Seeing Allâh in the Hereafter. Vision of Allâh by the Believers in Paradise
The most eminent of the graces which will be given to people of the paradise when they will be for the paradise, they will see Allāh ta`âlâ. They will see Him and there is no something that people of the paradise will more like than seeing Allâh. They will see Him without how, without place and without direction. Allâh said:
(وجوه يومئذ ناضرة إلى ربّها ناظرة)
which means: "On the Day of Judgment the beautiful faces of the believers – those accepted by Allâh – shall be seeing their Lord." Imam Abu Hanifah said:
"والله تعالى يُرى في الآخرة، ويراه المؤمنون وهم في الجنة بأعين رؤوسهم بلا تشبيه ولا كميّة، ولا يكون بينه وبين خلقه مسافة"
which means: "The people of Paradise shall truly see Allâh without a manner of being, resemblance or direction. The believers shall see Him while they are in Paradise with their eyes without a distance between Him and them."
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
Praise be to God the Creator of the world, the One Who exists without beginning, without end, without location, without a "how" and Who does not depend on time. Nothing resembles Him in anyway and He hears and sees everything without organs. Whatever you imagine, God is different from that. May the elevation in degree and preservation of his community of what he fears for it, be granted to our master Muḥammad Al-'Amin, the Honest One, who called for following Islam, the religion of truth, the religion of all the Prophets: of the first, Adam, to the last Muḥammad.
Praise be to Allâh and we ask Allâh to raise the rank of Prophet Muḥammad more and to grant us sincerity,
Allâh, ta`âlâ said:
﴿ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَىءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ ﴾
(Layça kamithlihi chay’ wa huwa s-samî`u l-baSîr)
which means: « Absolutely there is nothing like Him and He is the One attributed with Hearing and Sight. » [Surat Ash-Shûra, âyah 11]
Allâh said in al-Qur'ân:
﴿ كَلا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ ﴾
Here, kalla (كَلاّ) contains the meaning of the strict order to refrain from the sins and disobedience that cause the heart to blacken with scars. Innahum (إِنَّهُمْ) refers to the blasphemers. `An-rabbihim (عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ) means "from seeing their Lord" as mentioned by the astute scholar, `Izz ad-Din Ibn `Abd as-Salam, in his book Al-Isharah Ila al-'Ijaz. Yawma 'idhin (يَوْمَئِذٍ) means "on the Day of Judgment" Lamahjubun (لَمَحْجُبُونَ) means "they are indeed prohibited." An-Nasafiyy said alhajb (الحجب) is "the prohibition."
The meaning of this âyah, hence, is that on the Day of Judgment, the blasphemers shall indeed be prohibited from seeing their Lord. This âyah degrades the blasphemers and makes it clear that Allâh does not accept them.
Al-Bayhaqiyy narrated with his chain of narration to Imam Muḥammad Ibn Idris ash-Shafi`iyy that he said about this âyah {كَلا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ}: "The fact that Allâh prohibited them from seeing Him, as a sign that they are not accepted by Him, indicates that those who are accepted by Allâh shall see Him." These words are extremely beautiful because it is an analogy derived from the meaning of the ayah and is supported by the evidence of the saying of Allâh in sûrât Al-Qiyamah, Ayahs 22 and 23:
﴿وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاضِرَةٌ (22) إِلَى رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ (23)﴾
(woujûhun yawma’idhin nâDirah ‘ilâ rabbihâ nâDhirah)
These ayas mean: « On the Day of Judgment the beautiful faces of the believers – those accepted by Allâh – shall be seeing their Lord. » Also al-Bayhaqiyy in his Siyar reported his chain of narration up to Sufyan Ibn `Uyaynah that he said about the âyah:
﴿ كَلا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ ﴾
"If both the righteous and the blasphemers had been veiled from seeing Allâh, then what merit would the righteous have over the blasphemers?" It was reported in the same book (Siyar) that a person asked Imam Mâlik Ibn Anas,
« O Abu `Abdullâh, do the âyahs :
﴿وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاضِرَةٌ (22) إِلَى رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ (23)﴾
(woujûhun yawma’idhin nâDirah ‘ilâ rabbihâ nâDhirah)
[sûrât Al-Qiyamah] mean that the believers will see Allâh? »
He said, « Yes, with these eyes. »
I said, « Some people say nadhirah (نَاظِرَةٌ) in âyah 23 means "awaiting the reward from Allâh". »
Imam Malik replied, « No, it means seeing Allâh. Have you not heard what Musa said as mentioned in sûrât Al-`Araf, 143 {رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنْظُرْ إِلَيْكَ}? This means: « O Allâh, allow me to see you. » Do you think he would have asked Allâh for an impossible matter? Allâh said {لَنْ تَرَانِي} which means « You will not see Me. » i.e., in this world which is going to annihilate, however, once they get to the abode of perpetuity they shall see with their everlasting eyes at Allâh Who is Everlasting. Allâh said: {كَلا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ} sûrât Al-Mutaffifin, âyah 15. »
