Two Important Proofs
On the proofs for:
a) that all the believers will see Allāh on the Judgment Day individually.
b) that the Prophet compared the act of seeing Allah on the Last Day with seeing the moon in this world to show that it involves literal vision through using eyes just as we see things in this world.
1. ᶜAbd al-Majīd b. Muhammad al-Zuhrī → Ibn Abī ᶜAdī → Shuᶜbah → Yaᶜlā b. ᶜAṭāᵓ → Wakīᶜ b. Ḥadas → Abū Razīn:
I said, “O Messenger of Allāh, shall we all see Allāh separately in isolation?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “What is the sign of that in the creation of Allāh?” He said, “Do not you see the full moon on the fourteenth night? It is one of the creations of Allah. Allāh is even more graceful and the Greatest.”
2. Aḥmad b. Sinān al-Wāsiṭī → Yazīd (b. Hārūn) → Ḥammād → Yaᶜlā b. ᶜAṭāᵓ → Wakīᶜ b. Ḥudus/Ḥudas → his uncle:
I said, “O Messenger of Allāh, will every one of us see Allāh on the Day of Judgment? What is the sign for this in His creatures?” He said, “Do not all of you look at the sun singly?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Allāh is the Greatest and this is His sign in His creature.”
3. Baḥr b. Naṣr al-Khawlānī → Asad (Ibn Mūsā) → Ḥammād b. Salamah:
Narrating the same ḥadīth till the words “Allah is the Greatest.” He, however, added the following, “I (Abū Razīn) said, “O Prophet of Allah, how will Allāh return the dead to life and what is the sign of this process in His creation?” He said, “O father of Razīn, do not you pass valleys dead and barren? Then another time you pass them while they are heavy with greenery bending down about to break. Then you see the same valleys dead and barren. Then again you pass them while [the trees] in them are heavy and about to break.” I said, “Yes.” He said, “This is how Allah will recreate the dead and this is a sign of Allah in His creatures.”
4. Baḥr b. Naṣr → Asad → Yaḥyā b. Salīm → Sulaymān al-Tamīmī → Aslam al-ᶜAjlī → Abū Murāyah → Abū Mūsā al-Ashᶜarī:
People were gazing at something. They were looking hard upwards. The Prophet said, “What are you looking at?” They said, “We are sighting the new moon.” He said, “By Allah, you shall see Allāh on the Day of Judgment just like you watch this crescent.”
Abū Bakr said: The mention of the Prophet in this tradition through this particular isnād, to my knowledge, is a confusion. It is the statement of Abū Mūsā al-Ashᶜarī not of the Prophet.
5. Muhammad b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlāᵓ → Bishr (Ibn al-Faḍl al-Tamīmī) → Aslam → Abū Murāyah:
Abū Mūsā would teach us the sunan and other matters of our religion. In this regard he mentioned the ḥadīth in which he said, “How is that when you will see Allāh openly?”
Abū Bakr said: He ascribed this to Abū Mūsā and not to the Prophet.
On the View That Q 75:22–23 Refers to Seeing Allah
Allah says: “Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty); - Looking towards their Lord” (Q 75:22-3). He will honor His friends from among the believers with this grace. He will conceal Himself from the sight of His enemies including the polytheists, the Jews, the Christians, Magians and the hypocrites. For He has said concerning them: “Verily, from (the Light of) their Lord, that Day, will they be veiled” (Q 83:15). This act of seeing Allah, allowed exclusively to the believers, will be granted them after the dwellers of Paradise will have taken their abode and the habitants of Hell will have been cast into it. Then Allāh will increase His blessing on the believers as an additional grace, by giving them a chance to see Him and He will deny this grace to all His enemies.
