(48) Reports from ᶜᾹᵓishah
This section negates the view that the Prophet saw Almighty Allah before his death. However, the believers, including the Companions of the Prophet, the Successors, men and women, and, after them, all the contemporary scholars neither differ over nor doubt the fact that all the believers shall literally see Allah with their eyes on the last day. The disputed question is whether the Prophet saw his Lord before his death. There is no difference of opinion on the fact that the believers will see their Lord on the Day of Judgment. So clearly distinguish and properly understand both issues correctly. Do not err so that you do not go astray from the right path.
1. Yaᶜqūb b. Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī → Ibn ᶜUlayyah → Dāwūd b. Abī Hind → al-Shaᶜbī → Masrūq:
I was sitting, reclining [on something] near ᶜᾹᵓishah [the mother of the faithful] and she said, “O Abū ᶜᾹᵓishah, 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 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 haste. Has not Allah said: “And truly he saw him on the clear horizon” (Q 81:23), and also “For indeed he saw him at a second descent?”” (Q 53:13) She said, “I am the first of this Ummah who asked the Messenger of Allah 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 also said, “Did not you hear the Qurᵓānic verse: “No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things?”” (Q 6:103). She also said, “Did not you hear Allāh’s saying: “It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with Allah’s permission, what Allah wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise?”” (Q 42:51). She said, “One who thinks that the Prophet concealed any part of the book of Allāh from the people he too surely coins a great lie on Allāh as Allāh Himself has said: “O Messenger, proclaim the (message) which hath been sent to you from your Lord. If you did not, you would not have fulfilled and proclaimed His mission. And Allah will defend you from men (who mean mischief). For Allah guides not those who reject Faith.”” (Q 5:67). And she also said, “Whoever thinks that he (the Prophet) tells the people about the happening of the future, he coins a great lie on Allāh as Allāh says: “None in the heavens or on earth, except Allah, knows what is hidden”” (Q 27:65).
2. Muhammad b. Bashshār → Ibn Abī ᶜAdī and also
Muhammad b. Bashshār and Abū Mūsā → Yazīd b. Hārūn → Dāwūd b. Abī Hind and also:
Abū Mūsā → ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā → Dāwūd:
This wording is by Ibn Abī ᶜAdī → al-Shaᶜbī → Masrūq:
We were in the company of ᶜᾹᵓishah [the mother of the faithful] when she said, “O Abū ᶜᾹᵓishah, there are three things, uttering any of which equals coining the greatest lie on Allāh. Whoever thinks that Muhammad saw his Lord coins a great lie on Allāh.” Masrūq said, “I was leaning against the pillow, but on hearing this, I sat straight and said: O Mother of the Believers! Wait a bit and do not hurry: Did not Allāh say: “And without doubt he saw him in the clear horizon”, (Q 81:23), and also “For indeed he saw him at a second descent?” (Q 53:13). She said: I am the first of this ummah to ask the Prophet about that and he said, “It refers to Gabriel. I have not seen him in the shape in which Allāh has created him more than two times.” [ᶜᾹᵓishah said], “He saw Gabriel descending from the heaven, while his huge body covered the space between the heavens and the earth.” She also said, “Did not you hear the Qurᵓānic verse, ‘No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things?’” (Q 6:103). She also said, “Allah says: ‘It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with Allah’s permission, what Allah wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise?’” (Q 42:51). She said, “One who thinks that the Prophet knows what will happen in future ascribes lies to Allah. Allah says: ‘None in the heavens or on earth, except Allah, knows what is hidden’” (Q 27:65). She said, “Whoever thinks that the Prophet concealed any part of Allah’s revelations coins a great lie on Allāh as Allāh Himself has said: ‘O Messenger, proclaim the (message) which has been sent to you from your Lord.” (Q 5:67).
Bundār and Abū Mūsā added these words to the narrative of ᶜAbd al-Wahhāb: She said, “If Muhammad were to conceal anything which formed part of the Divine revelation, he would have concealed this verse: ‘Behold! You did say to one who had received the grace of Allah and your favour: Retain you in wedlock your wife, and fear Allah. But you did hide in your heart that which Allah was about to make manifest: you did fear the people’” (Q 33:37).
