VI. QUESTIONS ON THE PROPHET'S AND THE AWLIYA'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE GHAYB (UNSEEN)
Some people
cite the verses of the Holy Qur'an which they translate to mean that Allah
commands the Prophet to tell the companions that he has no knowledge of the unseen.
I was surprised at hearing this and decided to write to you for your view. The
stand of the real Ahl al-Sunna with
respect to Rasulullah's knowledge of
the unseen will be appreciated. Also, what is the belief of Ahl al-Sunna regarding the awliya's knowledge of the unseen?
THE PROPHET'S
KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNSEEN
Knowledge of the Unseen is one of Allah's
prerogatives, exclusive to Him except insofar as He discloses it to His elect
servants:
"He discloses not His unseen (ghayb)
to anyone, except only to such a Messenger as He is well-pleased with."
(72:26)
The hafiz
Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani explained this verse thus:
It follows from this verse that Prophets can see some of the Unseen,
and so do the saints (wali, pl. awliya') that follow each particular
Prophet also, as each takes from his Prophet and is gifted (yukram) with his knowledge. The difference between the two is that
the Prophet looks at this knowledge through all kinds of revelation, while the
saint does not look upon it except in dreams or through inspiration, and Allah
knows best.[1]
Ibn Hajar quotes
al-Qurtubi's words confirming this:
The truthful, righteous Muslim (al-muslim
al-sadiq al-salih) is he whose state matches that of Prophets and thereby
is bestowed (ukrima) some of the same
kind of gifts they were given: that is to behold the unseen (wa huwa al-ittila` `ala al-ghayb). As
for the disbeliever (al-kafir), the
corrupt person (al-fasiq), and the
contentious one who confuses matters for the listeners (al-mikhlat)-- then no.[2]
It
is incorrect and improper, therefore, to say that the Prophet did not know the
Unseen except if such a statement is qualified, such as saying: "He did
not know that of the Unseen which only Allah knows." Otherwise it is
untrue that the Prophet did not know the Unseen. How could such a claim be true
of any truthful Prophet who brings news from His Lord, especially one who
ascended above the seven heavens and the eight Paradises to His Lord's
presence, one who told of the events that attended creation, one who saw the
events after resurrection, and one to whom was revealed the inimitable Qur'an?
And Allah said to him:
And We granted you knowledge of what you knew not, and the bounty of
Allah for you has been infinite. (4:113)
This is of the tidings of the Unseen which we reveal to you. You did
not know it before this, nor your people. (11:49)
Say: ... Allah has already informed us of the true state of matters
concerning you: It is your actions that Allah and His Apostle will observe...
(9:94)
And some of them hurt the Prophet and say, "He is all ear!"
(i.e. gullible). Say: An ear of good for you: he believes in Allah, and
believes the Believers, and is a Mercy to those of you who believe... (9:61)
Imam al-Baydawi commented: "This verse is a warning that It is not due to his ignorance of your true
position that the Prophet accepts what you say but out of leniency and mercy
for you."[3]
However,
the Prophet did not like to boast and he always stressed that certain matters
of the Unseen were Allah's exclusive domain, especially knowledge of the Last
Hour, and "the five things" mentioned at the end of Sura Luqman (31:34). This is confirmed
by the hadiths:
1. Utiytu
mafatihu kulli shay'in illa al-khams. "I have received the keys to
everything (unseen) except the Five (which Allah alone knows)."[4]
Ibn
Mas`ud similarly narrates: Utiya mafatihu
kulli shay'in ghayr al-khams. "He has received the keys to everything
(unseen) except the Five (which Allah alone knows)."[5]
Ibn
Hajar al-`Asqalani also cites, without weakening them, two very similar hadiths
in Fath al-bari:
Utiya
nabiyyukum `ilmu kulli shay'in siwa hadhihi al-khams.
Utiytu mafatih al-ghayb.
"Your
Prophet has received everything except these Five."
"I
have received the keys of the Unseen."[6]
These five things are:
- Knowledge of what is in the wombs;
- Knowledge of when the Hour will rise;
- Knowledge of what one will gain tomorrow;
- Knowledge of the land in which one will die;
- Knowledge of the time Allah will send rain.
(Hadith of Ibn `Umar in Ahmad and Bukhari.)
