SEEING ALLAH? Not possible CHAPTER 9 – SEEING ALLAH? Not possible

Allah’s Image As was stated previously, man’s mind is limited and Allah is limitless, therefore man cannot hope to understand anything about Allah’s attributes except what Allah chooses to reveal to him. If man tries to picture Allah in his mind he will only go astray, because Allah is different from anything man can conceive. Any image of Allah which man constructs in his mind will be from some part of creation he has observed. Thus, if he pictures Allah in his mind, he ends up giving Allah the attributes of creation.

However, it is possible for man to intellectually and emotionally understand some of Allah’s attributes. Allah has revealed some of them to man. For example, al-Qadir: the All Powerful (meaning Allah has got control over everything ). Also ar-Rahman: the Most Merciful (meaning there is nothing in creation which as not been blessed by Allah’s mercy). Such understandings do not require any pictorial representations in the mind. Hence, it is only along these lines that the human mind may correctly conceive of Allah.

لَيۡسَ كَمِثۡلِهِۦ شَىۡءٌ۬‌ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلۡبَصِيرُ In the Quran Allah makes it very clear that nothing we can think of is like him. Allah states: لَيۡسَ كَمِثۡلِهِۦ شَىۡءٌ۬‌ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلۡبَصِيرُ “There is nothing like Him (Allah) but He sees and hears all.” [Surah ash-Shoora 42:11] and وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ ڪُفُوًا أَحَدُۢ “There is none comparable to Him.” [Surah al-Ikhlaas 112:4]

لَّا تُدۡرِڪُهُ ٱلۡأَبۡصَـٰرُ وَهُوَ يُدۡرِكُ ٱلۡأَبۡصَـٰرَ‌ۖ Prophet Musa (as) Asks to See Allah Allah also had told us in the Quran that our eyes cannot grasp Him: لَّا تُدۡرِڪُهُ ٱلۡأَبۡصَـٰرُ وَهُوَ يُدۡرِكُ ٱلۡأَبۡصَـٰرَ‌ۖ “Eyes cannot catch Him but He catches all eyes.” [Surah al-Anam 6:103] This statement by Allah points out that man is incapable of viewing Him.

In order to further emphasise this fact, Allah related in the Quran an incident from the life of Prophet Musa (as): أَنظُرۡ إِلَيۡكَ‌ۚ قَالَ لَن تَرَٮٰنِى وَلَـٰكِنِ ٱنظُرۡ إِلَى ٱلۡجَبَلِ فَإِنِ ٱسۡتَقَرَّ مَڪَانَهُ ۥ فَسَوۡفَ تَرَٮٰنِى‌ۚ فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُ ۥ لِلۡجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ ۥ دَڪًّ۬ا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقً۬ا‌ۚ فَلَمَّآ أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ تُبۡتُ إِلَيۡكَ وَأَنَا۟ أَوَّلُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ “And when Moses came to our appointed meeting place and his Lord spoke to him, he said: ‘My Lord! Show me Yourself so that I may gaze upon You.’ He replied: ‘You will never see Me, but look at the mountain. If it remains in its place you will be able to see Me.’ When his Lord revealed His glory to the mountain, it was crushed into dust, and Moses fell down unconscious. When he regained his consciousness he said: ‘Glory be unto You! I turn to You repentant and I am the first of the true believers.’” [Surah al-Araf 7:143]

Allah made it very clear to Musa (as) that it was not possible for him or anyone else to see Him. No man could bear the intensity of even seeing Allah’s glory much less Allah’s boundless being. When the mountain disintegrated, Prophet Musa (as) realised his error and begged Allah’s forgiveness for requesting something which was not permitted.

Did Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) See Allah? Some Muslims have felt that an exception was made in the case of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), whom Allah caused to travel up through the heavens and go even beyond the point where angels were allowed to go. However, when Aisha (ra) was asked by one of the Taabeoon (students of the Prophet’s companion) named Masrouq, if Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) had seen his Lord, she replied, “My hair is standing on end because of what you have asked! Whoever tells you that Muhammad saw his Lord has lied!” [Muslim].

And when Abu Dharr asked the Prophet (pbuh) if he saw his Lord, the Prophet (pbuh) replied, “There was only light how could I see Him” [Muslim]. The Prophet (pbuh) on another occasion explained the significance of the light and that it was not Allah himself, saying, “Verily Allah does not sleep nor is it befitting for Him to sleep. He is the One who lowers the scales and raises them. The deeds of the night go up to Him before the deeds of the day and those of the day before those of the night, and His veil is Light” [Muslim]. Therefore, it can be said with certainty the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), like the prophets before him, did not see Allah, Most Great and Gracious, in this life.

