Nothing From Prophesy But Mubashshirat Doesn't Negate Ilham

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

وعلى آلك واصحابك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

فداك ابي وامي يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Today several false teachers who style themselves Islamic scholars have negated the phenmenon of Ilham (divine inspiration) in this Ummah, and dress up such a heretical denial as a necessary implication of the Khatm an-Nubuwwah (finality of Prophesy) doctrine. Among such false teachers are Javed Ghamidi and the notorious Engineer Mirza of Jhelum who was directly influenced by the former in this issue. They have put forward a novel and dissenting interpretation of the Hadith:

لَقَدْ كَانَ فِيمَا قَبْلَكُمْ مِنَ الأُمَمِ مُحَدَّثُونَ فَإِنْ يَكُ فِي أُمَّتِي أَحَدٌ فَإِنَّهُ عُمَرُ

Among the Ummats before you there were Muhaddaths. So if there is one in my Ummah then surely it is Umar (Sahih al-Bukhari)

According to the interpretation of these false teachers the Hadith means that there shall be no Muhaddath in this Ummah, and that Umar bin al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was not a Muhaddath. This is in direct contravention of the understanding of the Sunni Muslims and our Imams and Ulama. Even Ibn Taymiya affirmed that Umar al-Faruq, may Allah be pleased with him, was actually a Muhaddath:

فإن ‌سيد ‌المحدثين والمخاطبين الملهمين من هذه الأمة هو عمر بن الخطاب

Verily, the Chief of the Muhaddaths and Mukhatabs and Mulhams from this Ummah is Umar son of al-Khattab (Majmu al-Fatawa, v.11 p.65)

Likewise, his student, Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani, explained the statement of the Prophet, peace be upon him, that if there is to be a Muhaddath in this Ummah it will be Umar, may Allah be pleased with him:

كَذَا قَالَهُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى سَبِيلِ التَّوَقُّعِ وَكَأَنَّهُ لَمْ يَكُنِ اطَّلَعَ عَلَى أَنَّ ذَلِكَ كَائِنٌ ‌وَقَدْ ‌وَقَعَ ‌بِحَمْدِ ‌اللَّهِ مَا تَوَقَّعَهُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ وَوَقَعَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ لِغَيْرِهِ مَا لَا يُحْصَى ذِكْرُهُ

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said this as an expectation, as if he had not known that this would happen. Praise be to God, what the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, expected happened with Umar, may God be pleased with him, and more of the same happened with others that are too numerous to mention (Fath al-Bari, v.6 p.516)

And Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani said that the one who denies the phenomenon of Ilham in this Ummah is stubborn and arrogant:

وَقَدْ أَخْبَرَ ‌كَثِيرٌ ‌مِنَ ‌الْأَوْلِيَاءِ عَنْ أُمُورٍ مُغَيَّبَةٍ فَكَانَتْ كَمَا أَخْبَرُوا

Many of the Saints informed about the affairs of the unseen and it happened as they informed.

وَالْجَوَابُ أَنَّ الْحَصْرَ فِي الْمَنَامِ لِكَوْنِهِ يَشْمَلُ آحَادَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِخِلَافِ الْإِلْهَامِ فَإِنَّهُ مُخْتَصٌّ بِالْبَعْضِ وَمَعَ كَوْنِهِ مُخْتَصًّا فَإِنَّهُ نَادِرٌ فَإِنَّمَا ذُكِرَ الْمَنَامُ لِشُمُولِهِ وَكَثْرَةِ وُقُوعِهِ وَيُشِيرُ إِلَى ذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَإِنْ يَكُنْ

The answer is that the restriction in dreams is because it includes individuals among the believers, unlike inspiration, which is specific to some, and despite being specific, it is rare. Dreams were mentioned because of their comprehensiveness and frequent occurrence, and this is indicated by his statement, may God bless him and grant him peace: “If it is…”

وَكَانَ السِّرُّ فِي نَدُورِ الْإِلْهَامِ فِي زَمَنِهِ وَكَثْرَتِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ غَلَبَةَ الْوَحْيِ إِلَيْهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي الْيَقَظَةِ وَإِرَادَةَ إِظْهَارِ الْمُعْجِزَاتِ مِنْهُ فَكَانَ الْمُنَاسِبُ أَنْ لَا يَقَعَ لِغَيْرِهِ مِنْهُ فِي زَمَانِهِ شَيْءٌ

The secret behind the rarity of inspiration in his time and its abundance after him was the prevalence of revelation to him, may God bless him and grant him peace, while awake and the desire to show miracles from him. So it was appropriate that nothing from him should happen to anyone else in his time.

فَلَمَّا انْقَطَعَ الْوَحْيُ بِمَوْتِهِ وَقَعَ الْإِلْهَامُ لِمَنِ اخْتَصَّهُ اللَّهُ بِهِ لِلْأَمْنِ مِنَ اللَّبْسِ فِي ذَلِكَ وَفِي إِنْكَارِ وُقُوعِ ذَلِكَ مَعَ كَثْرَتِهِ وَاشْتِهَارِهِ مُكَابَرَة مِمَّن أنكرهُ

When the revelation was cut off with his death, inspiration came to whomever God chose for it, to ensure safety from confusion in that regard. And in denying that it happened despite its abundance and its fame, there is stubbornness on the part of those who denied it (ibid, v.12 p.376)

And here Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani has explained the Hadith:

لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنَ النُّبُوَّةِ إِلاَّ الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ

Nothing remains of Prophesy except the Mubashshirat (Sahih al-Bukhari)

And this Hadith, misinterpreted by the likes of Javed Ghamidi and Engineer Mirza, is put forward by them as the main argument to deny the phenomenon of wakeful Kashf and Ilham in this Ummah.