1. Muhammad b. Bashshār (Bundār) → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān (Ibn Mahdī) → Ibn Ḥassān → Ḥammād b. Salamah → Thābit al-Banānī → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā → Ṣuhayb → the Prophet:
Commenting on the verse “for those who do right is a goodly (reward), yea, more (than in measure)” (Q 10:26), the Prophet said:
When the habitants of Paradise will have entered it, an announcer will call out, “O habitants of Paradise, your Lord has to fulfil a promise.” They will say, “Have not you made our faces glow and saved us from fire and entered us into Paradise?” The Prophet said, “Allah will then remove the veil.” He also said, “By Allah, nothing granted to them will remain dearer to them than seeing Him.”
2. Yūsuf b. Mūsā → Yazīd b. Hārūn [and also Baḥr b. Naṣr al-Khawlānī and Zakariyyā b. Yaḥyā b. Iyās → Asad (Ibn Mūsā)] → Ḥammād b. Salamah → Thābit al-Banānī → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā → Ṣuhayb → the Prophet:
When the dwellers of Paradise will have entered it, they will be called, “O habitants of Paradise, a promise to you have not yet been fulfilled.” They would say, “What is it? Did not He lighten up our faces, and save us from the Fire and enter us into Paradise?” Then the curtain will be removed, and they will see Allāh. By Allah, nothing among the blessings of Allāh granted to them will be dearer to them than this one.” Then the Prophet recited the verse: “Those who do right is a goodly (reward)- Yea, more (than in measure)!” (Q 10:26).
This is the version reported by Yazīd b. Hārūn. The version of Asad does not mention that the Prophet recited the verse. Baḥr said in his version:
When the habitants of Paradise and the Hell will find their abodes, an announcer will call out, “O dwellers of Paradise, you were promised something by Allāh that He has not yet fulfilled.” They will say, “What is it? Did not He make our scales heavier, whiten our faces, and take us out of the fire?” [He said], He will raise the curtain and they will see Him. By Allah in whose hand is my life, there will be nothing dearer to them given by Allah than this opportunity to see Him.
The version of Rawḥ b. ᶜUbādah reads:
When the habitants of Paradise will take their lodging into the Paradise and habitants of Hell will have entered it, an announcer will call out, “O habitants of Paradise, Allāh owes you fulfilment of a promise.” They will say, “What is that? Did not He make our scales heavier, brighten our faces, and enter us in Paradise and save us from the Fire?” [He said]: Then He will raise the curtain and they will see him. [He said]. By Allah, nothing among the blessings of Allah granted to them will be dearer to them than seeing Him.
3. Aḥmad b. ᶜAbadah al-Ḍabī → Ḥammād (Ibn Zayd) → Thābit → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā:
He recited the following verse, “For those who do right is a goodly (reward)- Yea, more (than in measure)!” (Q 10:26), and said, “When the habitants of Paradise will have entered it, they would be given what they wanted and asked for.” He said that then it will be said to them, “There is one thing still remaining that you deserve, and it has not been given to you.” He said that then He will appear before them, and everything given to them will seem insignificant before this blessing. Then he recited the verse: “For those who do right is a goodly (reward)- Yea, more (than in measure)!” (Q 10:26). He said that “al-ḥusnā” (a goodly reward) is nothing but seeing Allah. Once they will have seen Him, “neither darkness nor shame shall cover their faces” (Q 10:26).
4. Muhammad b. Maᶜmar → Rawḥ → Ḥammād b. Yazīd → Thābit al-Banānī → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā:
When the dwellers of the Paradise will have entered it and have got what they asked, it will be said to them, “One of your rights remains. It has not yet been delivered to you.” Then their Lord will appear before them. Then he (ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā) recited the following verse: “For those who do right is a goodly (reward)- Yea, more (than in measure)!” (Q 10:26). The goodly reward in this verse signifies Paradise. “More” (al-ziyādah) denotes seeing the Lord. Once they have seen their Lord, neither darkness nor shame shall cover their faces.
5. Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → ᶜAbd al-Razzāq → Maᶜmar → Thābit b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā:
al-ziyādah refers to seeing Allāh’s face.