The scholars who lived within three hundred years after the immigration of the Prophet (salaf) and those who lived after them (khalaf) have held mutual consent on the belief of seeing Allâh, the Exalted, with the eyes in the Hereafter. And that it is exclusive for the believers who shall see Him while they are in Paradise. They will see Him without a manner of being, without likening Him to the creation, and without a direction. Imam Abu Hanifah an-Nu`man Ibn Thabit, may Allâh raises his rank, in his books Al-Wasiyyah and Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar said:
« ولقاء الله تعالى لأهل الجنة حق بلا كيفية ولا تشبيه ولا جهة يراه المؤمنون وهم فى الجنة بأعين رؤسهم ولا يكون بينه و بين خلقه مسافة، وليس قرب الله تعالى ولا بعده من طريق طول المسافة وقصرها ولكن على معنى الكرامة والهوان والمطيع قريب منه تعالى بلا كيف والعاصى بعيد منه بلا كيف وكذلك الرؤية فى الاخرة بلا كيف »
This means: « The people of Paradise shall truly see Allâh without a manner of being, resemblance or direction. The believers shall see Him while they are in Paradise with their eyes without a distance between Him and them. The proximity to and fartherness from Allâh DO NOT pertain to the length or shortness of distance, rather, it is a meaning pertaining to highness and lowness of status. The obedient person is close to Allāh without a manner of being, and the sinful person is far from Allâh without a manner of being. Likewise seeing Allâh in the hereafter is without a manner of being. »
Abu Hanifah’s statement elucidates that Allâh will not be in a direction or a place, whereas the people of Paradise will be in their locations in Paradise. They will see Him without doubting that it is He whom they have seen, just as the person looking at the full moon on a clear night does not doubt that what he sees is the moon. This meaning was reflected in the saying of the Messenger of Allâh that was narrated by Al-Bukhâriyy:
« إنكم سترون ربكم يوم القيامه كما ترون القمر ليلة البدر لا تضامّون في رؤيته »
which means: « You shall see your Lord on the Day of Judgment without any doubt, just as you do not doubt seeing the full moon on a clear night. Yet you shall not throng and cling together to see Him. »
Al-Bayhaqiyy said he heard Imam Abu at-Tayyib Sahl Ibn Muḥammad As-Su`lukiyy say in his book Al-Imla’ about the saying of the Prophet: « لا تُضامّون في رؤيته » (with a dammah on the ta’ (تُ) and shaddah on the mim (مّ) of تُضامّون) that it means "you shall not throng and cling together." The meaning is also the same when using a fathah on the ta’ (تَ). In such case, the root word would be tatadammun (تَتَضامُّون). However, if one uses a dammah on the ta (تُ) and a single mim (مُ), the root of the word would be ad-daym (الضَّيم) which means "you shall not face any injustice" in that some will see Him and some will not. Rather all of you (the believers) shall see Him while you are in your direction and He is clear of directions. The similitude with seeing the full moon is not to liken the Creator to the moon, for Allâh is clear from that (End of the words of Abu at-Tayyib).
The reason the Messenger of Allâh drew a similitude between the believers seeing the full moon on a clear night and their seeing Allâh in the Hereafter was to eliminate the element of doubt.
In one of the narrations of the Hadîth by Al-Bukhâriyy, the term la tudarun (لا تُضارُون) was pronounced with a single ra' (رُ), and in Muslim’s narration, the term la tudarrun (لا تُضاروُّن) was pronounced with doubling the ra' (رُّ). The author of Lisan Al-`Arab reported that Abu Mansur said that the root of the first is ad-dayr (الضَّيْر) and the second is ad-durr (الضُّر) ; and both mean the same thing without you hurting one another attempting to see Allāh alone, i.e., all to yourself without the others. It was said also the meaning is without disputing and ending up belying one another about seeing Allâh.
The importance of this rather lengthy explanation is to present the reader with ample refutation to the Qadariyyah - those who deny the Qadar (Destining of Allâh)-. The Prophet described them as the majus of this nation. The Qadariyyah deny that the believers will see Allâh on the Day of Judgment.
In his Tafsir, Az-Zamakhshariyy, who belongs to the misguided school of the Mu`tazilah, displayed impoliteness with the Prophet, Sallallâhu `alayhi wa sallam, (in addition to other abhorrent matters). The renowned, great Imam, Abu Hayyan al-Andalusiyy, (in his famous Tafsir, Al-Bahr Al-MuHîT, in the Chapter on sûrat An-Naml) warned against az-Zamakhshariyy’s Tafsir. In verses of his poetry, highlighting straying of az-Zamakhshariyy, Abu Hayyan said that az-Zamakhshariyy: (1) out of ignorance confirms fabricated Hadîths, (2) attributes to the impeccable Prophet that which is non befitting, and (3) twists the terms around to support the ill-school of the Mu`tazilah. Abu Hayyan meant that az-Zamakhshariyy was one of the Mu`tazilah and a proud, outspoken advocate of that school. Strangely enough, some people who consider themselves Sunni use az-Zamakhshariyy’s Tafsir while ignoring the warning of Abu Hayyan.
Allâh knows best.
الحمد لله رب العالمين
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