3. Bundār reported this narrative with the following additions:
He said: Ibn Abī ᶜAdī → Dāwūd → al-Shaᶜbī:
ᶜᾹᵓishah said, “If the Prophet were to conceal anything from what has been revealed to him by Allāh, he would have hidden this verse from his ummah: ‘Behold! You did say to one who had received the grace of Allah and your favour: Retain you in wedlock your wife [….] And Allah’s command must be fulfilled’” (Q 33:37)
Abū Mūsā narrated to us a similar thing from ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā after relating to us the ḥadīth of ᶜAbd al-Wahhāb from ᶜᾹᵓishah.
He has also narrated a similar report from Yazīd b. Hārūn from Masrūq who started the narrative with the following words: “I was with ᶜᾹᵓishah…..”
This he followed with the complete narrative.
As far as Bundār is concerned, he has related to us the complete report on the authority of Yazīd. The narrative of Yazīd does not contain a mention of the verse Q 33:37. Nor does it mention ᶜᾹᵓishah’s saying: “If the Prophet were to hide anything….” to the end of the ḥadīth. Therefore, I think that by his saying “in the report of Yazīd b. Hārūn” to his saying “what has been revealed to you”, Abū Mūsā meant to refer to something other than this addition that has been inserted by ᶜAbd al-Wahhāb in this muttaṣil (connected/directly traced back to the Prophet) report. [And also] we see that Ibn Abī ᶜAdī has differentiated between this addition and the other muttaṣil report. He has clearly ascribed this addition to the chain: Dāwūd b. Abī Hind → al-Shaᶜbī → ᶜᾹᵓishah.
Notice that Masrūq is not mentioned in this chain.
4. Yūnus b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā al-Ṣadafī → Ibn Wahb → ᶜAmr b. al-Ḥarath → ᶜAbd Allāh b. Saᶜīd → Dāwūd b. Abī Hind → ᶜᾹmir al-Shaᶜbī → Masrūq b. al-Ajdaᶜ → ᶜᾹᵓishah:
The greatest lie against Allah is to say three things. Whoever says that a) Muhammad saw his Lord, and b) that Muhammad concealed any part of the revelation, and c) that Muhammad knew about the future.
He (Masrūq) said, “O Mother of the believers! Did not he see Him?” She said, “No. That (the one referred to in the Qurᵓānic verses) is Gabriel. The Prophet saw him twice in his real shape. Once he saw him on the highest horizon and the next time he saw him blocking the heaven.”
5. Hārūn b. Isḥāq al-Hamdānī → ᶜAbdah (Sulaymān) → Saᶜīd (b. Abī ᶜArūbah) → Abū Maᶜshar (Ziyād b. Kulayb) → Ibrāhīm (b. Yazīd) → Masrūq:
Belief in any of the three things equals coining a great lie on Allāh. Whoever thinks that he (the Prophet) knew about the future coins a great lie on Allāh. For Allāh says, “Nor does anyone know what it is that he will earn on the morrow” (Q 31:34). The one who considers that Muhammad hid parts of the revelation, coins a great lie on Allāh. For Allāh says: “O Messenger, proclaim the (message) which has been sent to you from your Lord” (Q 5:67). And the one who thinks that Muhammad saw his Lord also tells a great lie against Allāh. For Allāh says: “No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things” (Q 6:103). And Allāh also says: “It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil….” (Q 42:51).
Masrūq said to ᶜĀᵓishah: “O Mother of the believers! Did not He say: ‘For indeed he saw him at a second descent?’ (Q 53:13). Allah has also said: ‘And without doubt he saw him in the clear horizon’” (Q 81:23). ᶜĀᵓishah said, “I asked this question from the Prophet, and he said, ‘I saw Gabriel descending from the horizon, in his real shape and features, (or perhaps he said: in real shape and form) blocking the entire horizon.’”
