Sahih Muslim, 178 a
sahihIt is narrated on the authority of Abu Dharr:
I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): Did you see your Lord? He said: (He is) Light; how could I see Him?
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ شَقِيقٍ، عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ، قَالَ سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم هَلْ رَأَيْتَ رَبَّكَ قَالَ
نُورٌ أَنَّى أَرَاهُ
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Isnad
6 transmittersReferences2 variants
- In-Book Reference
- Book 1, Hadith 348
- USC-MSA web (English) reference
- Book 1, Hadith 341 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The journey of the Isra and Mi’raj was one of the miracles with which Allah supported His Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). He honored and ascended him with Gabriel, the Angel, to the highest heavens so he saw Paradise along with His greatest signs. In this hadith, Abdullah ibn Shaqiq said to Abu Dharr that had he seen the Prophet, he would have asked him about something he wanted to know about. When Abu Dharr asked his explanation, Abdullah told him that he had wanted to ask the Prophet if he had seen his God. Abu Dharr confirmed that he had asked the Prophet the same question so the Prophet replied, "I saw light." This means that he saw nothing from Allah but light. Allah's light is a light befitting Him, without any interpretation. It was said that the light he saw was nothing but the veil between Allah and His servants, for Abu Musa Al-Ash’ary reported in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet said, "His veil is the light. If he were to remove it, the glory of his face would burn all of his creation, as far as his sight reaches." His sight is endless. The Companions and the scholars after them differed on that. Some confirmed it while others negated it. It was said that it is most likely that he saw Him but they differed on how he saw Him. Some confirmed it was with heart while others confirmed it was with eyes. Finally, this hadith clarifies that the Prophet saw His God with his heart..