Knowledge of Unseen Disclosed to non-Prophets (Part 3)

نحمده ونصلى ونسلم على رسوله الكريم

اعوذ بالله السميع العليم من الشيطان اللعين الرجيم

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Another verse of the holy Qur’an which Siddiq Raza cited in his recent debate with the Deobandi Abdul Latif Safdar to prove that Allah Most High absolutely does not reveal any matter of the unseen to a non-prophet:

وَمَا كَانَ اللَّـهُ لِيُطْلِعَكُمْ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَجْتَبِي مِن رُّسُلِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ

And Allah does not inform you of the ghayb [unseen] but Allah chooses from His Messengers whom He wills

(Sura 3:179)

Firstly, as the major and classical tafasir explain, the background and context of this Verse is concerning the knowledge of the hypocrites, those individuals who apparently from the Prophet’s community and companions, but who conceal disbelief in their hearts. Allah Most High is saying that He will not reveal to the companions and the ordinary people knowledge of the identity of the hypocrites, rather, He may reveal some information regarding that to a Messenger, namely, the Prophet Muhammad (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam). In fact, Allah did indeed reveal the identity of some of the hypocrites who were in the midst of his community to the Prophet (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam). The Prophet (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) only informed one of his companions, sayyidina Hudhaifa b. al-Yaman (radi Allahu anhu) regarding the identity of these hypocrites. The word used in this Ayah is al-ghayb with the definite article, and is therefore not a negation of the fact that some ordinary matters of the unseen may be disclosed to the Believers and Saints through visions and dreams, while the particular and great matters of the unseen, such as what is hidden in the hearts, can only be revealed to a Rasul. It is also mentioned in some commentaries that the ones being addressed “And Allah does not inform you of the unseen” are not the Believers but rather the hypocrites, or the disbelievers of Quraysh as al-Suddi and Sa’id al-Kalbi have narrated:

قال السدي : قال رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - : عرضت علي أمتي في صورها كما عرضت على آدم ، وأعلمت من يؤمن بي ومن يكفر . فبلغ ذلك المنافقين ، فاستهزءوا وقالوا : يزعم محمد أنه يعلم من يؤمن به ومن يكفر ، ونحن معه ولا يعرفنا . فأنزل الله تعالى هذه الآية .

 وقال الكلبي : قالت قريش : تزعم يا محمد أن من خالفك فهو في النار والله عليه غضبان ، وأن من اتبعك على دينك فهو من أهل الجنة والله عنه راض ، فأخبرنا بمن يؤمن بك ومن لا يؤمن بك ، فأنزل الله تعالى هذه الآية

Al-Suddi reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “The members of my community were shown to me in their forms, as they were shown to Adam, and I was informed about who would believe in me and who would disbelieve”. When the hypocrites heard this, they mocked him, saying: “Muhammad claims that he knows who would believe in him and who would not. Yet, we are in his midst and he does not know us”, and so Allah revealed this verse. Said al-Kalbi: “The people of Quraysh said: ‘O Muhammad! You claim that whoever opposes you will go to hellfire and Allah would be angry with him whereas whoever believes in you will go to the Garden and Allah will be pleased with him. In that case, inform us about who would believe in you and who would not?’ And as a response, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.  (Asbab al-Nuzul lil-Wahidi p.136):

 

In summary, it is not a negation of Allah disclosing some ordinary matters of the unseen to the Believers and Saints.