Absolute knowledge of the unseen (ʿilm al-ghayb) belongs to Allah alone. This belief is established by the Qur’an, the Hadith, the consensus of the Ummah, and the explicit statements of the early Imams (a’immah salaf). Despite this, some people, in opposition to the righteous predecessors, also call the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ “ʿĀlim al-Ghayb” (Knower of the unseen). They believe that the Prophet ﷺ has knowledge of ma kana wa ma yakun (what has happened and what is going to happen). They distort the clear texts of the Qur’an and Hadith with interpretations.
Regarding such people, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him, 661–728 AH) says:
وأما أهل البدع فهم أهل أهواء وشبهات يتبعون أهواء هم فيما يحبونه ويبغضونه ويحكمون بالظن والشبه، فهم يتبعون الظن وما تهوى الأنفس، ولقد جاء هم من ربهم الهدى، فكل فريق منهم قد أصل لنفسه أصل دين وضعه، إما برأيه وقياسه الذى يسميه عقليات، وإما بذوقه وهواه الذى يسميه ذوقيات، وإمّا بما يتأوّله من القرآن ويحرّف فيه الكلم عن مواضعه ويقول : إنه إنما يتبع القرآن كالخوارج، وإمّا بما يدّعيه من الحديث والسنة، ويكون كذبا وضعيفا كما يدعيه الروافض من النص والآيات، و كثير ممن يكون قد وضع دينه برأيه أو ذوقه يحتج من القرآن بما يتأوّله على غير تأوله، ويجعل ذلك حجة لا عمدة، و عمدته فى الباطن على رأيه كالجهمية والمعتزلة فى الصفات والأفعال بخلاف مسائل الوعد والوعيد، فإنهم قد يقصدون متابعة النص، فالبدع نوعان نوع كان قصد أهلها متابعة النص والرسول، لكن غلطوا فى فهم المنصوص وكذبوا بما يخلف ظنهم من الحديث ومعانى الآيات كالخوارج، و كذلك الشيعة المسلمين بخلاف من كان منافقا زنديقا يظهر التشيع وهو فى الباطن
لا يعتقد الاسلام، وكذلكف المرجئة…
“The people of innovation are people of desires and doubts. They follow their desires in what they love and what they hate, and they judge by conjecture and doubtful matters. They follow conjecture and what the souls desire, although guidance has already come to them from their Lord. Each group among the people of innovation has made for itself a foundation of religion which it has fabricated: some have made their own opinion and analogy the religion, calling it ‘rational matters’ (ʿaqliyyat); some have made their taste and desire the religion, calling it ‘matters of taste’ (dhawqiyyat); some have interpreted the Qur’an in a distorted way and claimed that they follow the Qur’an, like the Khawarij; and some have claimed to follow Hadith and the Sunnah, but their evidence is narrations that are false and unreliable, just as the Rafidah claim to follow the text and the verses. Most people of innovation who have made their religion according to their own opinion or taste fabricate their proofs by wrongly interpreting the Qur’an. They take the Qur’an as a proof but do not rely on it; their real reliance is on their own opinion, as is the situation of the Jahmiyyah and the Mu’tazilah regarding the attributes and actions of Allah. In matters of promise and threat their situation is the opposite, because at times these people intend to follow the texts. So innovation is of two kinds: one kind is where the people who commit it intend to follow the Qur’an and Sunnah, but they err in understanding the texts and reject the Hadiths and interpretations that go against their reasoning, as is the situation of the Khawarij and the Muslim Shia people. As for those who are hypocrites and heretics (zanadiqah) and who outwardly appear as Shia while inwardly they do not believe in Islam, their case is the opposite (that is, such innovators do not even intend to follow the Qur’an and Sunnah)…”
Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him, 701–774 AH) says:
ولهذا قال تعالى : ﴿فأما الذين فى قلوبهم زيغ﴾ ، أى ضلال وخروج عن الحق إلى الباطل ﴿فيتبعون ما تشابه منه﴾ ، أى إنما يأخذون منه بالمتشابه الذى يمكنهم أن يحرفوه إلى مقاصدهم الفاسدة، وينزلوه عليها، لاحتمال لفظه لما يصرفونه، فأما المحكم فلا نصيب لهم فيه، لأنه دامغ لهم وحجة عليهم، ولهذا قال : ﴿ابتغاء الفتنة﴾ ، أى الإضلال لأتباعهم، إيهاما لهم أنهم يحتجون على بدعتهم بالقرآن، وهذا حجة عليهم لا لهم، كما لو احتج النصارى بأن القرآن قد نطق بأن عيسى هو روح الله وكلمته القاها إلى مريم، و تركوا الاحتجاج بقوله تعالي : ﴿إن هو إلا عبد أنعمنا عليه﴾
وبقوله : ﴿إن مثل عيسى عند الله كمثل آدم خلقه من تراب ثم قال له كن فيكون﴾
وغير ذلك من الآيات المحكمة المصرّحة بأنه خلق من مخلوقات الله وعبد ورسول من رسل الله . . .
