Dars e Imam-Fatwa On Sight

“Bismillahir Rahmannir Raheem”Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen was Salaatu was- Salaamu ‘Alaa Sayidinaa Muhammadin wa Aalihi wa Asabihi Ajma ‘een (tauheed- risalat- ahkirat and islam-iman-ihsan)

Detailed extract from Imam Suyuti’s Fatawa
In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful-Praise be to Allah and salutations upon His Slaves whom He has Chosen.
This question has become increasingly [common nowadays] about the visions among the People of the State (arbab al-ahwal) of the Prophet whilst awake; a group in our times – those who have no foothold in religious knowledge have vehemently refused and are astonished at this;] they also claim that it is an impossible (mustahil) thing. So I have written these few pages and named it ‘tanwir al-halak fi imkani ruy’at al nabiyyi wal malak.’ We begin with the sahih (rigorously authenticated) Hadith reported in the matter: Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud report from Abu Hurayrah that Rasulullah ﷺ said: “Whosoever saw me in his dream shall see me in wakeful state too (yaqadha) and the devil cannot impersonate me.” Tabarani has reported a similar narration from Malik ibn `Abdullah from the Hadith of Abu Bakra; Darami has a similar narration from the Hadith of Abu Qatadah. The scholars have said: there is difference of opinion concerning the meaning of ‘he shall see me whilst awake’. Some said its meaning is: ‘he shall see me on Judgment day’ and this opinion is criticized as being futile because this is a special mention (takhsis); otherwise, everyone shall see him on Judgment day, those who have already seen him and those who haven’t. It is also said that it means: ‘those who bore faith in him in his lifetime and did not see him because they were not present are given glad tidings that they shall see him before they die.’…
A group has said that the meaning is literal and whosoever saw Rasulullah ﷺ in his dream, he shall surely see him awake; that is, with his waking eyes though some  said that the insight of his heart [is meant] – both of these reported by Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al- `Arabi. Imam Abu Muhammad Ibn Abu Jamra says in his annotations on al-Bukhari: “This Hadith proves that whosoever saw him in his dream shall see him whilst awake. [The debate is] whether this statement is generic for both during his lifetime and after his passing away, or whether it is only during his lifetime; also whether it is for everyone who saw him or whether it is specific for those people of merit and those who follow his Sunnah assiduously.The word appears to be generic and anyone who claims it to be specific without it being specified by him has transgressed (mut’assaf).” He also said that, “Some people fell to disbelieving the generic case and said what their intelligence permits them and said: ‘how can one living see the dead, in this world of beholding?’” He replied: “This objection gives rise to two dangerous possibilities; first is to disbelieve the [authenticated] saying of the truthful Prophet who does not speak from his own desire; and secondly to ignorance of the Power of the All-Powerful.”[Al Hawi lil Fatawi, Volume 2, Page No. 437-438, Published by Maktaba al Asriyyah, Beirut, Lebanion]

Imam Hajar Asqalani (rah)
Qadhi Abu Bakr ibn Arabi (rah) said: The sight of Prophet (ﷺ) in dream is real if we see him in accordance to his known attributes (i.e. how he looked etc… ), however if we see things which are not known of him then it’s a similitude, Some Qadriyah (a strayed sect) said that the sight is neither a fact nor real, whereas it is proven from some Saliheen (i.e. righteous) that they saw Prophet (ﷺ) with their eyes (i.e. being awake) and it is a fact [Fath ul Bari, Sharah Sahih al Bukhari Volume 12, Page No. 384]

Sheikh Anwar Shah Kashmiri said: In my viewpoint, the “SIGHT OF PROPHET IN WAKEFUL STATE IS POSSIBLE” for every person whom Allah blesses with it. This has been mentioned by Hafiz Jalal ud-din Suyuti (ra) that he saw the Prophet (ﷺ) “22 TIMES AND ALSO ASKED HIM ABOUT CREDIBILITY OF SOME AHADITH” and when the Prophet ﷺ called them Sahih then Hafiz Suyuti (rah) also declared them Sahih. Shazali asked him to do Sifarish for him in presence of Hakim e Waqt, but Imam Suyuti refused and said: “If I go to the court of Hakim then I will get Mehroom from Ziyarat of Prophet (Peace be upon him)” and this will be a big loss for Ummah. Imam Shar’ani (rah) saw the Prophet ﷺ “WHILST AWAKE” and he also studied Sahih Bukhari from the Prophet ﷺ with his other eight companions, one of them was also Hanafi. “HENCE SIGHT OF PROPHET IN STATE OF WAKEFULNESS IS PROVEN AND TO REJECT THIS IS WORK OF JAHILEEN” [Faidh ul Bari, Sharh Sahih ul Bukhari, Volume No.1, Page No. 204, Published by Matbua Majlis e Ilmi Hind, 1357 AH]

So it is established that every person that dies sees the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) in his grave in person. Now, at any given time thousands of people around the world are  buried and all these people see the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) at the same time and are asked the same question. This is ample proof that the Holy Prophet (ﷺ) by the grace of Allah Ta’ala can present himself in many places at the same time.

All the  ‘Ulama of Ahl as-Sunna agree with this, and the following comment regarding this issue is the fatwa of Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Haitami (ra), which is written on the ninth page of the second volume of Fatawa al-kubra:

Question : “Does a person, when he commends his soul, see Rasoolullah (ﷺ)? It is said that, when he (Rasoolullah) is seen, he (the person) is asked what he (the person) would say about this person (ie. Rasoolullah). ‘This person’ is used for the person who is at his presence. Many people die at the same time. Since the words ‘this person’ are used for all of them (dead people), it is understood that he (Rasoollullah) is seen at many places at the same time. How can this happen?”

Answer: “It is true that Rasoolullah (ﷺ) is seen by everybody who is about to die, and he (the dead person) is asked, ‘What did you  have to say about this person?’ This shows the Supremacy of Allahu Ta’ala’s Power. The word ‘this’ is used for pointing to the person who is at his presence (i.e. Rasoolullah). This word is the answer to the person who does not believe that .

State of heart /haal is achieved by

1.taubah (returning towards Allah )

2.ilm (knowledge of sharia and tariqa)

3.amal/deeds (islah e nafs)

When I want to talk to allah I say prayers and when I want that he talk to me I recite quran- Hazrath Ali(ra)

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