۞ بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ ۞
The continuity of divine revelation, despite the formal cessation of Prophesy, is one of the distinctive beliefs of orthodox Islām that was only seriously challenged by the modernist movement of our time. I previously quoted allāmah Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328 CE) in his explanation of the āyah:
وَ مَا کَانَ لِبَشَرٍ اَنۡ یُّکَلِّمَہُ اللّٰہُ اِلَّا وَحۡیًا اَوۡ مِنۡ وَّرَآیِٔ حِجَابٍ اَوۡ یُرۡسِلَ رَسُوۡلًا فَیُوۡحِیَ بِاِذۡنِہٖ مَا یَشَآءُ ؕ اِنَّہٗ عَلِیٌّ حَکِیۡمٌ
And it is not for a man that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil or by sending a messenger to reveal by His command what He pleases. Surely, He is High, Wise
(42:51)
as a proof for the possibility of a non-prophet, ummati receiving revelation from Allāh after the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم
Here I shall quote another giant of Islamic learning and mysticism, imām Abu Hāmid al-Ghazzāli (1058-1111 CE), from his magnum opus, in explanation of the same āyah (42:51):
فإن العلم إنما يحصل في قلوبنا بواسطة الملائكة وإليه الإشارة بقوله تعالى {وما كان لبشر أن يكلمه الله إلا وحياً أو من وراء حجاب أو يرسل رسولاً فيوحي بإذنه ما يشاء
The knowledge which comes to our hearts through the medium of the Angels, as indicated by His saying: “And it is not for a man that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil or by sending a messenger to reveal by His command what He pleases” (Ihyā Ulūm ad-Dīn; v.3, p.19):
Some ignorant people raise an objection that the affirmation of وحى (wahi or revelation) to a non-prophet is incorrect, perhaps even a heresy that is a violation of our belief in the finality of Prophesy. They fail to realize that in the Arabic language, and in the Quranic terminology itself, the term wahi refers to the divine revelation that is received by both Prophets and non-prophets. The linguist and scholar, ar-Rāghib al-Isfahāni (d. 502 H) said:
ويقالُ للكَلِمَةِ الإلهيةِ الَّتِي تُلْقى إِلَى أَنْبيائِه وأَوْليائِه وَحْيٌ
The divine Word that is give to His Prophets and His Saints is called wahi (al-Mufradāt, p.858):
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أَنَّ رَجُلاً زَارَ أَخًا لَهُ فِي قَرْيَةٍ أُخْرَى فَأَرْصَدَ اللَّهُ لَهُ عَلَى مَدْرَجَتِهِ مَلَكًا فَلَمَّا أَتَى عَلَيْهِ قَالَ أَيْنَ تُرِيدُ قَالَ أُرِيدُ أَخًا لِي فِي هَذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ . قَالَ هَلْ لَكَ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ نِعْمَةٍ تَرُبُّهَا قَالَ لاَ غَيْرَ أَنِّي أَحْبَبْتُهُ فِي اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ . قَالَ فَإِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَبَّكَ كَمَا أَحْبَبْتَهُ فِيهِ
ReplyDeleteA person visited his brother in another town and Allah deputed an Angel to wait for him on his way and when he came to him he said: Where do you intend to go? He said: I intend to go to my brother in this town. He said: Have you done any favor to him (the repayment of which you intend to get)? He said: No, excepting this that I love Mm for the sake of Allah, the Exalted and Glorious. Thereupon he said: I am a messenger to you from Allah: (to inform you) that Allah loves you as you love him (Sahih Muslim)