2. A man from Banu `Amir, after asking the Prophet
certain questions, said: "Is there any knowledge left which you do not
know?" whereupon the Prophet said: "Allah has taught me a great good,
and there is a kind of Unseen knowledge which Allah alone knows: He has
knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, He knows what lies in the womb,
no one (but He) knows what one will gain tomorrow, and no one (but He) knows in
what land one shall die."[7]
3. It is confirmed by Ibn Mardawayh's narration from
`Ali cited in the chapter of Sura
Luqman in Kanz al-`ummal, as a
commentary for the verse 28:66 in Sura
al-Qasas, "On that day tidings will be darkened for them," whereby
`Ali said: "Nothing was darkened for your Prophet except five matters from
the secrets of the Unseen." (lam
yu`ma `ala nabiyyikum shay'un illa khamsun min sara'ir al-ghayb.)
4. In Tirmidhi (hasan
sahih) and Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunna
on the authority of Mu`adh ibn Jabal:
The Prophet said: "My Lord came to me in the best image and asked
me over what did the angels of the higher heaven vie, and I said I did not
know, so He put His hand between my shoulders, and I felt its coolness in my
innermost, and the knowledge of all things between the East and the West came
to me."
`Ali
al-Qari wrote about this hadith in the chapter on the Prophet's turban in his
book Jam` al-wasa'il fi sharh al-shama'il,
a commentary on Tirmidhi's Shama'il
or Characteristics of the Prophet:
Whether the Prophet saw his Lord during his sleep or whether Allah the
Glorious and Exalted manifested Himself to him with a form (bi al-tajalli al-suwari), this type of manifestation is known
among the masters of spiritual states and stations (arbab al-hal wa al-maqam), and it consists in being reminded of
His qualities (hay'atihi) and
reflecting upon His vision (ru'yatihi),
which is the outcome of the perfection of one's inner detachment (takhliyatihi) and self-adornment (tahliyatihi).
And Allah knows best
about the states of His Prophets and Intimate Friends whom He has raised with
His most excellent upbringing, and the mirrors of whose hearts He has polished
with His most excellent polish, until they witnessed the Station of Divine
Presence and Abiding (maqam al-hudur wa
al-baqa'), and they rid themselves of the rust of screens and extinction (sada' al-huzur wa al-fana').
May Allah bestow on us
their yearnings, may He make us taste their states and manners, and may He make
us die in the condition of loving them and raise us in their group.[8]
al-Qari also said in al-Asrar al-marfu`a:
Ibn Sadaqa said that Ibn
Zar`a said: "The hadith of Ibn `Abbas [about the Prophet seeing His Lord]
is sound (sahih), and no one denies it except a Mu`tazili" [!]... Ibn
al-Humam answered that "this (representation) is the veil of form (hijab al-sura)." It seems that he meant by this that the
entire goal can be visualized if it is interpreted as a formal manifestation (tajalli suwari), as it is
incontrover-tibly absurd to interpret it as a real or literal manifestation (tajalli haqiqi)... for Allah is exalted
from possessing a body, a form (sura),
and directions with regard to His essence... And if the hadith is shown to have
something in its chain that indicates forgery, then fine; otherwise: the door
of figurative interpretation is wide and imposes itself (bab al-ta'wil wasi`un muhattam).[9]
5. The Prophet's "knowledge of all things
between the East and the West" is confirmed by the famous narration with a
grade of hasan (fair) from al-Bara'
ibn `Azib whereby:
At the time of the Battle of Ahzab or the battle of the Trench, the
Prophet went down to hit a rock with his pick, whereupon he said: "Bismillah" and shattered one
third of the rock. Then he exclaimed: "Allahu
akbar! I have been given the keys of Syria. By Allah, verily I can see her
red palaces right from where I stand." Then he said: "Bismillah," and shattered another third and exclaimed:
"Allahu akbar! I have been given
the keys of Persia. By Allah, I can see her cities and her white palace right
from where I stand." Then he said: "Bismillah"
and shattered the remainder of the rock and exclaimed: "Allahu akbar! I have been given the keys
of Yemen. By Allah, I can see the gates of San`a' right from where I
stand."[10]
6. Another version of the above is related from
Salman al-Farisi. Ibn Hisham relates it in his Sira through Ibn Ishaq thus:
Salman al-Farisi said: "I was digging in one corner of the trench
at which time one rock gave me difficulty. Allah's Messenger came near me and
saw my difficulty as I was digging. He came down and took the pick from my
hands. Then he struck and a great spark flashed under the pick. He struck again
and another spark flashed. He struck a third time and a third spark flashed. I
said to him: My father and mother (be ransomed) for you, O Messenger of Allah!