6. Muhammad b. Maᶜmar → Rawḥ → Sulaymān b. al-Mughīrah → Thābit → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā:
Ibn Abī Laylā was asked about the verse: “Those who do right is a goodly (reward)- Yea, more (than in measure)!” (Q 10:26). He said:
When the habitants of Paradise will have entered it and will have been blessed with the bounties and honors, they will be called, “Habitants of Paradise, Allah has promised you more.” Then the veil will be removed, and Allah will appear before them. What do you think about their state when they will have found their balances [of good deeds] heavier, received their accounts in their right hands, passed over the Bridge, entered Paradise and had their share from its rewards and honors?” He said, “It will seem to them that this [sight of Allah] cannot be compared to any of the things granted earlier.”
7. Salm b. Junādah → Wakīᶜ → Isrāᵓīl → Abū Isḥāq → ᶜĀmir b. Saᶜd → Abū Bakr:
8. ….. Isrāᵓīl → Abū Isḥāq → Muslim b. Yazīd → Ḥudhayfah:
The verse: “Those who do right is a goodly (reward)- Yea, more (than in measure)!” (Q 10:26) implies seeing the Face of Allāh.
9. Baḥr b. Naṣr → Asad → Qays b. Al-Rabīᶜ → Abū Isḥāq → Muslim b. Yazīd → Ḥudhayfah:
The more (al-ziyādah) in “those who do right is a goodly (reward)- yea, more (than in measure)!” (Q 10:26) is looking at the face of your Lord.
10. ….. Salm b. Junādah → Wakīᶜ b. al-Jarrāḥ → Sufyān → Abū Isḥāq → ᶜĀmir b. Saᶜd:
“Those who do right is a goodly (reward)- Yea, more (than in measure)!” (Q 10:26) refers to seeing the Face of Allāh.
Abū Sufyān did not name Abū Bakr in this isnād, but Isrāᵓīl did.
11. ….. Abū Al-Rabīᶜ also narrated this ḥadīth from Ashᶜath. However, the muḥaddithūn do not rely on his ḥadīths as evidence because of his bad memory. Ibn Isḥāq also narrated this very ḥadīth on the authority of ᶜĀmir b. Saᶜd who narrates from Saᶜīd b. Nimrān who reports from Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq.
12. ….. Baḥr b. Naṣr → Asad → Abū Al-Rabīᶜ:
Abū Bakr said: Isrāᵓīl deserves his place in this isnād more than Abū Al-Rabīᶜ. I heard Abū Mūsā saying that ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Mahdī would declare the ḥadīths reported by Isrāᵓīl from Abū Isḥāq as sound (ṣaḥīḥ). He said, “I have lost parts of the ḥadīths transmitted by Sufyān from Abū Isḥāq because of reliance on Isrāᵓīl.”
13. Muhammad b. Maᶜmar → Rawḥ → ᶜAwf → al-Ḥasan:
I heard that the Prophet was once asked a question. It was said to him, “O Messenger of Allāh, will mankind see their Lord on the Day of Judgment?” The Prophet said, “Whoever wanted to see Him will have his wish.” They said, “O Messenger of Allāh, how will such a large number of creatures see Allāh when He is one?” The Prophet said, “Have you seen the sun and the moon on a clear sky when neither is surrounded by the clouds? Do you have any difficulty seeing these two?” They said, “No.” He said, “You will not have any difficulty seeing Him just as you see these two easily.”
Abū Bakr said: I have recorded this mursal report because some of the Jahmīs claim that al-Ḥasan used to say that al-ziyādah is a good deed rewarded by ten to seven hundred times. They have said this in order to cover up the views of some of their lowly and stupid scholars. They also maintain that al-Haṣan used to deny that people will see Allah.
The narrative reported by ᶜAwf from al-Ḥasan clearly shows that he openly declared his belief in and affirmed it in his heart that the believers will see their Creator on the Day of Judgment. They will not have any difficulty seeing Him just as they do not find it difficult to see the sun and the moon in the clear sky in this world.
