Salafi Belief: Parallel Body for Prophets After Death

بسم الله الرحمـن الرحيم

والعاقبة للمتقين

In a previous entry concerning the false doctrine that the Prophets are living in their graves, I cited a reference from Fatawa ad-Din al-Khalis of the Ahlul Hadith (Salafi) scholar Aminullah Peshawari. In it he states that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ seeing Moses praying in his grave was either a dream, or he saw a similitude of Moses illustrating a condition of the latter’s life:

آپ ﷺ کو ان کی زندگی کے احوال کی جھلک دکھائی گئ اور آپ کو ان کی مثال دکھائی گئ کہ وہ کیسے حج کرتے تھے کیسے تلبیہ کہتے تھے جیسے آپ ﷺ نے فرمایا گویاء کہ میں موسی علیہ السلام کو دیکھ رہا ہوں گویا کہ میں یونس علیہ السلام کو دیکھ رہا ہوں گویا کہ میں عیسی علیہ السلام کو دیکھ رہا ہوں۔ میں کہتا ہوں یہ صحیح ہے۔

Translation: Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was shown a glimpse of a state in Moses’s life, and was shown a similitude of Moses of how he used to make Hajj, how he used to pronounce the Talbiya. He ﷺ said: “As if I am looking at Moses peace be upon him, as if I am looking at Jonas peace be upon him, as if I am looking at Jesus peace be upon him.” I say this is correct. (Fatawa ad-Din al-Khalis: v.1 p.190)

 

Aminullah Peshawari is referring to various Hadith, for example, when the Prophet ﷺ said:

وَأَمَّا مُوسَى فَرَجُلٌ آدَمُ جَعْدٌ، عَلَى جَمَلٍ أَحْمَرَ مَخْطُومٍ بِخُلْبَةٍ، كَأَنِّي أَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِ إِذِ انْحَدَرَ فِي الْوَادِي يُلَبِّي

“And as regards Moses, he is a brown curly-haired man riding a red camel reined with a strong jute rope, as if I am now looking at him getting down in the valley and saying Labbaik.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

كَأَنِّي أَنْظُرُ إِلَى يُونُسَ بْنِ مَتَّى - عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ - عَلَى نَاقَةٍ حَمْرَاءَ جَعْدَةٍ عَلَيْهِ جُبَّةٌ مِنْ صُوفٍ خِطَامُ نَاقَتِهِ خُلْبَةٌ وَهُوَ يُلَبِّي

“As if I am seeing Jonas son of Matta on a well-built red dromedary, with a cloak of wool around him and the rein of his dromedary is made of fibres of date-palm and he is saying Labbaik.” (Sahih Muslim)

These are examples of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ being shown a similitude of an ancient prophet, such as Moses and Jonas, and cannot be used as a proof that the Prophet ﷺ saw them alive in their earthen bodies. It is in this light that the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ passing by the grave of Moses and seeing Moses praying has to necessarily be understood.

Another major Salafi scholar, Muhibullah Shah Rashidi (1921-1995), writes that during the Isra and Mi’raj the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not see the earthen or original bodies of the Prophets:

یعنی انبیاء کرام علیہم السلام کے اجسام مبارک تو اپنی اپنی قبروں میں مدفون ہیں لیکن ان کے پاک اور طیبہ ارواح کو ضرور کوئی نہ کوئی صورت ملی ہوئی ہوگی اور وہ ارواح طیبہ آسمانوں پر اپنے اپنے مقام پر ان صورتوں میں موجود ہیں لہذا آپ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم کی ملاقات بھی ان کو دی ہوئی صورتوں کے ساتھ ہوئی

بعینہہ اسی طرح ان انبیاء کرام علیہم السلام کی ارواح بیت المقدس میں لائی گئیں اور ان تمام ارواح نے نبی صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم کی اقتداء میں نماز ادا کی۔

Translation: “The blessed bodies of the noble Prophets, peace be upon them, are buried in their respective graves, but their pure spirits have necessarily been given some form, and those pure spirits are present with those forms in the heavens in their respective stations. Therefore, the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ meeting them was with those forms that they were given…Exactly like this the spirits of those noble Prophets, peace be upon them, were brought to Jerusalem, and all of those spirits offered prayers behind the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.” (Fatawa Rashidiya: Kitab-al-Aqaid p.203)

So, like the Twelver Shi’a and the Deobandis, the Ahlul Hadith (Salafis) likewise affirm the concept of a parallel body after death that is granted to the soul of the deceased, while its corpse lies buried in the earthen grave.