“For this reason Allah the Exalted said that those people who are misguided and who leave the truth for falsehood take evidence from those mutashabih (ambiguous) verses of the Qur’an in which it is possible for them to distort the meaning for their corrupt purposes, and in whose words there is room for their aims. In the muhkam (clear) verses it is not possible for them to do this, because the muhkam verses strongly refute them and serve as proof against them. For this reason Allah said that these people take evidence from the ambiguous verses in order to mislead their followers and to give them the illusion that they have Qur’anic proofs for their innovation. This is like the Christians who argue that the Qur’an has called ʿIsa (peace be upon him) the Spirit of Allah and the Word of Allah, but they leave aside the verse in which Allah says that ʿIsa is nothing but a servant upon whom We bestowed favour. Also the saying of Allah that the example of ʿIsa with Allah is like the example of Adam (peace be upon him): He created him from dust, then said to him, ‘Be,’ and he was… And there are many other clear and explicit muhkam verses which show that ʿIsa (peace be upon him) is a creation of Allah, His servant, and one of His messengers…”
Examination of the Qur’anic Evidences
Some people try to prove from Qur’anic evidences that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is ʿĀlim al-Ghayb. Let us see whether the Qur’anic verses they present establish their claim:
First Evidence:
Allah the Exalted says:
﴿عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ٭ إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَىٰ مِنْ رَسُولٍ فَإِنَّهُ يَسْلُكُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ رَصَدًا﴾
“(He is) the Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His unseen to anyone, except to a messenger whom He has chosen.”
What is the correct meaning of this verse, and does it establish that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is ʿĀlim al-Ghayb? We do not say anything on our own; rather we will limit ourselves to presenting the explicit statements of the Imams of the religion and the early righteous predecessors. However, we request the dear readers to take the trouble to read the verse immediately before the verse quoted above.
Allah the Exalted says:
قُلْ إِنْ أَدْرِي أَقَرِيبٌ مَا تُوعَدُونَ أَمْ يَجْعَلُ لَهُ رَبِّي أَمَدًا
“Say: I do not know whether what you are promised is near or whether my Lord has set for it a long term.”
Why did those who call the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ʿĀlim al-Ghayb and fabricate proofs for it not notice this verse? Does this verse not clearly negate the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ being ʿĀlim al-Ghayb? Moreover, why did these people not notice this verse:
Allah the Exalted said to the Prophet ﷺ:
تِلْكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهَا إِلَيْكَ مَا كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُهَا أَنْتَ وَلَا قَوْمُكَ مِنْ قَبْلِ هَـذَا
“(O Prophet!) These are some of the news of the unseen which We reveal to you. Neither you nor your people knew them before this.”
Why did their eyes not fall upon this verse:
وَلَوْ كُنْتُ أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ لَاسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ السُّوءُ إِنْ أَنَا إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ
“Say: I have no power to bring benefit or harm to myself except as Allah wills. And if I knew the unseen, I would have acquired much good, and no harm would have touched me. I am only a warner and a bringer of good news to those who believe.”