What is that I saw flashing under the pick as you were striking? He said: Did
you see this, O Salman? I said: Yes! He said: The first time, Allah opened
Yemen [in the South] for me; the second time, He opened the North (al-Sham) and the West (al-Maghrib) for me; and the third time,
he opened the East (al-Mashriq)."[11]
7. The above two narrations are confirmed by Abu
Hurayra's words related by Ibn Hisham in his Sira directly after the above narration:
Ibn Ishaq said: A reliable source narrated to me that Abu Hurayra used
to say, when these countries were conquered in the time of `Umar and in the
time of `Uthman and after `Uthman: "Conquer what comes within your sight.
By the One in Whose hand lies Abu Hurayra's soul, you do not conquer any city
nor will you conquer any city until the Day of resurrection except that Allah
the Exalted gave Muhammad its keys beforehand."[12]
8. A further confirmation of the above is the hadith
in Muslim:
The earth was collected together for me so that I was shown its Easts
and Wests. And the kingdom of my Community will reach to the extent that it was
brought together for me.
9. A further confirmation is the hadith in Bukhari:
Narrated Asma' bint Abu Bakr: I came to 'Aisha during the solar
eclipse. The people were standing (offering prayer) and she too, was standing
and offering prayer. I asked, "What is wrong with the people?" She
pointed towards the sky with her hand and said, Subhan Allah!'' I asked her,
"Is there a sign?" She nodded with her head meaning, yes. When
Allah's Apostle finished (the prayer), he glorified and praised Allah and said,
"There is not anything that I have not seen before but I have seen now at
this place of mine, even Paradise and Hell. It has been revealed to me that you
people will be put to trial nearly like the trial of al-Dajjal, in your graves. As for the true believer or a Muslim
(the sub-narrator is not sure as to which of the two (words Asma' had said) he
will say, 'Muhammad came with clear signs from Allah, and we responded to him
(accepted his teachings) and believed (what he said)' It will be said (to him)
'Sleep in peace; we have known that you were a true believer who believed with
certainty.' As for a hypocrite or a doubtful person, (the sub-narrator is not
sure as to which word Asma' said) he will say, 'I do not know, but I heard the
people saying something and so I said the same.'" (Bukhari, Volume 9, Book
92, Number 390)
10. A further confirmation of the above is the
hadith of Hudhayfa in Bukhari and Muslim:
The Messenger of Allah gave us an address in which he did not leave out
anything that would happen until the Last Hour came. Whoever remembered it
remembered it and whoever forgot it forgot it. Many companions of mine have
known it. When any of it came to pass, I would recognize it and remember it as
a man remembers the face of a man who has gone away and which he recognizes
when he sees him again." Then Hudhayfa said: "I do not know whether
my companions may have forgotten or pretended to forget [i.e. to prevent
fitna], but Allah's Messenger did not leave out the instigator of a single
disaster that was going to happen until the end of the world. There were more
than three hundred of them. He named them for us, each with his own name, the
name of his father and his tribe.
11. A further confirmation is the hadith in Bukhari:
...Then Allah's Apostle said, "By Him in Whose Hand my life is,
Paradise and Hell were displayed before me across this wall while I was
praying, and I never saw such good and evil as I have seen today."
(Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 397)
12. A further confirmation is the hadith of Abu
al-Darda' in Tabarani and Ahmad, which is sound (sahih) according to Haythami in Majma`
al-zawa'id:
When the Messenger of Allah left us there was not a bird that flies in
the sky but that he had given us some knowledge about it.
