within him at the present moment, let alone what occurs during the next moment or in the universe with its atoms and electrons, etc. - Sidheeque Veliankode
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 14:07:27 +0000
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