Why did they not consider this verse worthy of attention:
فَقُلْ إِنَّمَا الْغَيْبُ لِلَّـهِ
“(O Prophet!) Say: The unseen belongs only to Allah.”
Why did the words of Allah the Exalted not pass before their eyes:
قُلْ لَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ الْغَيْبَ إِلَّا اللَّـهُ
“Say: None in the heavens and the earth knows the unseen except Allah.”
Do all these verses not clearly negate the claim that the Prophet ﷺ knew the unseen? Why is attention turned away from them?
Now let us come to the Quranic verse presented by those people, to see what its correct meaning is:
Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) (701–774 AH) says in its commentary:
وقوله : ﴿عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ٭ إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَى مِنْ رَسُولٍ﴾
ھذه كقوله تعالى : ﴿وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ﴾
وهكذا قال هاهنا : إنه يعلم الغيب والشهادة، وإنه لا يطلع أحد من خلقه على شىء من علمه إلا ممّا أطلعه تعالى عليه، ولهذا قال : ﴿فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ٭ إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَىٰ مِنْ رَسُولٍ﴾ ، وهذا يعم الرسول الملكي و البشري.
The saying of Allah:
﴿عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ٭ إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَى مِنْ رَسُولٍ ﴾
“(He is) the Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His unseen to anyone except a messenger whom He has chosen.” This is like the verse: ﴿وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ﴾
“And they do not encompass anything of His knowledge except what He wills.” Likewise, here it is stated that Allah is the Knower of the unseen and the seen. None of His creation can gain access to any part of His knowledge except what Allah Himself informs them of. For this reason Allah said in this verse: ﴿فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ٭ إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَىٰ مِنْ رَسُولٍ﴾ “He does not disclose His unseen to anyone except a messenger whom He has chosen.” And this includes both the angelic messenger and the human messenger.
He also says:
أمره الله تعالى أن يفوّض الأمور إليه، وأن يخبر عن نفسه أنه لا يعلم الغيب المستقبل، ولا اطلاع له على شىء من ذلك إلا بما أطلعه الله عليه، كما قال تعالى:﴿عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا﴾
“Allah commanded His Prophet to entrust all matters to Him and to inform about himself that he does not know the future unseen, and he has no access to any of that except what Allah has informed him of, as Allah the Exalted said: ﴿عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا﴾ ” (He is) the Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His unseen to anyone.”
He further says:
ثم قال : ﴿وَمَا کان اللَّهُ لِيُطلعَکُمْ عَلَی الغیب﴾ أى أنتم لا تعلمون غيب الله فى خلقه حتى يميز لكم المؤمن من المنافق، لو لا ما يعقده من الأسباب الكاشفة عن ذلك، ثم قال : ﴿ولكن الله يَجْتبى من رسله من يشاء﴾ كقوله : ﴿عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا﴾ …..
“Then Allah the Exalted said: ﴿وَمَا کان اللَّهُ لِيُطلعَکُمْ عَلَی الغیب﴾ ” And Allah would not have you informed of the unseen,” meaning you cannot know Allah’s unseen within His creation so that the believer may be distinguished from the hypocrite for you, unless there are means that reveal it. Then He said: ﴿ولكن الله يَجْتبى من رسله من يشاء﴾ “But Allah chooses from His messengers whom He wills (to disclose that unseen).” This statement is like the verse: ﴿عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا﴾ “(He is) the Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His unseen to anyone.”
That is, Allah informs His messenger of the unseen matter through revelation. The Holy Quran has made clear that the conditions of past nations were told to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ only through revelation.
The saying of Allah the Exalted:
﴿تِلْكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهَا إِلَيْكَ مَا كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُهَا أَنْتَ وَلَا قَوْمُكَ مِنْ قَبْلِ هَـذَا . . . ﴾
“(O Prophet!) These are some of the news of the unseen which We reveal to you. Neither you nor your people knew them before this.”