And
all this profusion of knowledge of the Unseen on the part of the Prophet has
been characterized by Allah as perspicuity and ability to reveal knowledge of
the Unseen in the two verses:
His sight swerved not, nor swept astray. (53:17)
He is not stingy of (his knowledge of) the Unseen. (81:24)
13. Nor is the Prophet's knowledge after his life in
dunya in any way lessened. Rather,
the contrary is true, as established in the following hadith:
My life is a great good for you, you will relate about me and it will
be related to you, and my death is a great good for you, your actions will be
presented to me (in my grave) and if I see goodness I will praise Allah, and if
I see other than that I will ask forgiveness of Him for you.[13]
Qadi`
Iyad in his al-Shifa' fi ma`rifat huquq
al-mustafa (The Healing Concerning the Knowledge of the Rights of the Elect
One), al-Qastallani in his al-Mawahib
al-laduniyya bi al-minah al-muhammadiyya (The Gifts from Allah: the Muhammadan
Dispensations), and other scholars of Ahl
al-Sunna included in their excellent books on the Prophet extensive
chapters establishing his knowledge of the unseen and future events.
In
the light of the above evidence, such statements as that of Muhammad ibn `Abd
al-Wahhab at the end of his leaflet paradoxically entitled "The Three
Principles of Oneness" are false whereby:
One who claims to know something from
knowledge of the Unseen is a taghut
or false deity (Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab, al-Usul
al-thalatha, end)!
This
is utterly rejected as false and gross falsehood spoken against the Prophet by
those who would deny his status and the prerogatives of his rank established by
Allah in His speech and by the sound hadith of the Prophet. We seek refuge in
Allah from such statements as signify extreme ignorance, indeed enmity to the
Prophet and to Allah's Pure Religion. And Allah knows best.
QADI `IYAD'S
CHAPTER "THE PROPHET'S KNOWLEDGE OF
THE UNSEEN AND FUTURE EVENTS"
WITH SOME OF
MULLA `ALI AL-QARI'S COMMENTARY ON THIS CHAPTER[14]
Qadi `Iyad says in his book al-Shifa' concerning the Prophet's knowledge of the Unseen:
The hadiths on this subject are like a vast ocean whose depths cannot
be plumbed and which does not cease to overflow. This is one aspect of his
miracles which is definitely known. We have many hadiths which have reached us
by multiple paths of transmission (tawatur)
regarding his familiarity with (ittila`)
the Unseen.
Hudahyfa
said: "The Messenger of Allah gave us an address in which he did not leave
out anything that would happen until the Last Hour came. Whoever remembered it
remembered it and whoever forgot it forgot it. Many companions of mine have
known it. When any of it came to pass, I would recognize it and remember it as
a man remembers the face of a man who has gone away and which he recognizes
when he sees him again." Then Hudhayfa said: "I do not know whether
my companions may have forgotten or pretended to forget [i.e. to prevent fitna;
Qari said: to turn to what is more important], but Allah's Messenger did not
leave out the instigator of a single disaster that was going to happen until
the end of the world. There were more than three hundred of them. He named them
for us, each with his own name, the name of this father and his tribe."[15]
Abu Dharr said [from
Abu al-Darda']: "When the Messenger of Allah left us there was not a bird
that flies in the sky but that he had given us some knowledge about it."[16]
The
compilers of the Sahih[17] and the Imams[18] have related what he taught
his Companions and family about regarding his promises to them of victory over
his enemies, the conquests of Mecca, Jerusalem, the Yemen, Syria and Iraq, and
the establish-ment of security so that a woman could go from Hira in Iraq to
Mecca fearing none but Allah.
He
said that Madina would be raided and Khaybar would be conquered by `Ali the
next day. He foretold those parts of the world that Allah was going to open up
to his Community and what they would be given of its flowers and fruits, such
as the treasures of Chosroes and Caesar. He told about what would happen among
them with regard to sedition, disputes and sectarianism., acting as those
before them had done, their splitting into seventy-three sects, only one of
which would be saved, that they would spread out in the earth, that people
would come would wear one garment in the morning and another in the evening,
and dish after dish would be placed before them. They would embellish their
houses as the ka`ba is embellished. Then he said at the end of the hadith:
"Today you are better than you will be on that day."
He
said that they would strut about on the earth and that the girls of Persia and
Byzantium would serve them. Allah would withdraw their strength from them and
the evil ones would overcome the good. They would fight the Turks and the
Khazars and Byzantium. Chosroes and Persia would be obliterated so that there
would be no Chosroes or Persia afterwards. Caesar would pass away and there
would be no Caesar after him. He mentioned that Byzantium would continue
generation after generation until the end of time. The noblest and best people
would be taken away. When the time grew near, knowledge would be taken away,
and sedition and bloodshed would appear. He said: "Woe to the Arabs for an
evil that draws near!"
