Seeing Prophet While Awake

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Is it possible to physically see the Prophet in a waking state and what is the reality of this?

We begin with the hadith (rigorously authenticated) Hadīth  reported in the matter: Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dawūd report from Abū Hurayrah that RasulAllāh (pbuh) said:

“Whosoever saw me in his dream shall see me with his waking eyes (yaqadha) and the devil cannot impersonate me.”

Seeing the Messenger of God in a waking state is not something based on the issues of the Shari‘a that causes a positive or negative change in faith. Rather, it is an issue based on real life events, and causes an immense amount of responsibility for the one that claims it. Seeing the Messenger of God in a waking state comes as a glade tiding and as a miracle. It does not contradict that he has passed from this life nor does it mean that one has become one of his companions; in actuality nothing is and can be based on it.

After these introductory remarks, to analyze this issue we must first ask, “is this rationally possible or not?” That which is rationally impossible is that one entity be present in two locations. Seeing the Messenger of God in a waking state, though, does not mean him being present in two locations as his location is the Rawda where he is alive in his grave praying and being intimate with God as is the case with all the Prophets and Messengers in their graves. Anas reported that the Messenger of God said, “the Prophets are alive in their graves praying” also the statement of the Messenger of God, “I passed by Mosses on the night of my ascent near the red dune and he was standing praying in his grave.”

Seeing him in a waking state is not something that is limited to the saint seeing his current state in his grave. This is something that the intellect does not refuse. Likewise this is aided by textual proof as it is narrated that ‘Umar ibn Khattab was delivering a sermon when God revealed to him the state of Sariyya, as a miracle to him, while the latter was in Nahawand in Persia. ‘Umar called out, “O Sariyya the mountain, the mountain!” and Sariyya actually heard this. As long as this is something that can happen to other than the Prophet, then it is not something that is restricted to ‘Umar ibn Khattab, or the Companions. Likewise that which is seen can be Sariyya or otherwise.

The vision can be an actual vision of the Messenger of God meaning that one sees his actual state in the Rawda so one sees an image of this and this image is from the imaginal realm. This results from immense love and contemplation on the person of the Messenger of God. A person can have many images of himself if the plains of reflection are many such as a mirror etc.

There is also a clear hadith indicating the permissibility of seeing the Messenger of God in a waking state: On the authority of Abu Hurayra who said he heard the Messenger of God say, “whomsoever sees me in their dreams, they will see me in a waking state, and Satan does not imitate my person.” The Prophet’s statement “they will see me in a waking state” is an indication of the permissibility of seeing him during one’s life. Restricting this to mean seeing the Messenger of God on the Day of Resurrection is a stretch for two reasons: one, all people will see the Messenger of God on the Day of Resurrection, those who have seen him in dreams and others, and two, the hadith itself gives no indication of restriction of the meaning, therefore for us to restrict it is false.

The issue of seeing the Messenger of God in waking states was asked during the time of Imam al-Suyuti who composed a treatise on it entitled Enlightening Darkness Concerning Seeing the Prophet and the Angels. He says in the beginning, “There have been many questions regarding those of spiritual states who see the Prophet in a waking state. Those who have no firm grounding in knowledge have exaggerated in denouncing this act and acting surprised upon hearing it claiming that it is impossible. Therefore I composed this treatise.” Imam al-Suyuti goes on to provide the proof text regarding the possibility of seeing the Prophet in a waking state and hearing his voice as well as the voice of the angels.

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami says:

This matter has been denied by some and upheld by others who are correct. This has been mentioned by those amongst the righteous who are not found blameworthy. As well as reported in the hadith found in Bukhari, “Whoever has seen me in their sleep will see me in a waking state.” i.e. by his eyes, or his heart. The meaning, [adduced by some] that this is a reference to the Day of Reckoning is a stretch as there is no point in constricting the meaning to this as all of us will see the Prophet on the Day of Reckoning, those who have seen him during sleep and those who have not. Ibn Abi Jamra, in his commentary on the hadiths he selected from the collection of Bukhari, held this particular hadith to have a general meaning of both during the Prophet’s life and after. This vision being for the one who is able to follow the sunna of the Prophet and others. He said “whoever claims that this hadith has restricted by the Prophet has deviated.” He went on to say that any one who denies this denies the trustworthiness of the Prophet and the ability of God and is a denier of the miracles of the saints which have been confirmed by the sound proofs of the sunna.