The Wisdom Behind Not Seeing Allah If Allah could be seen in this life, the tests of this life would be pointless. What makes this life a real test is the fact that we are obliged to believe in Allah without actually seeing Him. If Allah were visible, everyone would believe in Him and all that the Prophets taught. They would in fact be like angels who are in total obedience to Allah. However, Allah made man to be higher than angles and has given man the choice of belief over disbelief as part of the test of this life.

“On that day some faces will be bright. Looking at their, Lord.” Seeing Allah In The Next Life There are a number of instances in the Quran where Allah has stated plainly that humans will see Him in the next life. In reference to some of the events of the Day of Resurrection Allah says: وُجُوهٌ۬ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ۬ نَّاضِرَةٌ (٢٢) إِلَىٰ رَبِّہَا نَاظِرَةٌ۬ (٢٣) “On that day some faces will be bright. Looking at their, Lord.” [Surah al-Qiyamah 75:22-23]

The Prophet (pbuh) has also made reference to seeing Allah on this Day The Prophet (pbuh) has also made reference to seeing Allah on this Day. When asked by some of his companions, “Will we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?” He replied, “Are you harmed by looking at the moon when it is full?” They replied, “No”. He then said, “Verily you will see Him likewise” [Bukhari & Muslim]. The Prophet (pbuh) also said: “Verily each one of you will see Allah on the day when you must meet Him, and there will not be between Him and you a veil nor a translator.” [Bukhari]

لَهُم مَّا يَشَآءُونَ فِيہَا وَلَدَيۡنَا مَزِيدٌ۬ Seeing Allah is a special added blessing for the people of paradise. Which itself is greater than all other pleasures which Allah has in store for the people of paradise. Allah refers to this by saying: لَهُم مَّا يَشَآءُونَ فِيہَا وَلَدَيۡنَا مَزِيدٌ۬ “For them is whatever they wish and there is with Us something additional.” [Surah Qaaf 50:35]

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “When the people deserving paradise have entered it and those deserving hell have entered it, a crier will call out, ‘Oh people of paradise, Allah has a promise for you which He wishes to fulfil.’ They will ask, ‘What is it? Has He not made our scale (of good deeds) heavy, made our faces shining, put us in paradise and extracted (some of) us from hell?’ The veil will then be removed and they will gaze at Him. Nothing which has bestowed on them will be more dear to them than gazing at Him. And that is the something additional.” [at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Ahmad]

Seeing Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) People claim to have seen the Prophet (pbuh) and to have received special guidance from him. Some people claim that their visions were in dreams while others claim to have actually seen him in a waking state and often introduce religious innovations which they attribute to the Prophet (pbuh). They base their claim on the following hadith reported by Abu Hurayrah, Abu Qatadah and Jabir ibn Abdullah in which the Prophet (pbuh) stated: “He who saw me in a dream in fact saw me, for Satan can not assume my form.” [Bukhari & Muslim]

This Hadith is Sahih (authentic) and reliable, however some points should be noted concerning its meaning: The Hadith confirms the fact that Satan can come in dreams in various forms and invite man to misguidance. b. The Hadith states that Satan cannot take the actual form or appearance of the Prophet (pbuh). c. The Hadith also confirms the fact that the Prophet’s (pbuh) form may be seen in dreams.

Since the Prophet (pbuh) made this statement about dreams to his companions, who were familiar with his appearance, it means that if one who knows exactly what the Prophet (pbuh) looks like sees someone fitting that description in a dream, he could be sure that Allah had blessed him with a vision of the Prophet (pbuh). That is because Allah has denied Satan the ability of taking the actual form of the Prophet (pbuh). However, this also means that Satan can appear in dreams to those unfamiliar with the Prophet’s appearance and claim that he is Allah’s messenger. He may them prescribe religious innovations for the dreamer.

Countless individuals have started religious innovations based on dreams and people have accepted this due to the misunderstanding of the mentioned hadith. Since the Shar’ah (Islamic Law) is complete and the claim that the Prophet (pbuh) has come in dreams with new additions must be false. Such a claim implies one of two things: Either that the Prophet (pbuh) did not fulfil his mission in his lifetime 2. Or that Allah was not aware of the future of the Ummah and did not prescribe the necessary rulings during the Prophet’s (pbuh) time. Both of these implications contradict basic principles of Islam.

Claims of seeing the Prophet (pbuh) in a waking state goes beyond the boundaries of the hadith into the impossible. Those who make this claim are attempting to elevate themselves to the Prophet’s (pbuh) level. Any such innovations in the religion of Islam, whether based on visions of the Prophet (pbuh) or otherwise are totally unacceptable based on many statements of the Prophet (pbuh) prohibiting them.

For example, Aisha (ra) reported that Allah’s messenger said: “Whoever innovates in this affair of ours (i.e. Islam) something not belonging to it, will have it rejected.” [Bukhari, Muslim & Abu Dawud]