Seeing the Prophet (salallahu alayhe wasalam) whilst awake

IBN HAJAR AL-`ASQALANI’S FATWA ON MEETING THE PROPHET

We hold, as Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani, Nawawi and Abu Musa al-Asbahani, that no one possessed of a heart and mind can object to standing for the sake of the Prophet, and that this is desirable and recommended not only in the time of the Prophet but until the end of time. Observe that the hafiz Abu Musa al-Asbahani died in 581, more than five centuries after the time of the Prophet, and yet stands for him in the present tense and mentions "seeing him": this seeing of the Prophet by the pious believers both in a sleeping and a wakeful state is an attested fact in the Shari`a which has been mentioned by the scholars, among them Shaykh al-Islam al-Faqih Ibn Hajar al-Haytami in his Fatawa hadithiyya [Cf. Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, “Fatawa hadithiyya”, Cairo, Halabi, 1390/1970, p. 297]:

He was asked: "Is it possible to meet the Prophet while awake in our time?" He replied: "Yes, it is possible. It has been asserted as part of the miracles of saints (karamat al-awliya') by Ghazali, al-Barizi, al-Taj al-Subki, and al-Yafi`i among the Shafi`is, and by al-Qurtubi and Ibn Abi Jamra among the Malikis. It has been narrated that one of the awliya' was sitting in the assembly of a jurist (faqih) while the latter related a hadith, whereupon the wali said: "This hadith is false." The jurist said: "How do you know that?" The wali replied: "There is the Prophet standing right next to you, and he is saying: "I never said this." When he said this the sight of the faqih was unveiled and he could see the Prophet."


THERE IS SOUND EVIDENCE THAT THE PROPHET IS ALIVE

Sakhawi, Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani's student, said: "As for us (Muslims of Ahl al-Sunna) we believe and we confirm that he is alive and provided for in his grave" (“Al-Qawl al-badi`”, p. 161). Ibn al-Qayyim said in “Kitab al-ruh”, p. 58: "It is obligatory knowledge to know that his body is in the earth tender and humid (i.e. as in life), and when the Companions asked him: "How is our greeting presented to you after you have turned to dust" he replied: "Allah has defended the earth from consuming the flesh of Prophets," and if his body was not in his grave he would not have given this answer."

The Shaykh of Mecca, Sayyid Muhammad ibn Alawi -- may Allah guard him -- said in his last book “Manhaj al-Salaf”: «[...] he -- Allah bless and greet him -- died and his body has undoubtedly disappeared from our sights «for none eternally remains except the One Alone, the Living, the Self-Sustaining Who never tires nor sleeps» nevertheless, he is alive with a complete isthmus-life (hayât barzakhiyya) which is greater and better and more perfect than worldly life indeed, higher, dearer, sweeter, more perfect, and more beneficial than worldly life».


THE TRUE VISION OF THE PROPHET IS AN ESTABLISHED REALITY

The meeting and true vision of the Prophet is a reality established in the hadith of seeing the Prophet in dream, and documented through the relations of the trustworthy from the Companions to the Successors and their Successors down to our day.

Some of these relations have been recorded in Suyuti's fatwa “Tanwir al-halak fi imkan ru'yat al-nabi wal malak” (The illumination of intense darkness through the possibility of seeing the prophet and the angels) in his “Hawi li al-fatawi”. We have already mentioned in the section discussing the evidence that the Prophet hears and sees us al-Haytami's answer in his “Fatawa hadithiyya” whereby it is possible for Allah's Friends to meet the Prophet while awake in our time [Cf. al-Haytami, “Fatawa hadithiyya”, p. 297].

They can also meet al-Khidr, as Sakhawi relates about Imam Nawawi: "It is well-known that he (Imam Nawawi) used to meet with al-Khidr and converse with him among many other mukashafat" [Cf. Al-Sakhawi, “Tarjimat shaykh al-islam qutb al-awliya Abi Zakariyya al-Nawawi”, p. 33].

It is established by the authentic hadith narrated from him by Imam Ahmad in his “Musnad” and others with a chain of sound narrators as stated by al-Haythami in Majma` al-Zawa'id, that a certain man Salman al-Farisi had seen in al-Qudus was actually Isa ibn Maryam -- Allah bless and greet our Prophet and him. If `Isa can be seen after leaving this world, then the more so can our Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him.


TO SEE THE PROPHET IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF AWLIYA’ ALLAH


Ibn `Ata’ Allah in “Lata’if al-Minan” narrates from his teacher Abu al-`Abbas al-Mursi that his teacher Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili said: “If I stopped seeing the Prophet – upon him peace – for even one moment, I would consider myself no longer a Muslim.”

The illiterate Moroccan Ghawth `Abd al-`Aziz al-Dabbagh – hedied at age 39 – said, as related by his student the Faqih and Imam`Ali ibn al-Mubarak in “Kitab al-Ibriz” (“The Pure Gold”) – one of the treasure-books of Islam – that it is a characteristic of the rank of Ghawth to see the Prophet while awake, at all times

 Source: http://www.tijaniyya.com/