Now that we have learnt that it was the saying of al-Ḥasan we must also learn that Baḥr b. Naṣr b. Sābiq al-Khawlānī narrated that Asad (Ibn Mūsā) narrated to him that al-Mubārak b. Fuḍālah narrated that al-Ḥasan commented on the following verse: “Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty);- Looking towards their Lord) (Q 75:22-3), and said: “al-Nāẓirah means beautiful. These faces will obtain beauty from the sight of their Lord. It will rightly be beaming as it will have seen its lord.”
10. Salm b. Junādah → Wakīᶜ → Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī → Abū Tamīmah (al-Hujaymī) → Abū Mūsā (al-Ashᶜarī):
He said that the words lilladhīna aḥsanū al-ḥusnā (for those who do right is a goodly reward) refer to Paradise whereas the word ziyādah refers to seeing Allāh.
11. Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → ᶜAbd al-Razzāq → Maᶜmar → Qatādah:
The words lilladhīna aḥsanū al-ḥusnā, according to what has been reported to us [from the earlier authorities], refer to Paradise whereas the word ziyādah refers to seeing the face of Allāh.
12. Muhammad b. Maᶜmar → Rawḥ → Saᶜīd → Qatādah:
[Commenting on the divine saying] lilladhīna aḥsanū al-ḥusnā and ziyādah, he said, “It has been narrated to us that when the believers shall enter Paradise, an announcer will call them saying this: “Allāh has promised to you a goodly reward which is Paradise.” As for the term ziyādah, that is seeing the face of the Compassionate Allah.”
Allāh Almighty said:
Some faces, that day, will beam (in brightness and beauty); - Looking towards their Lord (Q 75:22-3).
Abū Bakr said: Now I present to you a narrative which is historically authentic. It proves that the believers will see their Creator after death. They cannot see Him before death. If the meaning of the verse, “No vision can grasp Him (Q 06:103)” were what the Jahmīs al-Muᶜaṭṭilahs, who are ignorant to the Arabic language and cannot distinguish between understanding and seeing, then the verse, most appropriately interpreted, would have meant that no vision can grasp Him in this very world (Q 06:103). It would then refer to the eyes and the eyesight of the living people and not of the dead.
13. Aḥmad b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Wahb → his uncle → Yūnus (Ibn Yazīd) → ᶜAṭāᵓ al-Khurāsānī → Yaḥyā b. Abī ᶜAmr al-Shaybānī → ᶜAmr al-Ḥaḍramī (of Ḥimṣ) → Abū Amāmah al-Bāhilī:
The Prophet addressed us one day. Most of his address concerned the appearance of dajjāl (the antichrist).
He narrated the whole of the Prophetic address.
Aḥmad narrated the whole ḥadīth which I have included in Kitāb al-Fitan. The narrative contains the following part of the Prophet’s address:
He (i.e. dajjāl) will say, “I am a prophet and there is no prophet after me.” He will then follow this with another statement and say, “I am your Lord (rabb).” He will be one-eyed while your Lord is not one-eyed. You will not see your Lord before you die.
Abū Bakr said: The Prophetic statement: “You will not see your Lord before your death”, is a clear verdict on the issue. Aḥmad related the complete ḥadīth.
14. Muhammad b. Manṣūr al-Jawwāz → Abū ᶜAbd Allāh → Yaᶜqūb b. Muhammad Ibn ᶜĪsā al-Zuhrī → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. al-Mughīrah b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. ᶜAyyāsh al-Anṣārī al-Samᶜī → Dalham b. al-Aswad Ibn ᶜAbd Allāh → his father → his uncle Laqīṭ b. ᶜĀmir:
I set out to meet the Prophet along with Nuhayk b. ᶜĀṣim b. Mālik b. al-Muntafiq. We reached Madinah intending to spend the month of Rajab. [One evening] we offered the night prayer with him. The Messenger of Allah stood among us and addressed the people as follows:
O People, I have not spoken to you for four days. Beware! Give ears today. Beware, is there anybody sent by his nation with the request to learn from the Messenger of Allah and communicate to them [his teachings]? It should not be the case that any such man is engaged in his personal chat or attends to his companions’ talk or waywardness makes him forget [his purpose] and stop listening to me. Beware, I am going to be questioned whether I communicated to you what is upon me to communicate. Behold, listen and [you will] live. Behold, sit down.