The
earth was rolled up for him so that he could see its eastern and western
extremities and the dominion of his Community was to reach what was rolled up
for him. That is why it has extended from the east to the west, from the Indies
in the east to the sea of Tangier, beyond which is no civilization. That was
not given to any of the nations. Islam did not extend to the north and south in
the same way.
He
said: "The people of the west (ahl
al-gharb) will know the truth until the Hour comes." Ibn al-Madini[19] believed that this refers
to the Arabs because they are distinguished by drinking from a certain kind of
leather bucket (al-gharb). Another
believed that it refers to the people of the Maghrib.
In a hadith from Abu Umama, the
Prophet said: "A group of my Community will remain constant to the truth,
conquering their enemy until the command of Allah comes to them while they are
still in that condition." He was asked, "Messenger of Allah, where
are they?" He replied: "In Jerusalem."[20]
He foretold the kingdom of the
Umayyads and the rule of Mu`awiya and counselled him and said that the Umayyads
would make the kingdom of Allah a dynasty. He said that the descendents of
al-`Abbas would emerge with black banners and would rule a far larger area than
they now ruled.
He
said that the Mahdi would appear and told about what the Ahl al-bayt, the Prople of his house, would experience and about
their slaughter and exile.
He
foretold the murder of `Ali and said that the most wretched of people would be
his killer [this is `Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam] and that `Ali would be the
apportioner of the Fire -- his friends would enter the Garden and his enemies
the Fire. Among those who would oppose him would be the Kharijis and the
Nasibiyya[21] and a group who claimed to
follow him among the Rafidis would reject him.
He
said: "`Uthman will be killed while reciting the Qur'an. Perhaps Allah
will have him wearing a shirt [i.e. the Caliphate]. They will want to remove it
and his blood will fall on his utterance of Allah's words: "Allah is
enough for you against them." (2:137).
He
said that sedition would not apprear as long as `Umar was alive, al-Zubayr
would fight against `Ali, the dogs of al-Haw'ab[22] would bark at one of his
wives and many would be killed around her and she would barely escape. They
barked at `A'isha when she went to Basra.
He
said that `Ammar would be killed by an unjust group and the companions of
Mu`awiya killed him [at Siffin]. He said to `Abdullah ibn Zubayr: "Woe to
the people from you [i.e. they will be punished for killing him unjustly] and
woe to you from the people [i.e. al-Hajjaj will attack you]!"
He
said about Quzman [one of the worst hypocrites]: "He will be tested
together with the Muslims although he is one of the people of the Fire,"
and later Quzman committed suicide.
He
said that a group which included Abu Hurayra, Samura ibn Jundub and Hudhayfa:
"The last of you will die in a fire [in this world, not the next]."
They kept asking about each other, and Samura was the last of them to die when
he was old and senile. He tried to warm himself over a fire and burned himself
in it.
He
said about Hanzala al-Ghasil (Washed-by-the-Angels): "Ask his wife about
him. I saw the angels washing him." They asked her and she said: "He
left (for Jihad) in janaba (state of major ritual defilement
after sexual intercourse) and died before he could do ghusl (major ablution)." Abu Sa`id said: "We found his
head dripping with water."
He
said: "The khalifate is with Quraysh. This business will remain with
Quryash as long as they establish the Religion."
He
said: "There will be one liar and one destroyer (kadhdhab wa mubir) from Thaqif." It was thought that this
referred to al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf and al-Mukhtar ibn `Ubayd.[23]
He
said that Musaylima would be destroyed by Allah and that Fatima would be the
first of his family to follow him to the grave (she died six months later).
He
warned about the Great Apostasy (al-ridda)
and said that the khalifate after him would last for thirty years and that it
would then become a kingdom. This happened in the period of al-Hasan ibn `Ali.
He
said: "This business began as prophethood and mercy, then mercy and a
khalifate, then a voracious kingdom and then arrogance and tyranny and
corruption will enter the community."
He
told of the existence of Uways al-Qarani and that there would be Amirs who would delay the prayer beyond
its time.