Abū Bakr said: I think ᶜĀᵓishah uttered these words in anger. Had she used better words, that would have been more suitable. It does not seem appropriate that one says that Ibn ᶜAbbās, or Abū Dharr, or Anas b. Mālik or many other men coined a great lie on Allāh. However, when angry, one can utter words for which better alternatives could have been chosen. ᶜĀᵓishah, Abū Dharr, Ibn ᶜAbbās and Anas b. Mālik have differed over the question whether the Prophet saw his Lord in his life or not. I have repeated many times in my books that a negative statement does not necessarily entail that one knows the true status of a fact. However, a positive statement entails sure knowledge about a fact. In this case, then, we know that ᶜᾹᵓishah has not reported the Prophet explaining that he did not see Allah. She has, on the contrary, adduced the following Qurᵓānic verse: “No vision can grasp Him” (Q 6:103). She also quoted the words: “It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration……” (Q 42:51). Those able to understand these two verses correctly know that neither judges the issue clearly so that the one who negates the clear meanings of the verses and proclaims that Muhammad saw his Lord can be held to have coined a lie on Allah. How can then it be said that such a person coined the greatest lie on Allāh?
This I can say because the words: “No vision can grasp Him,” (Q 6:103) carry two meanings which fit well with the view of those who believe that Muhammad saw his Lord.
First, it can be taken to mean what the Great Exegete of the Qurᵓān (Ibn ᶜAbbās) said to ᶜIkramah, “It refers to the light of Allah. When He reveals His light, nothing can see Him.”
Second, it can also be taken to mean that the human eyes cannot grasp Him. For according to the convention and usage of the language, the word abṣār is plural. It is applied to the eyes and eyesight of a group of people. I, therefore, consider it farfetched and improbable that a single man is said to have abṣār. We conventionally talk of baṣar for a single man. I have never seen anyone refer to the sight of a man as baṣrayn let alone abṣār.
Had we held that abṣār have seen Allah in this world we would have said something baseless and clearly wrong. It would be a lie. However, there are those who hold that the Prophet saw Allah, unlike the rest of the creatures. They do not hold that abṣār saw their Lord in this worldly life. How can we, O men of understanding, declare that those who say the Prophet saw Allah in this worldly life have thereby affirmed that abṣār have seen Him? Understand, O men of understanding, this fine point. Know that Ibn ᶜAbbās, Abū Dharr, Anas b. Mālik and their followers have not coined a great lie on Allah. Nor did they go against a single word of the Qurᵓān in this issue.
ᶜᾹᵓishah also adduced the following verse: “It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil” (Q 42:51). We know that Abū Dharr, Ibn ᶜAbbās, Anas b. Mālik and those who agree with them, never held that Allah spoke to him precisely during the moment he was seeing his Lord. Had they said so then it would be possible to say: “You have negated what this verse entails.” Whoever says that the Prophet saw his Lord, does not contradict the following saying of the Almighty: “It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil” (Q 42:51). It is only those who say that the Prophet saw his Lord and that at that very moment Allah talked to him can be held to have contradicted the above-mentioned verse. We know that Ibn ᶜUmar was an exalted scholar, had great knowledge, fame and wisdom, and profound understanding of the Divine law, and he enjoys an extraordinary status in Islam. He too calls Ibn ᶜAbbās and asks him whether the Prophet saw his Lord. We have learned through Ibn ᶜAbbās that this kind of knowledge is to be sought from him.
It is soundly known that Ibn ᶜAbbās held that the Prophet saw his Lord. Every knowledgeable person knows it with surety that it is a problem of a kind that cannot be determined with wisdom or opinions and conjectures. It cannot be known without taking any guidance from the Prophet. It can either be part of the Book the Prophet receives or the words he speaks. I do not think that any learned person ever supposed that Ibn ᶜAbbās based this on his personal opinion or conjectures. Nor do I think so regarding the view of Abū Dharr and Anas b. Mālik.
