Did Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) see Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on the night of ascension?
This article shall have abundant proofs from Qur'an but first we would like to reveal to the world a false translation of hadith in Sahih Muslim. Many people read translation of this hadith and start believing that it was actually what Prophet (Peace be upon him) said without verifying the original Arabic and how Muhaditheen read the word "أَنَّى "
In Light of Qur'an
وَهُوَ بِالْأُفُقِ الْأَعْلَىٰ ثُمَّ دَنَا فَتَدَلَّىٰ فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَىٰ فَأَوْحَىٰ إِلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَىٰ مَا كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَىٰ أَفَتُمَارُونَهُ عَلَىٰ مَا يَرَىٰ
Translation: (7): While he was in the highest part of the horizon.(8): Then he approached and came closer(9): And was at a distance of but two bow-lengths or (even) nearer. (10): So did (Allah) convey the inspiration to His Servant- (conveyed) what He (meant) to convey. (11): The (Prophet's) (mind and) heart in no way falsified that which he saw. (12): Will ye then dispute with him concerning what he saw? [Al Qur'an, Chapter 53, Verse 7-12]
In the 12th verse our Lord Almighty is challenging the whole world that “WILL YE THEN DISPUTE WITH HIM CONCERNING WHAT HE SAW”, had it been seeing Gabriel only then that would not have been a great challenge because previous Prophets like Musa Kaleem-Ullah (Peace be upon him) had the privilege to talk “DIRECTLY WITH ALLAH” and Ibrahim (alaih salam) was shown the kingdoms of Heaven which was a far superior thing than seeing Gabriel, hence from Nass of Qur'an it now becomes established that vision of Allah was finally reserved for Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) as hadith of Ibn Abbas (RA) and many others prove it (Which shall come in the hadith section of this article)
Let us see the detailed Tafsir of these verses by Imam Ibn-ul-Jawzi (rah), he explains the 8th and 9th verses in light of Sahih ahadith and Aqwaal
وفي المشار إليه بقوله: «ثُمَّ دنا» ثلاثة أقوال.
أحدها: أنه الله عز وجل. روى البخاري ومسلم في «الصحيحين» من حديث شريك بن أبي نَمِر عن أنس بن مالك قال: دنا الجبّار ربُّ العِزَّة فتدلَّى حتى كان منه قابَ قوسين أو أدنى. وروى أبو سلمة عن ابن عباس: «ثم دنا» قال: دنا ربُّه فتدلَّى، وهذا اختيار مقاتل. قال: دنا الرَّبُّ من محمد ليلةَ أُسْرِي به،، فكان منه قابَ قوسين أو أدنى. وقد كشفتُ هذا الوجه في كتاب «المُغْني» وبيَّنتُ أنه ليس كما يخطُر بالبال من قُرب الأجسام وقطع المسافة، لأن ذلك يختص بالأجسام، والله منزَّه عن ذلك.
والثاني: أنه محمد دنا من ربِّه، قاله ابن عباس، والقرظي.
والثالث: أنه جبريل. ثم في الكلام قولان.
Translation: There are three famous sayings regarding the saying of Allah i.e. Then he approached and came closer
First: That is Allah Azza wajjal as it is narrated by Bukhari and Muslim in “Sahihayn” the hadith from Sharik bin Abi Numayr who heard from Anas bin Malik (ra) who said: The Irresistible, the Lord of Honor and Majesty approached and came closer till He was about two bow lengths or (even) nearer [Sahih Bukhari Hadith # 7518, Sahih Muslim Hadith # 162]
...and It is narrated by Abu Salama from Ibn Abbas (ra) that {He approached} refers to Allah coming near, this is adopted by Maqatil (rah) who said: Allah came near to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) on the night of Isra And was at a distance of but two bow-lengths or (even) nearer, however It is written in the book Al Mughni that this coming nearer does not refer to coming closer in sense of bodies nor distance as that is the case with bodily creations and Allah is High of such thing being attributed to him.
The Second: That It was Muhammad (Peace be upon him) who went near Allah, this is said by Ibn Abbas (ra) and Qurzi(ra) too.