In
one hadith he says that there would be thirty liars in his community and four
of them would be women. Another hadith says thirty liars, one of whom would be
the Dajjal or Antichrist. They would
all deny Allah and his Messenger.
He
said: "The time is near when there will be a lot of non-Arabs among you
who will consume your property and strike your necks. The Last Hour will not
come until a man from Qahtan drives the people with his staff."
He
also said: "The best of you are my generation, then those after them, and
then those after them. After that, people will come who give testimony without
being asked to do so, who will be treacherous and are not trustworthy, who
promise and do not fulfill. They will tend to be corpulent."
He
said: "A time is only followed by one worse than it."
He
also said: "My community will be destroyed at the hands of youg men from
Quraysh." One version from Abu Hurayra says: "If I had wanted to, I
would have named them for you -- the Banu so-and-so and the Banu
so-and-so."
He
told about the appearance of the Qadariyya and the Rafidis (those who curse the
Companions and declare Ahl al-Sunna
to be disbelievers), and said that the last of this community would curse the
first of it. The Ansar would diminish
until they became like the salt in food (i.e. rare). Their position would
continue to dissipate until not a group of them remained. He said that they
would meet with despotism after him.
He
told about the Kharijites, describing them down to the malformed one among
them, and said that their mark would be tahliq
or shaved heads.[24]
He
said that shepherds would become the leaders of the people and the naked
barefoot ones would vie in constructing high buildings. Mothers would give
birth to their mistresses.
He
said that Quraysh and their confederates would not conquer him, but that he
would conquer them.
He
foretold "the Death" -- a plague which occurred in the time of `Umar
and in which seventy thousand people perished -- which would come after the
conquest of Jerusalem and described what the houses of Basra would be like.
He
said that they would raid in the sea like kings on thrones. He said that if the
Religion had been hung in the Pleiades, men from Persia would have obtained it.
A
wind blew up during one of his raids and he said: "It blows for the death
of a hypocrite." When they returned to Madina, they discovered it was
true.
He
told some people sitting with him: "The tooth of one of you in the Fire
will be greater in size than the mountain of Uhud." Abu Hurayra said:
"The people eventually were all dead except for me and one other man. Then
he was killed as an apostate during the Ridda
in the battle of Yamama."
He
told about the man who stole some pearls from a Jew and the jewels were found
in that man's saddle-bag, and about the man who stole a cloak and it was found
where he said it would be. He told about his she-camel when she had strayed and
how she was tied to a tree with her halter. He told about the letter of Hatib
(Ibn Abi Balta`a) to the people of Mecca.
He
told about the case where Safwan ibn Umayya persuaded `Umayr ibn Wahb to go to
the Prophet and kill him. When `Umayr arrived where the Prophet was, intending
to kill him, the Messenger of Allah told him about his business and secret, and
`Umayr became a Muslim.
He
informed them about the money which his uncle, al-`Abbas, had left concealed
with Umm al-Fadl. al-`Abbas said: "No
one except she and I knew where it was." So he became Muslim.
He
informed them that he would kill Ubayy ibn Khalaf and that `Utba ibn Abi Lahab
would be eaten by one of Allah's beasts of prey. He knew about the deaths of
the people of Badr and it happened as he said it would.
He
said about al-Hasan: "This son of mine is a master (sayyid) and Allah will make peace between two groups through
him."
He
said to Sa`d (Ibn Abi Waqqas): "Perhaps you will survive until some people
profit by you and others seek to harm you."
He
told about the killing of the people of Mu'ta on the very day they were slain,
even though there was more than a month's distance between he and them.
The
Negus died and he told them about it the very day he died although he was in
his own land.
He
informed Fayruz (the Persian minister) of the death of Chosroes on the very day
that a messenger came to him bearing the news of his death. When Fayruz
verified the story, he became Muslim.
One
time when the Prophet found Abu Dharr sleeping in the mosque in Madina he told
him how he would be exiled. The Prophet said to him: "How will it be when
you are driven from it?" He said: "I will dwell in the Masjid al-Haram." He asked:
"And when you are driven from there?" The Prophet told him of his
life alone and of his death alone.[25]
He
said that the first of his wives to join him would be the one with the longest
hand. It was Zaynab bint Jahsh because of the length of her hand in giving sadaqa.
He
foretold the killing of al-Husayn at Taff [Karbala']. He took some earth [which
Jibril had shown him] from his hand and said: "His grave is in it."