We say what Maᶜmar b. Rāshid said when he related the story of the difference between the views of ᶜĀᵓishah and Ibn ᶜAbbās in this regard which follows. Āᵓishah is not more learned than Ibn ᶜAbbās. We claim that Āᵓishah is al-Ṣiddīqah (truthful), daughter of al-Ṣiddīq, the beloved of the beloved of Allāh, a great scholar and faqīh (legal and religious knowledge). Similar is the case of Ibn ᶜAbbās, the cousin of the Prophet. The Prophet prayed to Allāh to increase his wisdom and knowledge. What this prayer sought was manifested in the fact that he is called tarjumān al-Qurᵓān (interpreter of the Qurᵓān). ᶜUmar would ask the meaning of the words of the Qurᵓān from some individuals. Ibn ᶜAbbās was one of them. ᶜUmar would accept his opinion even if he contradicted those senior to him in age and company of the Prophet. It is not, therefore, possible to declare that he coined the greatest lie on Allah simply because he contradicted ᶜᾹᵓishah and affirmed something which she negated. The scholars do not use this word even when someone misinterprets a verse from the Book of Allāh or violates one or more sunan of the Prophet without knowing that they are sunan because they have not been communicated to him. How can it be possible to say that a man who affirms something not clearly explained by the Book or the Sunnah coins the greatest lie against Allah? Therefore, understand this and do not err.
Now I mention an unsound report by Maᶜmar which I heard from my uncle from ᶜAbd al-Razzāq from Maᶜmar. It does not pass my criterion for the sound narratives.
6. My Uncle → ᶜAbd al-Razzāq (b. Hammām) → Ibn ᶜUyaynah → Mujālid b. Saᶜīd → al-Shaᶜbī:
ᶜAbd Allāh b. al-Ḥārith reported that Ibn ᶜAbbās and Kaᶜb were together. Ibn ᶜAbbās said, “We, the children of Hāshim, believe that Muhammad saw his Lord twice.” He (ᶜAbd Allāh b. al-Ḥārath) said, “Kaᶜb said Allāhu akbar (Allah is great) so loudly that it reverberated through the mountains. Then he said, “Allāh has divided the [blessings] of seeing Him and be spoken by Him between Muhammad and Moses so Muhammad saw Him with his heart while He talked to Moses.”
Mujālid reported from al-Shaᶜbī that Masrūq claimed that he asked ᶜĀᵓishah:
O Mother, did Muhammad see his Lord? She said, “You have uttered something which has caused my hair to creep.” He (Masrūq) said, “I asked her to take it easy and recited for her the following verses: “By the star when it goes down […] and was at a distance of but two bow-lengths or even nearer” (Q 53:1-9). She said, “Where does it lead you? He (the Prophet) saw Gabriel in his real form. Whoever tells you that Muhammad saw his Lord lies to you. And the one who says to you that he knows from the five unknown things tells a lie: “Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone)…... (Q 31:34).”” She recited the Sūrah till the end.
ᶜAbd al-Razzāq said: I related this story to Maᶜmar and he said, “According to us, ᶜĀᵓishah is not more learned than Ibn ᶜAbbās.”
Abū Bakr said: Had I allowed myself to support my view through such traditions which do not pass the criteria of soundness I believe in, and if I considered it appropriate to rely on men like Mujālid, I would have presented this narrative to establish that all the tribe of Banū Hāshim negated ᶜĀᵓishah’s view in this issue and affirmed that the Prophet saw his Lord twice. For those who consider it allowable to rely on narrators like Mujālid, it is sounder to rely more on the unanimous view of Banū Hāshim than on ᶜĀᵓishah’s personal view which has not been corroborated by any man or woman among the Companions of the Prophet. I have held for a long time that we can consider that ᶜᾹᵓishah, in her belief that the Prophet did not see his Lord, based herself on the Prophet who might have told her this fact. However, we also learn that Ibn ᶜAbbās, Anas b. Mālik and Abū Dharr reported from the Prophet that he (the Prophet) saw his Lord. [This creates contradiction.] Those who have knowledge of the discipline of traditions will have to conclude, based on the established principles of knowledge and fiqh (legal discipline), that it is incumbent upon them to accept the view of those who narrated the Prophet’s claim that he saw his Lord. This I can say because it is not possible that ᶜᾹᵓishah heard the Prophet say that he did not see his lord, before he had seen Him, then she heard someone else claiming that he heard the Prophet say that he did indeed see the Almighty Allāh, once he had seen his Lord, of course, then it would be necessary [for her] to accept the view of the later reporter if we were to follow the established principles of knowledge and acceptance of the reports. I have explicated this discussion in detail with regard to the mention of the basmala.
The above passage is translated from Kitāb al-Tawḥīd by Imām Abū Bakr Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311 AH). English translation by Dr Tariq Mahmood Hashmi.
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