Knowledge of the future was also given to the Prophet ﷺ through revelation, as the divine word says:
﴿لَقَدْ صَدَقَ اللَّـهُ رَسُولَهُ الرُّؤْيَا بِالْحَقِّ لَتَدْخُلُنَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّـهُ آمِنِينَ مُحَلِّقِينَ رُءُوسَكُمْ وَمُقَصِّرِينَ لَا تَخَافُونَ فَعَلِمَ مَا لَمْ تَعْلَمُوا فَجَعَلَ مِنْ دُونِ ذَلِكَ فَتْحًا قَرِيبًا﴾
“Indeed Allah fulfilled for His Messenger the vision in truth: you will surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, in security, with your heads shaved and your hair cut short, without fear. He knew what you did not know, so He granted, besides that, a near victory.”
In fact, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had seen a dream about this, and the dreams of the prophets are revelation.
He also said:
﴿الم * غُلِبَتِ الرُّومُ * فِي أَدْنَى الْأَرْضِ وَهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُونَ * فِي بِضْعِ سِنِينَ﴾
“The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land, and after their defeat they will soon be victorious, within a few years.”
From all these verses it becomes clear that the Prophet ﷺ did not have knowledge of the unseen; rather, whenever Allah willed, He would give him news of the past and the future through revelation.
In support of this, let us also look at a hadith:
عن محمود بن لبيد عن رجال من بني عبد الاشهل قالوا : فقال زيد بن اللصيت وهو فى رحل عمارة، وعمارة عند رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : أليس محمد يزعم أنه نبي و يخبر كم عن خبر السماء، و هو لايدرى أين ناقته ؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وعمارة عنده أن رجلا قال : هذا محمّد يخبر كم أنه نبي ويزعم أنه يخبر كم بأمرالشماء و هو لايدري أين ناقته ؟ واني و الله ما أعلم ما علمني الله و قد دلنى الله عليها، و هي فى الوادي فى الشعب كذا و كذا، قد حبسها شجرة بز مامها، فانطلقوا حتي تأتوني بها، فذهبوا، فجاؤا بھا .
“Mahmud bin Labid narrates from men of Bani Abd al-Ashhal, who said: Zayd bin al-Lusayt said, while he was at the dwelling of Ammarah, and Ammarah was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: ‘Does Muhammad not claim that he is a prophet and tells you news of the heaven, while he does not even know where his she-camel is?’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, while Ammarah was with him, that a man had said: ‘This Muhammad tells you that he is a prophet and claims that he tells you news of the heavens, while he does not know where his she-camel is?’ By Allah, I know only what Allah has taught me, and Allah has guided me to her: she is in the valley, in the ravine of such-and-such. Her halter is caught by a tree. Go and bring her to me!’ They went and brought her.”
This hadith is a clear proof that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not possess knowledge of the unseen. He ﷺ did not know what has passed and what will be. Rather, if Allah willed, He would inform him ﷺ of a matter.
Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him) (773–852 AH), the commentator of Sahih al-Bukhari, writes about this hadith:
فأعلم النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه لا يعلم الغيب إلا ما علمه الله، وهو مطابق لقوله تعالى: ﴿فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ٭ إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَىٰ مِنْ رَسُولٍ﴾ ……
“The Prophet ﷺ has made clear that he does not know the unseen, except what Allah teaches him (he then knows it). This hadith is like the saying of Allah, the Exalted: ﴿فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَىٰ غَيْبِهِ أَحَدًا ٭ إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَىٰ مِنْ رَسُولٍ﴾ ” (He is) the Knower of the unseen; He does not disclose His unseen to anyone, except to a messenger whom He has chosen.
Allama Ahmad al-Qastallani (851–923 AH) says:
عالم الغيب فلا يطلع على غيبه أحدا من خلقه إلا من ارتضي من رسول لاطلاعه على بعض الغيب، يكون إخباره عن الغيب معجزة له .
“Allah is the Knower of the unseen. He does not inform any of His creation of His unseen, except that He informs a messenger whom He wills of some unseen matter, and this information is a miracle for the Prophet.”