He
said about Zayd ibn Suhan: "One of his limbs will precede him to the
garden." His hand was cut off in Jihad.
He
said about those who were with him on Mount Hira: "Be firm. On you is a
Prophet, a true man, and a martyr." `Ali, `Umar, `Uthman, Talha and
al-Zubayr were killed and Sa`d was attacked.
He
said to Suraqa: "How will it be when you wear the trousers of
Chosroes?" When they were brought to `Umar, Suraqa put them on and said:
"Praise be to Allah who stripped Chosroes of them and put them on
Suraqa."
The
Prophet said: "A city will be built between the Tigris and Dujayl and
Qutrubull and al-Sara. The treasures of the earth will be brought to it which
the earth will swallow up," clearly indicating Baghdad.
He
said: "There will be a man called al-Walid in this Community and he will
be worse for this Community than Pharaoh was for his." [This is al-Walid
ibn Yazid ibn `Abd al-Malik.]
He
also said: "The Hour will not come until two parties fight each other with
the same claim." [This was the battle of Siffin which took place around
the khilafa. The people of Syria were
60,000 of which 20,000 died; while the people of Iraq were 120,000 of which
40,000 died.]
He
said to `Umar about Suhayl ibn `Amr: "Perhaps he will be in a position
which will delight you, `Umar." That happened. He stood up in Mecca in a
similar way to Abu Bakr on the day when they heard about the Prophet's death.
He addressed them with a similar speech [i.e. similar to Abu Bakr's speech in
Madina that day] and strengthened their insight.
When
he sent Khalid to Ukaydar, he said: "You will send him hunting for wild
cows," and he did.[26]
All
these matters took place during his lifetime, and after his death, just as he
had said they would.
He
also told his Companions about their secrets and inward thoughts. He told them
about the secrets of the hypocrites and their rejection and what they said
about him and the believers, so that one of the hypocrites would say to his
friend: "Be quiet!By Allah, if he does not have someone to inform him, the
very stones of the plain would inform him." [These were `Itab ibn Usayd
and al-Harith ibn Hisham, both of whom became Muslims when the Prophet
subsequently told them that they had said this.]
He
described the magic which Labid ibn al-`Asim used against him and how it was in
the comb, the combings and the spathe of the male palm and that he had thrown
them into the well of Dharwan. It was found to be just as he had described it.
He
told Quraysh that the termites would eat what was in the paper which they
issued against the Banu Hashim by which they cut off relations with them. He
said that every mention of Allah would remain. It was found to be as he had
said.
He
described Jerusalem to the unbelievers when they did not believe what he had
said as is related in the hadith of the Night Journey, describing it to them as
someone who really knew it. He told them about their caravan which he had passed
on his way and told them when it would arrive.
All
of these things happpened as he had said, including all that he told them
regarding events which would take place and things whose beginnings had not yet
even appeared, such as his words: "The flourishing of Jerusalem will prove
the ruin of Yathrib. The ruin of Yathrib will result in the emergence of fierce
fighting. The emergence of fierce fighting will encompass the conquest of
Constantinople."
He
mentioned the preconditions of the Hour, the signs of its arrival, the Rising
and the Gathering, and told about what would happen to the good and those who
deviated, the Garden and the Fire and the events of the Rising.
A
whole volume could be devoted to this subject, but there is enough for you in
what we have indicated. Most of the hadiths are in the Sahih volumes and have been mentioned by the Imams.
FROM SOUTUL ISLAM PUBLICATIONS
(PRETORIA,
SOUTH AFRICA)
ON THE SIGHT
OF THE PROPHET
The eyes of the Holy Prophet were matchless in their
outward beauty as well as in their vision and sight. Ibn Abbas in describing
his beauteous eyesight states:
The Holy Prophet could see
equally well during the darkness of the
night and the brightness of the day. (Bukhari)
Anas narrates: The Holy Prophet himself said:
O people! I am your Imam.Do
not precede me in ruku` and sajda because in addition to seeing what
is in front of me I also see what is behind me. (Muslim)
Abu Huraira similarly narrates the Prophet's words:
I swear on Allah Almighty,
neither your ruku` is hidden from me
nor your sajda because I can see you
behind my back as well. (Muslim and Bukhari)
The
gist of the commentary which the great scholar Shaykh `Abd al- Haqq Muhaddith
Dihlawi has written on these traditions is as follows: "Only Allah
Almighty exactly knows the truth [i.e. the extent] of his vision. In addition,
every blessed limb also falls in this category [of piercing sight], because no
one can fully understand what they were." They are without doubt beyond
one's imagination and intellect. Any assumption falls short of their
virtuosity. Allah Almighty has full Power to bestow vision to every part of the
body, or grant this unique sight as His Favour and Grace on His beloved
Messenger.
