The Prophet ﷺ and the Knowledge of the Unseen — Ahl al-Sunnah’s Detailed Position

Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah, Volume 3 – Issues of Tawḥīd and Sunnah, p. 47

Question​

What is the position of Ahl al-Sunnah scholars regarding the unseen news given to the Prophet ﷺ and the matter of the Knowledge of the Unseen?

Answer​

Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾammā baʿd:

Evidence from the Noble Qurʾān​

Allah’s statement:


﴿قُل لا يَعلَمُ مَن فِى السَّمـٰو‌ٰتِ وَالأَرضِ الغَيبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ﴾
"Say: None in the heavens and the earth knows the unseen except Allah."
(al-Naml: 65)


Tafsīr of Imām Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī رحمه الله:
Allah instructs His Prophet ﷺ to tell the polytheists who ask about the Hour that its knowledge lies with Allah alone, and no created being knows it. (Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī, vol. 20, p. 5)

Statement of ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها​

"Whoever claims that Muḥammad ﷺ knows what will happen tomorrow has fabricated a great lie against Allah."
(Kitāb al-Tawḥīd by Ibn Khuzaymah p. 223, ḥadīth 324; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Mustakhraj of Abū Nuʿaym 1/242, ḥadīth 442; Ṣaḥīḥ Abī ʿAwānah vol. 1 p. 154, ḥadīth 304)

Ḥadīth on the Keys of the Unseen​

The Prophet ﷺ said:


"The keys of the unseen are five, none knows them except Allah…"

• What is in the womb
• What will happen tomorrow
• When rain will fall
• In which land one will die
• When the Hour will be established
  (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, ḥadīth 4697)

The Prophet ﷺ also said:
"I have been given the keys of everything except these five."
(Musnad Aḥmad 2/85, ḥadīth 5579 — authentic chain; al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr 12/360–361, ḥadīth 13344)


Clarification:
➊ These five matters were not given to the Prophet ﷺ.
➋ Other matters beyond these were granted to him.

Statements of the Companions​

ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه said:
"Your Prophet ﷺ was given the keys of everything except five."
(Musnad Aḥmad 1/386 — ḥasan chain; Musnad al-Ḥumaydī: 125; Ibn Kathīr: "And this chain is ḥasan")

More Qurʾānic Evidence​

Allah says:


﴿قُل لا أَملِكُ لِنَفسى نَفعًا وَلا ضَرًّا إِلّا ما شاءَ اللَّهُ وَلَو كُنتُ أَعلَمُ الغَيبَ لَاستَكثَرتُ مِنَ الخَيرِ وَما مَسَّنِىَ السّوءُ﴾
(al-Aʿrāf: 188)


Tafsīr Ibn Jarīr:
If I knew what is to happen, I would gather much benefit. (Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī 5/590)

Prophets and Some Unseen News​

Regarding Sūrat al-Jinn (verses 26–27):
Ahl al-Sunnah scholars explain that Allah may grant some unseen information to His Messengers as He wills. This view is affirmed by:

• Imām al-Ṭabarī
• Imām Qatādah
• Imām al-Baghawī
• Imām al-Wāḥidī
• Qāḍī Ibn al-ʿArabī
• Imām al-Qurṭubī
• Imām Abū Ḥayyān
• Ibn Taymiyyah
• Ibn al-Qayyim
• Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī

Summary of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamāʿah’s Belief​

➊ Allah alone is the Knower of the Unseen — no one shares in this attribute.
➋ Complete knowledge of all that was and all that will be belongs only to Allah.
➌ Five matters (Luqmān: 34) are known only to Allah.
➍ Prophets receive certain unseen matters through revelation.

Views of Other Sects and Responses​

Barelwī / Riḍā Khānī Belief​

• They claim that after the completion of the Qurʾān, the Prophet ﷺ knows all that was and will be (by Allah’s permission).
• Refutation: There is no clear evidence from Qurʾān, ḥadīth, consensus, or the statements of the Salaf to support this.

Some Modern Theologians​

• Argue that if something is informed by Allah, it is no longer “unseen,” thus the Prophet ﷺ did not know the unseen at all.
• Some go to the extreme of saying that he ﷺ did not know even “an atom’s worth” of the unseen.
• Refutation: This is contrary to Qurʾān and Sunnah and is pure misguidance.

Some Deobandī Statements​

• Affirm extensive knowledge for Shayṭān and the Angel of Death, but not for the Prophet ﷺ.
• Compare the Prophet’s knowledge to that of Shayṭān.
• Equate knowledge of the unseen with that of animals, livestock, children, and the insane.
• Refutation: These statements are false and contain disrespect.

Balanced Ahl al-Ḥadīth / Ahl al-Sunnah Position​

The Prophet ﷺ knew only those unseen matters which Allah informed him of, and he did not know what Allah did not inform him of.


Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr رحمه الله:
"He ﷺ does not know the unseen except what Allah makes him aware of." (al-Tamhīd, vol. 6, p. 251)


Abū’l-Walīd al-Bājī رحمه الله:
"Except what was revealed to him." (al-Muntaqā Sharḥ al-Muwaṭṭaʾ 7/129)

Saying “Allah and His Messenger know best” after his death?​

• After the Prophet’s ﷺ passing, the Companions only said “Allah knows best.”
• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (ḥadīth 4538) clarifies this.
• Saying “Allah and His Messenger know best” is correct only during his lifetime, not after his death.

Additional Benefit​

• The Prophet ﷺ is the most knowledgeable among all creation.
• During his lifetime, the Companions commonly said: “Allah and His Messenger know best” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik) — but this was in the context of his being alive.

Conclusion​

◈ Allah is the Knower of the Unseen.
◈ Prophets and Messengers were given some unseen knowledge through revelation.
◈ Knowledge of the five matters remains exclusively with Allah.
◈ The Prophet ﷺ did not have complete and absolute knowledge of the unseen.