I said to Aisha, O Mother! Did Prophet Muhammad see his Lord? Aisha said, What you have said makes my hair stand on end! Know that if somebody tells you one of the following three things, HE IS A LIAR: Whoever tells you that Muhammad saw his Lord, IS A LIAR. Then Aisha recited the Verse:‘No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is the Most Courteous Well-Acquainted with all things.’ (6.103)‘It is not fitting for a human being that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration or from behind a veil.’ (42.51) ‘Aisha further said, And whoever tells you that the Prophet knows what is going to happen tomorrow, is a liar. She then recited:‘No soul can know what it will earn tomorrow.’ (31.34) She added: And whoever tells you that he concealed (some of Allahs orders), is a liar. Then she recited: ‘O Apostle! Proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord…’ (5.67) ‘Aisha added. But the Prophet saw Gabriel in his true form twice. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60,Number 378)Narrated Masruq:‘Aisha said, If anyone tells you that Muhammad has seen his Lord, HE IS A LIAR, FOR ALLAH SAYS: ‘No vision can grasp Him.’ (6.103) And if anyone tells you that Muhammad has seen the Unseen, he is a liar, for Allah says: ‘None has the knowledge of the Unseen but Allah.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 93, Number 477)It is narrated on the authority of Masruq that he said: I was resting at (the house of) Aisha that she said: O Abu Aisha (kunya of Masruq), there are three things, and he who affirmed even one of them fabricated the greatest lie against Allah. I asked what they were. She said: He who presumed that Muhammad (may peace be upon him) saw his Lord (with his ocular vision) fabricated the greatest lie against Allah. I was reclining but then sat up and said: Mother of the Faithful, wait a bit and do not be in a haste. Has not Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: And truly he saw him on the clear horizon (al-Quran, lxxxi. 23) and he saw Him in another descent (al-Quran, liii. 13)? She said: I am the first of this Ummah who asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) about it, and he said: Verily he is Gabriel. I have never seen him in his original form in which he was created except on those two occasions (to which these verses refer); I saw him descending from the heaven and filling (the space) from the sky to the earth with the greatness of his bodily structure. She said: Have you not heard Allah saying: Eyes comprehend Him not, but He comprehends (all) vision. And He is Subtle, and All-Aware (al-Quran, vi. 103)? (She, i. e. Aisha, further said): Have you not heard that, verily, Allah says: And it is not vouchsafed to a human being that Allah should speak unto him otherwise than by revelation, or from behind a veil, or that He sendeth a messenger (angel), so that he revealeth whatsoever He wills. Verily He is Exalted, Wise (al-Quran, xlii. 51) She said: He who presumes that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) concealed anything from the Book, of Allah fabricates the greatest lie against Allah. Allah says: O Messenger! Deliver that which has been revealed to thee from thy Lord, and if thou do (it) not, thou hast not delivered His message (al-Quran, v. 67). She said: He who presumes that he would inform about what was going to happen tomorrow fabricates the greatest lie against Allah. And Allah says: Say thou (Muhammad): None in the heavens and the earth knoweth the unseen save Allah (al-Quran, xxvii. 65). (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0337)Here, Aisha recites Suras 6:103 and 42:51 to prove that Muhammad could not have seen his lord, and explicitly stated that if anyone claims otherwise then he or she is a liar. Thus, according to one of the mothers of the Muslim believers, one whom many even recognize as being a scholar of Islam, men such as Ibn Abbas are liars for contradicting the Quran!There is more:Al-Shaibini reported to us: I asked Zirr b. Hubaish about the words of Allah (the Mighty and Great): So he was (at a distance) of two bows or nearer (al-Quran, liii. 8). He said: Ibn Masud informed me that, verily, the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) saw Gabriel and he had six hundred wings. (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0330)Al-Shaibani narrated on the authority of Zirr who narrated it on this authority of Abdullah that the (words of Allah): The heart belied not what he saw (al Quran, liii. 11) imply that he saw Gabriel (peace be upon him) and he had six hundred wings. (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0331)Zirr b. Hubaish narrated it on the authority of Abdullah (that the words of Allah): Certainly he saw of the greatest signs of Allah (al-Quran, liii. 18) imply that he saw Gabriel in his (original) form and he had six hundred wings. (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0332)It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the (words of Allah): And certainly he saw him in another descent (al-Quran, Iiii. 13) imply