The noble scholar al-Nafrawi al-Maliki has written:

It is possible to see the Prophet in a waking state as well as in one’s sleep by consensus of the Hadith masters. The debate is, however, whether one sees his noble essence or an image of it. The first is the opinion of some, while the second is held by al-Ghazzali, al-Qarafi, al-Yafi‘i, and others. The first opinion is supported by the fact the Prophet is the lamp and light of guidance and the sun of the gnosis. Therefore as one sees the light, the lamp, and the sun distinctly, and what is seen is a body of the sun caused by its accidents, likewise the Prophet’s noble body. Therefore nothing leaves his body in his grave, rather God removes the veils so one can see him in his location no matter his location, be it East or West. Or the veils are kept but made transparent so as not to veil what is behind them. What al-Qarafi has argued, however, is that seeing the prophet in a night vision is accomplished by the heart, which is not blocked by the aspects of sleep.

Therefore the vision is through one’s inner perception, not one’s actual vision. The proof of this is that even a blind person can see him.

Some people have claimed that they have seen and met the Prophet in a waking state such as Ibn Abi Jamra and others. Their proof is the well-known hadith, “Whoever sees me in their sleep will see me in a waking state.” The person that denies this is truly at a great loss since if he is amongst those who deny the miracles of the saints, then researching this matter is entirely lost as he has denied the confirmed sunna. The teacher of our teachers Imam al-Laqani has addressed all these matters in his didactic poem Sharh Jawharat al-Tawhid.

Ibn Hajj in his Madkhal has written, “Some have claimed that they have actually seen the Prophet in a waking state. However, this is a narrow happening and those who can claim this are few and require a level of purity that is rare in this age, rather it is near extinction. We do not, however, deny it from happening to those whom God protects in their outer and inner states.”

Sheikh ‘Ilish has even spoken of seeing the Prophet in a waking state as a cause to reinforce the opinions of the scholars. He says, quoting from the Gnostic al-Sha’rani, I heard my sheikh Ali al-Khawass say, “According to the people of gnosis and insight without exception, nothing that the mujtahid imams say can ever contradict the Shari‘a. How can what they say stray from the Shari‘a when they have examined and weighed their words with the Qur’an and Sunna and the statements of the Companions as well as their meeting the Messenger of God and asking him concerning all the issues regarding proofs they have come across. They would ask him, ‘is this from your statement O Messenger of God?’ in a waking state and orally.

Likewise they would ask him concerning everything related to the Qur’an and Sunna before incorporating it into their books making it religious knowledge by which they worship God with and they would ask him, ‘O Messenger of God we have understood such and such from your statement in hadith such and such, are you content with this or not?’ They would act according to his statements and indications. Whosoever questions the gnosis and insight of the imams and their meeting with the Messenger of God from the realm of the soul, we shall say to them ‘this is from the miracles of the saints.’

And in Ibn Abī Jamra’s commentary on Bukhārī’s Ṣaḥīḥ, we find that he favoured this interpretation as applicable to the one who has the requisite preparedness by faithful following of the Sunnah, and also to the one who does not, in a non-specific sense… Imam Muslim recorded in his Ṣaḥīḥ that the angels used to greet ‘Imrān ibn Ḥusayn as an honour for him for his patience in the pain of haemorrhoids, and when he had himself cauterized, the angels stopped greeting him, and when he stopped the cauterization – meaning he was healed – the angels returned to greeting him, because the cauterization – which is against the Sunnah – stopped them from coming to greet him, even though he was in great need of it, for it was a defect in reliance and submission and patience. And in the narration of Bayhaqī, “the angels used to shake his hands until he had himself cauterized, then they stopped.”

From the above discussion we can see that the pious seeing the Messenger of God in waking states indeed occurs. There is no rational or scriptural opposition to this; however, this door is precious and not open to everyone. It is incumbent on the one who sees the Prophet in this manner to not relate it to those who cannot understand it and therefore lead to them denying the possibility altogether. Speaking to people with that which they can understand and comprehend is better and God is Most High, all Knowledgeable.

 

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