The Third: It was Gibril and there is Kalaam in this Qawl.. (Then Ibn Jawzi shows the opinion of Sahaba like Sayyidah Aisha - RA who were of the opinion that Prophet - Peace be upon him did not see Allah, why Sayyidah Aisha - RA believed such and how other Sahaba differed with her shall be explained in detail Insha'Allah)
Reference: Imam Ibn Jawzi in Zad al Maseer fi Ilm at Tafsir, Volume No. 8, Page No. 65-66
Hence From Qur'an and Sahih hadiths of Bukhari and Muslim which give best sharh of 8th and 9th verses It is proven that Prophet (Peace be upon him) saw Allah (Anas bin Malik R.A who is claimed to have rejected sight of Allah is proving in these ahadith that Prophet - Peace be upon him did see Allah, It is fundamental Usool of Hadith that If same sahabi says 2 contrary things then “Masbat (proof)” takes over “Nafi (i.e. rejection)”, so according to this Usool itself it is soundly established that the Prophet Peace be upon him did indeed see Allah and the Nafi of this has to be rejected)
False Translation of hadith in Sahih Muslim
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr : I asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him): Did you see thy Lord? He said: He is a Light, how could I see Him?
Next Hadith:
Abdullah b. Shaqiq reported: I said to Abu Dharr: Had I seen the Messenger of Allah, I would have asked him. He (Abu Dharr) said: What is that thing that you wanted to inquire of him ? He said: I wanted to ask him whether he had seen his Lord. Abu Dharr said: I, in fact, inquired of him, and he replied: I saw Light.
First one (#0341) is a severely false translation. If we accept it on face value then the very next hadith (#0342) will contradict the previous one. Remember Imam Muslim (rah) was an expert in hadith sciences let alone he not knowing that he has narrated 2 totally contradicting hadiths adjacent to each other in his magnificent Sahih collection.
False translation of first hadith (#0341) states: “:He is a Light, how could I see Him?
Here the translation claims that Allah is a light so how could He be seen?!
Now the next hadith (#0342) says: "I, in fact, inquired of him, and he replied: “I SAW LIGHT”
Let us now move towards the Arabic of first hadith which actually proves without doubt that Prophet (Peace be upon him) actually said that "He saw Allah"
حدّثنا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ : حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللّهِ بْنِ شَقِيقٍ عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ ، قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللّهِ: هَلْ رَأَيْتَ رَبَّكَ؟ قَالَ: «نُورٌ انى أَرَاهُ»؟.
Translation of Matn: Narrated by Abu Dharr (RA): I asked the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him): Did you see your Lord? The Prophet (Peace be upon him) replied: He is Nur (نُورٌ) I Saw Him ( انى أَرَاهُ) [Sahih Muslim, Hadith # 351, Hadith number from Sharh Sahih Muslim by Allama Ghulam Rasool Sa’eedi – Damat Barkatahum Alia]
This is the perfect translation which actually proves that Prophet (Peace be upon him) did indeed see Allah.
We will show word by word translation over here:
نُورٌ = He is light
انى = I, me, myself
أَرَاهُ = saw Him
However if we do not take this translation then Sahih Muslim will contradict itself as right in the next hadith it says:
رَأَيْتُ نُوراً = I saw Light (i.e. for Sure I saw Allah)
Another Proof:
Imam Badr ud din Ayni (Rahimuhullah) the commentator of Bukhari said:
روى ابن خزيمة بإسناد قوي عن أنس قال رأى محمد ربه وبه قال سائر أصحاب ابن عباس وكعب الأحبار والزهري وصاحب معمر وآخرون وحكى عبد الرزاق عن معمر عن الحسن أنه حلف أن محمدا رأى ربه وأخرج ابن خزيمة عن عروة بن الزبير إثباتها
Translation: Ibn Khuazaima (rah) narrated with “strong chain” from Anas bin Malik (ra) that he said:Muhammad (salallaho alaihi wasalam) saw his Lord, same is narrated from Ibn Abbas (ra) and his disciples like K’ab al Ahbar (ra), Zuhiri (rah) and Ma’mar (rah), Imam Abdur Razzaq (rah) narrates from Ma’mar who quotesImam Hassan Basri (rah) who used to say: I take an oath that Muhammad (salallaho alaihi wassalam) saw his Lord, Ibn Khuzaima (rah) has also proven it (sight of Allah) from Urwa bin Zubayr (ra) [Umdat al Qari, Sharah Sahih al Bukhari, Volume No. 19, Page No. 198]
Taking an oath by Imam Hasan al-Basri (rah) is not a minor thing. Those who do not know the standing of Imam Hasan al-Basri (rah) in narrating hadiths does not understand even the basics.