If
by this sight is meant vision of the heart, then it is that knowledge which was
bestowed upon him by Allah Almighty.
Some
people tend to incorrectly rely on the inauthentic tradition whereby the Holy
Prophet said: "I do not know what is behind the wall." No origin is
known (la asl) for such a hadith.
Even if such an improbable saying were attributable to the Prophet, then its
purpose would be to show personal humility and not to negate such knowledge.
The meaning would then be: "I do not know that on my own, nor do I have
such knowledge on my own," but as far as Bestowed Knowledge is concerned,
i.e knowledge given by Allah Almighty, the Holy Prophet was fully equipped with
it by his Creator.
The
Holy Qur'an bears the testimony to this:
And We granted you knowledge
of what you knew not, and the bounty of Allah for you has been infinite.
(4:113)
CONCLUSION :
THE PROPHET "KNOWS" AND "CAN,"
BUT HE IS
HUMBLE AND DOES NOT BOAST
The "Salafis" are often seen adducing the
following verses among others in support of their view that the Prophet is no
more than an ordinary individual:
Say [O Prophet]: I have no
power to benefit myself nor to harm it, except that which Allah wills. Had I
knowledge of the Unseen, I would have acquired much good, and adversity would
not have touched me... (7:188)
Say: I am but a man (or: a
mortal) like yourselves. (18:110, 41:6)
And they say: We will not
put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth... Or thou have a
garden... and cause rivers to gush forth... Or thou cause the heaven to fall...
or bring God and the angels... have a house of gold; ascend up into heaven...
bring down for us a book... Say: My Lord be glorified! Am I naught save a
mortal messenger?" (17:90-93)
You
will witness them quoting such verses continually to try to prove that the
Prophet was an ordinary person. They never remember the last part of the verse
that states:
Say: I am but a mortal like
yourselves, but I receive revelation.
Of
course, they also try to extend this Communist-like doctrine of perfect
ordinariness and equality to the awliya
as being even more ordinary. Such behavior is typical of certain groups
standing in the way of the propagation of true Islam to whom Nuh Keller refers
in his notice on Yusuf al-Rifa`i in his Reliance
of the Traveller (p. 1112):
He (Yusuf al-Rifa`i) takes a
keen interest in the problems of Muslims today, and at a recent symposium in
Amman with Sheikh Abdullah Muhammad Ghimari and Sheikh Hassan Saqqaf, he voiced
his concern for the obstacles to the current Islamic revival and world
propagation of Islam that are being put in its way by "fundamentalists" whose view of Allah is anthropomorphic,
view of the Prophet is that he is over-venerated and [overly] loved by Muslims,
and view of Muslims is that they are unbelievers or immersed in unlawful
innovations.
With
regard to the above verses, the scholars' explanation for them is not that the
Prophets declare their mortality as an expression of their ordinariness, but
rather of their dignity and humbleness on the one hand, and on the other hand
to destroy any claim of a nature other than human -- e.g. god or angel -- that
might be attributed to them.
These
verses were also revealed in answer to some people who asked the Prophet for
signs in a spirit of disbelief and mockery, such as a group who claimed that
they would attest to his prophethood only if he performed for them certain
miracles, while it is established by the scholars of asbab an-nuzul (Context for Revelation) that the Prophet disliked
being asked for miracles by unbelievers. To quote these verses in an attempt to
prove the supposed ordinariness of the Prophet is an aberrant practice and a
true under-estimation of his rights and of Allah's generosity towards Him. The
Prophet certainly was not limited in the reductive sense that disbelievers claimed
about prophets in the verse: "They said: Ye are but mortals like unto
us" (36:15).
Finally, another reason for the disclaimers concerning the Prophet was his humbleness. The explanation of Ibn 'Abbas quoted