The people sat down. My companion and I stood up. [We remained in that state] till the Prophet concentrated his heart and eyes upon us. I said, “I have to ask of you something I want to learn. Please do not rush upon us.” The Prophet said, “Ask what you need to know.” I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, have you got knowledge of the unseen?” The Prophet smiled. I swear he did. He shook his head. I believe he knew that I was asking about something which was not appropriate for me to ask. He said, “Your Lord has withheld the knowledge of five things. None other than Allah can know them. The Prophet pointed with his hands. I asked, “What are these, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Knowledge about your death. He alone knows when any among you shall die while you do not know that. He also knows when rain will fall. He keeps watching over you while you are fearful and disappointed. He (Allah) smiles at this for He knows a rain is near.
Laqīṭ says that he said, “O Messenger of Allah, we would not expect but good from the smiling Lord.” The Prophet said, “And the knowledge of the future. He knows what you will eat tomorrow but you do not know that.” The Prophet said, “And the knowledge when the Last Day will come.”
He [the narrator] said: “I believe he also mentioned what is in the womb.”
I (Laqīṭ) said, “O Messenger of Allah, teach us what you teach other people and what you know. We are such individuals who are most trusted among the tribes Mudhḥij, the tribe which is near us, Khathᶜam, the tribe which is next to us and our tribe, to which we belong. None is more trusted than us in these three tribes.”
The Prophet said, “You will live for a certain time. Then your Prophet will die. Then you will live for a certain time. Then the cry will be sounded. By your Lord, nothing on the face of earth will remain alive except the angels who are with your Lord. The earth will become empty. Allah will then send a great shower from under the throne. By the life of your Lord, all the murdered bodies scattered on the earth as well as the dead people buried in the land will be risen from their graves to be recreated anew from their heads. Everyone will instantly sit straight. Allah will ask the resurrected man, “How are you doing?” He will say, “O Lord, yesterday or today.” He will indeed be talking as if he was in the worldly life talking to his family members. He will not deem himself dead indeed.”
I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how will Allah gather our [dead bodies] once they will have been torn to shreds by the winds, natural erosions and the wild animals?” The Prophet said, “I tell you a sign of this kind of resurrection in the signs of Allah. You know that the earth remains dry for a period of time. You think that it will never be green again. Then your Lord sends down rains. In a few days it is like lush green vegetation. By the life of your Lord, He has more power to gather you by water than He has over giving new life to the plantation. You will rise from graves and from your burial places. You will be seeing Him and He will be seeing you.”
I said, “How is that possible. He is a single being and we are so great a number that we fill the whole earth. How can we see Him and He see us?” The Prophet said, “I tell you of an analogous phenomenon from the signs of Allah. Consider the moon and the sun. Either of these is a small sign of Allah. You see it all together in a single moment of time. You all see it without any difficulty. By the life of your Lord, it is more likely that you see Him and He sees you in a single moment than you see the moon or the sun.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, what will Allah, our Lord, do to us when we will meet him?” He said, “You will meet Him while the pages of your life and person will be open and clear to Him. Nothing regarding you will remain hidden to Him. Then your Lord will take a handful of water in His hands. He will sprinkle this water upon your hearts. Not a single face among you will miss the drops of water. As for the believers, the water will make their faces like a white sheet. As for the disbelievers, the water drops will strike the face of each of them and will turn it into black lava. Then your Messenger will set out. The pious people will follow him. All of them will then pass the bridge of fire. It will be just as someone steps over burning coal and utters ow! [Is it fire]? The Lord will say, “Yes, of course.” Then you will come to the fountain of the Prophet. You will be like thirsty camels. By the Lord I have never seen the like of this fountain. By the life of your Lord, all those approaching it will find cups full of water and this will purify them of all impurities. They will not need thenceforth, to defecate, for nothing impure will ever be created by their body. Then the sun and the moon will be barred. You will not see any of them thenceforth.”
