Transcription of lecture by Shaikh Muhammad bin Yahya al Ninowy – “The Prophet Salallahu Alaihi Wasalam DID NOT SEE Allah Subhanahu Wata’aala on the night of Isra Wal Me’raj”
Shaykh Ninowi says:
“We have so many kinds of people nowadays that unfortunately stand up and say anything about Al-Isra Wal-Me’raj. Isra Wal-Ma’raj started with the Ayah of Allah Sunhanahu wa Ta’ala
سُبْحٰنَ الَّذِیۡۤ اَسْرٰی بِعَبْدِہٖ لَیۡلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ اِلَی الْمَسْجِدِ الۡاَقْصَا الَّذِیۡ بٰرَکْنَا حَوْلَہٗ لِنُرِیَہٗ مِنْ اٰیٰتِنَا
This is the summary of the trip of Al-Isra Wal-Me’raaj and this is what Isra and Me’raj all about. Allah started by saying Subhaana which means Al-Tanzeeh, an taqaddasAllahu Jalla wa ‘Ala ‘an Mushaabahati mala yaleequ bihi (That Allah Ta’ala is cleared from non-befitting attributes and non-suitable attributes).
He took his slave from Masjid Haram to Masjid Al-Aqsa, what was the objective of the trip? So He can see some of the miraculous wonders of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala created, and then the Prophet r went to the Me’raj, ascended into the heavens. And here is the problem, we have people somewhere around this community saying that the Prophet r went to Me’raj, and it’s the meeting ground between the Prophet r and Allah, and those people who believe that Allah is confined to a place or He is with Prophet r they are by definition the athiests, they are not related to Islam, because the basic objective of Me’raj is to ascend through all the heavens to see the miraculous creations that Allah Jalla wa ‘Ala created, and then the Prophet r went to the seventh heaven, then to Sidrat Al-Muntaha where Jibreel Alaihis Salam said Ya RasoolAllah I cannot go any further than that and then the Prophet r went there and He received the commands from Allah Jalla wa ‘Ala above there, and that is not a meeting ground, that is simply the place where Allah willed for His Prophet r to be, to receive the honourable command of Salah at this honourable place. No other creation has ever been there before; and that was the honour of the Prophet r. The Prophet r can receive the command of Allah. It’s not a meeting ground because Allah Jalla wa ‘Ala is not a body, nor does He resemble a human being, nor can be confined to a place or space or a direction because Allah Jalla wa ‘Ala created all the space and all the place and all the directions and Allah existed in eternity with no beginning when was no place, no space and no directions and no heavens and no earth and no skies and nothing. There was nothing but Allah and there will be one time when there will be nothing but Allah. And the Prophet r went there to be honoured with this journey that no one was honoured with. Went back to Moosa Alaihis Salam, Moosa told him “Go back to your Lord.” It doesn’t mean that his Lord was sitting there or being in a place, be careful, those who believe Allah is in a place are not Muslims because they believe that the creator is confined by the creation, and Allah is not a body nor is he a mass nor is He something similar to the creation that is confined by the creation, Allah is the Creator of the creation. Therefore the Prophet r went there just like Hazrat Ibraheem Alaihis Salam when He said, “INNI DHAAHIBUN ILA RABBI” “I’m going to my Lord.” ILA does not necessarily mean a place, it could mean a metaphorical place, and that was the place where the Prophet r received the command of Allah and the Prophet r came down. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala is not confined to a place or a space, He is indeed the Creator of all space and all place, therefore the proof for this in the Qiran and in the Sunnah; in the Quran, Allah says in Surah Maryam:
مَا زَاغَ الْبَصَرُ وَمَا طَغٰی ﴿۱۷﴾ لَقَدْ رَاٰی مِنْ اٰیٰتِ رَبِّہِ الْکُبْرٰی ﴿۱۸﴾
) Certainly, he saw very big signs of his Lord. The eye deviated not, nor crossed the limit. )
He has seen from the Ayahs (signs) of Allah. Allah didn’t say he has seen Allah, He has seen from the Ayahs of Allah, and then Sayyidah ‘Ayeshah Umm Al-Mu’mineen RadiyAllahu Anha says in Sahih Muslim:
مَنْ زَعَمَ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا -صلى الله عليه وسلم- رَأَى رَبَّهُ فَقَدْ أَعْظَمَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْفِرْيَةَ او فی روایۃ اٰخر فقد کذب
Whoever said that the Prophet r in the night of Me’raj has seen his God has lied to you and then she recited the Ayah of Quran:
لاَ تُدْرِكُهُ الأَبْصَارُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ الأَبْصَارَ
Visions can never see Him yet He sees all the visions
And then she says:
وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلاَّ وَحْيًا أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ
And a bashar (human) will never talk to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala except through Wahy or through a medium, and this the correct belief of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, and not only of Ahlus Sunnah but the entire Muslim Ummah. Be careful of likening Allah with creation, those who likened Allah with creations are. They likened him and made him and made him a superman. We worship the Creator of superman and not the superman. Be careful of that. اللھم صل علی محمد”
Refutation of His Corrupt Views
In Light of Qur’an
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, Surah Najm 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 & Blessings 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
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)
Alahazrat wrote the following on this subject. Download the following PDF file to appreciate his research:
Divine Vision By Imam Ahmad Raza Khan
For a detail study of this subject, please download and study the following research paper:
Detrimental Statements 
Bismillah: please allow me to comment
1. Ninowy is confused and follow common false knowledge which is spread in some middle east for example – since he never finished Islamic schooling in a college or privately .. Ninowy saying that the honorable Gabriel stopped and said he cannot go further IS FALSE and Hafiz Abdullah alghumari himself proved IT IS A FALSE AND INSULTING TO GABRIEL the same one trusted by revelation to hand to the great Prophet Muhammad in the first place. Remember Ninow at a point in the past when forging his profile claimed he associated with Ghumari which he quits now in person and in knowledge as you see.
2. talking about “ground” is not called upon in this subject as if he is debating wahabi and this is heavenly journey so bringing “ground of mud” proves the point and lever of confusion and science faith should not be taken from such person. PLEASE GIVE US A BREAK!
3. Quoting mawlatana Lady Aesha and not mawlana ibn Abbas regarding the “seeing vision” subject .. yet another prove of Ninowy’ confusion .. WE RESPOND: (A) Ibn Abbas said the Prophet have seen Allah; “meaning by his eyes of paradise” (B) Lady Aesha negating the idol’s physical comparison that might be imported to the event. So both are right and Ninowy is wrong because he should ONLY TRANSLATES GREAT ULAMA FULL WRITE-UP ON THE SUBJECT such as Sidi Abdel Aziz Al Dabbagh and Hafiz Ibn Hajar which I doubt Ninowy ever read their work. May Allah guide us and him or save the community from him.
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as for hadith “O Jabir: light of the prophet” it is huge few pages – I doubt that Ninowy or any one inbthe west readcall of it” besides the one forged it in africa confirmed his mistake. But there is two very important add-on
(1) There is greater authentic hadith about the light of the prophet at birth which the Prophet was happy with refetencing his great mawlatina Aminah among Prophet Abraham and Prophet Jesus and that she have seen the whole light reaching palaces of Syria ..
again due to limited study of Ninowy he belaves like the bear who killed a fly on face of his friend. denied light filling short due to his survice limited knowledge and not to prove and present the real great light
(2) Any one is interested to understand the magnitudes of the light of the Prophet should read “alibrize” by Sidi Aldabbagh
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