بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ
Question: Is it possible to see Allah in
this life?
Allah says about Himself in Surah Hadeed
the following:
He is the First (He existed when nothing
was created), He is the Last (He will continue to exist when everything will
come to an end) He is the Seen, (Manifest) and He is the Hidden. (57:3)
If we should take the literal meaning, it
means that He could be seen. Allah also says:
Allah testifies to the fact that
there is no god but He and the angels testify and those endued with knowledge,
standing firm on justice. (3:18)
To testify to a fact here means to see Him.
Only the selected few will be able to do so. It is a fact, as the Lord rightly says:
No
vision can grasp Him, but He is able to see everything. (6:103)
It means that
except for Prophet Muhammad (pboh) on the night of the Miraj, no other creature
will be able to view Him in the physical domain of space and time, with their
physical eyes.
Out of His Mercies, He has made available a
pathway of ascent for human beings. He says about it that He is Zil Ma’arij,
(The Possessor of the Ascending Stairways). (70:3)
It means that creatures have
the power to ascend higher and higher towards Him according to their capacities
and because of His Mercies. The angels cannot get very close to Him, because
they questioned His decision to appoint Adam as His Khalifah on the earth. So
too, all other Messengers, etc. expressed some form of limitations regarding
their understanding of Him and the way He works.
It was only Prophet Muhammad
(pboh) who was blessed with limitless capacity. This was because Allah says
that: Nor does he say anything of his own desire. (53:3).
The Prophet (pboh)
was totally submissive and never questioned any matter pertaining the working
of the Lord; as a result he was able to ascend two bow’s length or even closer
to Him. (53:9)
Because he had no stains on his qalb, ruh
or nafs, he could have ascended very close to his Lord, and get a full view of
Him. The same thing will happen to the righteous when they will be stationed in
Paradise.
The condition of experiencing the Lord is
to have: no stains on the qalb. (83:14); and also to have no smoke around the
ruh. (6:82).
Anyone who can develop themselves free from such will be able to
have a vision of the Lord (Al Zahir) according to the extent of their spiritual
development. Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said that: Among my followers
there will be those who will be higher in status than the Messengers of Bani
Israel. This means that they will be blessed with greater ascent than those
Messengers.
But is it possible to rationalize such an
experience; definitely not; so that the selected few who will be blessed with
such an experience, will never let anyone know about what they saw.
This issue existed even in the time of the
Prophet (pboh) as it is reported that Hazrat Ayesha said that anyone who say
that the Prophet (pboh) saw Allah, is not telling the truth. The Prophet (pboh)
never commented on it.
Those who are blessed with experience of
being close to Allah will never speak about it to any, as that is a personal
matter; and is not something to advertise.
So that you will get differing views about
this matter, but only the Lord knows best.
May Allah bless us.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Waffie