I said, “O Messenger of Allah, how will then we see things that day?” He said, “Just as you see things today.”
That was a bright day. The mountains were shining bright.
I said, “O Messenger of Allah, how will our good and the bad actions be rewarded?” He said, “A good deed will be rewarded ten times of its original value. The sins will either be punished equal to the original or they will be forgiven altogether.” I said, “What is Paradise and what is Hell?”
He said, “By the life of your Lord, Paradise has eight doors. Every two doors are distanced by a space that can be covered by a camel rider in seventy years. Hell has seven doors. Every two doors to it are distanced by a journey of seventy years on a camel.”
I asked, “What will we find in Paradise?” He said, “There are canals of pure honey and canals in which milk flows. This milk will not lose its original taste. There will also be canals of wine which will not cause pain or embarrassment. There will be water which will never stink and will never become stagnant. You will also have fruits. By the life of your Lord, you will find in it what you know and even better than that. You will also have purified spouses.”
I asked, “O Messenger, will we have suitable and pure partners?” He said, “Pure and virtuous wives will be given to the virtuous men. You will enjoy them the way you enjoy your wives in this worldly life. They will also enjoy you. However, there will be no process of reproduction.”
I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, will it be the best of what we will be able to obtain in Paradise?” He (the Prophet) did not answer my question. Then I asked him what I needed to pledge to him. He stretched his hand and said, “[You pledge to me] that you will establish regular prayer, do your alms, and break away from the polytheists. Allah does not forgive the crime of ascribing partners to Him.”
I said, “[And corresponding to these duties] we will have the right to the land from the east to the west.” The Prophet held back his hands and then stretched his fingers. He thought I was putting an unacceptable condition. I added, “We will settle wherever we want. None will be punished except for what wrong he does.” The Prophet said, “You have that. You will not be punished except for the crime you commit.” We pledged these things to the Prophet and returned. Then the Prophet said, “These two persons are the most God-conscious ones both in this world and the next one.”
Kaᶜb b. Khadriyah, one from among the Banū Bakr b. Kilāb, asked the Prophet, “Who are they O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “They belong to Banū Muntafiq.”
[The narrator says] Then I approached the Prophet and asked him, “Will anyone from among our ancestors who passed away earlier find good [in the Hereafter]?” A man from among the leaders of the Quraysh said, “Your father Muntafiq is in Hell.” When he said this regarding my forefather in the presence of a great number of people, I felt severe pain. I felt as if my face was being inflamed. I thought I should ask, “and your father, O Messenger of Allah?” Then I considered again and found a better expression. I asked, “And your family, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Yes, they too. By the life of your Lord, all the graves of the polytheists from among the Quraysh and ᶜᾹmir you see tell them, “The Prophet Muhammad has sent me to you. I foretell you of what bad thing is going to happen to you. You will be dragged in the Fire upon your belly and upon your faces.””
I said, “What earns them that punishment O Messenger? Did not they do only what they found best believing it to be good?” The Prophet said, “That is because Allah sent a Messenger to all of the last seven nations. Whoever followed the Prophet is rightly guided. Whoever disobeyed the Messenger is among the wayward people.”
Abū Bakr said: The phrase ghayr allā tawālud means that the couple will not desire to have a baby. This we conclude in the light of the following tradition by Abū al-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī transmitted on the authority of Abū Saᶜīd al-Khudrī. The Prophet is reported to have said, “When any among you will desire to have a baby in Paradise, they will conceive, deliver it and make it grow up in a moment.”
We know that Allah has promised that the dwellers of Heaven will have anything they desire and cherish. It is, therefore, not possible that someone in Paradise has a desire to have a baby and fails to have his wish. Allah does not go back on His words.
We know that people get babies in this worldly life while sometimes they do not desire it. On the contrary in Paradise no such unwanted baby will come. People will have babies only if they desired one. Those having such desire will definitely get their wish granted for Allah has promised that in Paradise our wishes and desires will be fulfilled.
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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