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الفتح الربانی
Fath al-Rabbani
كتاب سيرة أول النبيين وخاتم المرسلين نبينا محمد بن عبد الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلمBook of the Biography of the First of the Prophets and the Last of the Messengers, Our Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah, Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him and His Family
بَابُ رُؤْيَةِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم جِبْرِيلَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ فِي صُورَتِهِ الَّتِي خُلِقَ عَلَيْهَا وَهَلْ رَأَى رَبَّهُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ لَيْلَةَ الْمِعْرَاجِ أَمْ لَا؟Chapter: The Prophet ﷺ's vision of Jibril, peace be upon him, in his original form, and whether he saw his Lord Almighty on the night of Mi'raj or not
Hadith 10588
اُردوEn
مِنْ طَرِيقٍ ثَانٍ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ وَبَهْزٌ قَالَا ثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ قَالَ بَهْزٌ ثَنَا قَتَادَةُ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ شَقِيقٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي ذَرٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ لَوْ أَدْرَكْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَسَأَلْتُهُ قَالَ عَنْ أَيِّ شَيْءٍ قُلْتُ هَلْ رَأَيْتَ رَبَّكَ قَالَ قَدْ سَأَلْتُهُ فَقَالَ نُورٌ أَنَّى أَرَاهُ يَعْنِي عَلَى طَرِيقِ الْإِيجَابِ
(Second chain) Abdullah bin Shaqiq says: I said to Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him): If I had met the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I would have asked him one question. He said: About what? I said: I would have asked whether you (peace and blessings be upon him) saw your Lord. He said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) this question, and in reply he said: He is Light, how could I see Him? That is, he gave a positive answer.
Brief Explanation
Benefits: … The words found at the end of the hadith, عَلَی طَرِیْقِ الْأِیْجَابِ, are either from Imam Ahmad or his son. The implication of these words is that the phrase in this hadith, نُوْرٌ أَنّٰی اَرَاہ, should be read as: نُوْر انِّیْ اَرَاہ (“I see that Allah as luminous/light”).
Qadi ‘Iyad said: However, these words have neither reached us nor have I seen them in the foundational sources. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: This is a distortion (tashif).
The preferred view is that this hadith consists of two separate statements: one is نُوْرٌ (“Light”), and the other is أَنّٰی اَرَاہ (“How could I see Him?”). Imam Nawawi said (Sharh Sahih Muslim: 3/12): All narrators, in all foundational sources and narrations, have reported this hadith in this manner, and its meaning is that His veil is light; how could I see Him?
This meaning is clarified in light of the following hadith:
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa radi Allahu anhu that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: ((حِجَابُہُ النُّورُ لَوْ کَشَفَہُ لَأَحْرَقَ سُبُحَاتُ وَجْہِہِ مَا انْتَہٰی إِلَیْہِ بَصَرُہُ مِنْ خَلْقِہِ۔)) … “His veil is light; if He were to remove it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything that His gaze reaches among His creation.” (Sahih Muslim: 179)
Mazari said: In the phrase اَرَاہُ, the pronoun “hu” refers back to the Essence of Allah Ta‘ala, and its meaning is that the light prevented me from seeing Allah, just as it is the common experience that light covers the eyes and becomes a barrier between the viewer and the thing being viewed.
Ibn al-Qayyim, quoting Ibn Taymiyyah, said: The meaning of نُوْرٌ أَنّٰی اَرَاہ is that there was light which became a barrier to vision, so how could I see Him? There are also some narrations whose wording indicates this meaning. For example, in one narration, a Companion asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: ھَلْ رَاَیْتَ رَبَّکَ؟ (“Did you see your Lord?”), to which he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam replied: ((رَاَیْتُ نُوْرًا)) … “I saw light.”
These words of the hadith have confused many people, so they altered the wording and read it as نُوْرانِّیْ اَرَاہ (“I see Him as luminous”), and made the phrase into a single sentence, whereas this is an error both in wording and in meaning. For further details, see Zad al-Ma‘ad: 3/37 and Majmu‘ al-Fatawa: 3/386, 389.
Qadi ‘Iyad said: However, these words have neither reached us nor have I seen them in the foundational sources. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: This is a distortion (tashif).
The preferred view is that this hadith consists of two separate statements: one is نُوْرٌ (“Light”), and the other is أَنّٰی اَرَاہ (“How could I see Him?”). Imam Nawawi said (Sharh Sahih Muslim: 3/12): All narrators, in all foundational sources and narrations, have reported this hadith in this manner, and its meaning is that His veil is light; how could I see Him?
This meaning is clarified in light of the following hadith:
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa radi Allahu anhu that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: ((حِجَابُہُ النُّورُ لَوْ کَشَفَہُ لَأَحْرَقَ سُبُحَاتُ وَجْہِہِ مَا انْتَہٰی إِلَیْہِ بَصَرُہُ مِنْ خَلْقِہِ۔)) … “His veil is light; if He were to remove it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything that His gaze reaches among His creation.” (Sahih Muslim: 179)
Mazari said: In the phrase اَرَاہُ, the pronoun “hu” refers back to the Essence of Allah Ta‘ala, and its meaning is that the light prevented me from seeing Allah, just as it is the common experience that light covers the eyes and becomes a barrier between the viewer and the thing being viewed.
Ibn al-Qayyim, quoting Ibn Taymiyyah, said: The meaning of نُوْرٌ أَنّٰی اَرَاہ is that there was light which became a barrier to vision, so how could I see Him? There are also some narrations whose wording indicates this meaning. For example, in one narration, a Companion asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: ھَلْ رَاَیْتَ رَبَّکَ؟ (“Did you see your Lord?”), to which he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam replied: ((رَاَیْتُ نُوْرًا)) … “I saw light.”
These words of the hadith have confused many people, so they altered the wording and read it as نُوْرانِّیْ اَرَاہ (“I see Him as luminous”), and made the phrase into a single sentence, whereas this is an error both in wording and in meaning. For further details, see Zad al-Ma‘ad: 3/37 and Majmu‘ al-Fatawa: 3/386, 389.