that he saw Gabriel. (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0333)Moreover:Chapter 79: PERTAINING TO HIS (PROPHETS) WORDS: HE IS A LIGHT; HOW COULD I SEE HIM? - AND HIS WORDS: I SAW THE LIGHTIt is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr: I asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him): Did you see thy Lord? He said: He is a Light. How could I see Him? (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0341)Abdullah b. Shaqiq reported: I said to Abu Dharr: Had I seen the Messenger of Allah, I would have asked him. He (Abu Dharr) said: What is that thing that you wanted to inquire of him? He said: I wanted to ask him whether he had seen his Lord. Abu Dharr said: I, in fact, inquired of him, and he replied: I saw Light. (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0342)The same source cited earlier that is translated by Haddad also records the views of those who denied that Muhammad saw his lord, noting the contradictions:Others considered Ibn ‘Abbas’ narration to refer to a vision with the eyes of the heart, as elucidated by Ibn ‘Abbas’ other narrations in Sahih Muslim and al-Tirmidhi (hasan): He saw him with his heart. Another narration from Ibn ‘Abbas in Muslim states: He saw him with his heart twice, in his commentary on the verses (53:11), (53:13)…Many sound reports show that the Companions differed SHARPLY whether the Prophet saw Allah or not. Ibn ‘Abbas related that he did, while Ibn Mas‘ud, ‘A’isha, Abu Hurayra, and Abu Dharr related reports TO THE CONTRARY, stating that the verses of Sura al-Najm and other Suras referred to Gibril, and that the Prophet said that he saw light. (Haddad, pp. 144-145; underline and capital emphasis ours)And:A narration by al-Tirmidhi from al-Sha‘bi cites two positions in context:Ibn ‘Abbas met Ka‘b [al-Ahbar] in ‘Arafa and asked him about something, whereupon Ka‘b began to shout Allahu Akbar! Until the mountains answered him. Ibn ‘Abbas said: We are the Banu Hashim! Ka‘b said: Allah has apportioned His vision and His speech between Muhammad and Musa. Musa spoke with Him twice and Muhammad saw him twice. Masruq said: Later I went to ‘A’isha and asked: ‘Did Muhammad see his Lord?’ She replied: ‘You have said something that makes my hair stand on end.’ I said: ‘Do not rush!’ and recited [the verses which conclude with] the verse (53:18). She said: ‘Where is this taking you? It was about Gibril. Whoever tells you that Muhammad saw his Lord, or concealed something which he was commanded [to reveal], or knew the five things which Allah mentioned (31:34) – HE HAS TOLD AN ENORMOUS LIE. Rather, he saw Gibril, who he did not see in his actual form except twice: once at the Lote-Tree of the Farthest Boundary (sidra al-muntaha) and once in Jiyad [in Mecca], with his six hundred wings, he had filled the firmament.’ (Ibid., pp. 147-148; underline and capital emphasis ours)Finally:Ibn al-Qayyim in Zad al-Ma‘ad said:The Companions differed whether the Prophet actually saw his Lord that night [of isra’ and mi‘raj] or not. It is authentically narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Prophet saw his Lord, and also authentically related that Ibn ‘Abbas said: He saw Him with his heart. It is also authentically related from ‘A’isha and Ibn Mas‘ud THAT THEY DENIED SUCH VISION, saying that Allah’s words (53:13) refer to Gibril. It is also authentically related from Abu Dharr that the latter asked the Prophet: Did you see your Lord? and he replied: [I saw] a huge light, how could I see Him? (nurun anna arah?). That is: light came in between myself and His sight, as stated in the wording: I saw light (ra’aytu nuran). Uthman ibn Sa‘id al-Darimi said that the Companions all agreed that the Prophet did not see Him. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya – may Allah sanctify his soul! – said:Ibn ‘Abbas’s[sic] statement that He saw Him does not contradict that claim, nor his statement that He saw Him with his heart. For it is also authentically related that the Prophet said: I saw my Lord- glorified and exalted is He! However, the latter was not during the isra’ but in Madina, when the Prophet was occupied and could not be with the Companions at the time of the dawn prayer, after which he told them about his vision of Allah during his sleep at night. It is on that evidence that Imam Ahmad based himself when he said: Yes, he saw him in reality (na‘am ra’ahu haqqan), for the dream-vision of Prophets are real. This is absolutely true, but Ahmad did not say that he saw Him with the eyes of his head while awake. Whoever said that he did, is mistaken. Ahmad said one other time: He saw Him and another time: He saw Him with his heart. These are two statements narrated from him on the issue. The third statement whereby He saw Him with the eyes of his head comes from the free paraphrase of some of his companions. Ahmad’s texts are present with us, and nowhere are such words found in them. (Ibid., pp. 148-150; capital emphasis ours)
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 03:27:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015