بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
I am posting here a detail analogy of report of Ayesha RA and Ibn e Abbas RA on issue of Ruyatu ALLAH (Seeing ALLAH)
I have tried my best to be more logical in my approach to this issue. May ALLAH help us and bestow us with understanding. Aameen
Post #1
Ibn e Abbas RA narrated that: PROPHET (Peace Be Upon Him) himself said:
رأيت ربي تبارك وتعالى
I saw my Lord, (ALLAH) Tabaraka Wa Ta'ala.
Al Musnad-Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal, 386/4, #2634
Post #2
Topic Narration of Ayesha Siddiqah RA:
Narrated by Masruq:
`Aisha RA said, "If anyone tells you that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has seen his Lord, he is a liar, for Allah says: 'No vision can grasp Him.' (6.103
(Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim)
By The Grace of Allah we say:
- Narration of Ayesha RA is authentic as per criteria of five conditions.
- Narration of Ibn e Abbas RA is also authentic and all narrators are narrators of Bukhari and Muslim. And Imam Ahmad Also Accepted that narration as authentic (we will see it in coming posts)
- Most important point to understand is: When we compare both narrations we see that the stance of Ayesha RA is her own personal view/ijtihad. Proof of it is she is using Ayah of Quran to explain her stance where as Ibn e Abbas is narrating directly from PROPHET (Peace Be Upon Him) without using his opinion. Ibn e Abbas RA also have different interpretation of the same verses Quoted by Ayesha RA.
- Did she also do ijtihad on other issues like we are claiming here?
Yes, we will see in next post In sha ALLAH which will help us to develop our understanding of the issue.
Rule: When two authentic reports apparently contradict each other. We Should try to reconcile them. If not, superiority is sought.
Note: Emotional arguments academically are not acceptable e.g, saying that She is Wife of PROPHET (Peace Be Upon Him) and She is mother of believers. How can she not know about it? Why you are rejecting her statement etc are not gona work. May be these arguments work for a taxi driver who has nothing to do with this subject or we can also reply with: Ibn e Abbas is the one about whom PROPHET (Peace be Upon Him) said, O Allah! Bestow on him the knowledge of the Book (Qur'an). Why you are rejecting Ibn e Abbas RA?
And if you think we are disrespecting Mother of Believers RA, then you should wash dishes at some hotel. That is a better place for you !
Post #3
Topic: Comparison of opinions/Ijtihaad of Sayyidah Ayesha Siddiqah RA with other narrations.
Some good arguments which I was going to post were already posted by brother Omar in previous post. It saved my time. Thanks to him. I present here a new argument on this issue.
Ibn e Umar RA said: I traveled with the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), Abu Bakr RA, Umar RA, and Uthman RA; they would pray Zuhr and Asr as two Rak'ah and two Rak'ah (because of journey), not praying before them nor after them. (Bukhari)
But it is reported from Ayesha Siddiqah RA that she didn't use to pray Qasar during journey. Zuhri said he asked 'Urwa why 'A'isha said prayer in the complete form during journey, and he replied that she interpreted the matter herself. (Bukhari & Muslim)
Ayesha RA said: Offer prayer in the complete form (during journey). People said: PROPHET (Peace Be Upon Him) used to offer Two Rak'ah during journey. She replied: He used to be in the state of war and danger that those who are unbelievers may afflict. Are you also in the same state of war/danger? (Tabari and Suyuti)
where as Yahya b. Umayya said: I told 'Umar b. al-Khattab that Allah had said:" You may shorten the prayer only if you fear that those who are unbelievers may afflict you" (Qur'an, iv. 101), whereas the people are now safe. He replied: I wondered about it in the same way as you wonder about it, so I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about it and he said: It is an act of charity which Allah has done to you, so accept His charity. (Muslim)
And Ibn 'Abbas RA reported: Allah has prescribed the prayer by the tongue of your Apostle (ﷺ) as two rak'ahs for the traveler, four for the resident, and one in danger. (Muslim & Abu Dawud)
By the Grace of ALLAH we Say:
- This clearly proves that she had her own opinions on certain issues as some of the other learned companions had.
- But preference will be given to the Saying/Sunnah of Prophet (peace be upon him).
- For people of intellect, This example is enough to nullify the bunch of emotional arguments.
- There is no such rule that if some Sahabi/Sahabiyyah is narrating something with his/her own ijtihad will be accepted without any ifs and buts even if it contradicts the saying of PROPHET (Peace Be Upon Him)
- Still Do not believe? Read Allama Ibn e Taymiyyah, Majmu Al Fatawa, 97-98/24
In Sha ALLAH, In Next post we will discuss Narration of Ibn e Abbas RA.
Wallahu A'lamu Wa Billahi-t-Taufeeq.
Post # 4
Authenticity of the Marfu (The Raised) Narration of Ibn e Abbas RA:
Ibn e Abbas RA narrated that: PROPHET (Peace Be Upon Him) himself said: I saw my Lord, (ALLAH) Tabaraka Wa Ta'ala. (Musnad Ahmad)
Some People say that the narration attributed to Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) is weak and authentic report is the one which is Saying of Ibn e Abbas (RA) and not the Prophet (peace Be upon Him) (means Mauqoof):
By the Grace of ALLAH we Say:
- All narrators of the hadith are reliable.
- For its authenticity it is enough that Imam of Sunnah Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal R used this Hadith as a Proof and Imam ibn e Hajr Asqalani Recorded it in Fathul Bari.
Narration of Imam Ahmad:
Maruzi (rah) asked Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal (rah): People say that Aisha (RA) used to exclaim that whosoever says the Prophet (Peace be upon him) saw his Lord has attributed a lie to Allah, so how shall this be answered? (Imam Ahmed) replied: From the saying of Prophet (Peace be upon him) [himself] when he said: “رأيت ربي” i.e. I saw my Lord, this will be an answer to Aisha (RA)’s Qawl because the saying of Prophet (Peace be upon him) is far superior than saying of her (i.e. Aisha RA)
(Fathul Bari)
Importance of Fathul Bari commentary on Sahih Al Bukhari:
Imam Ibn e Hajr 'Asqalani (R) writes:
I have mentioned additional narrations (in commentary of Bukhari) to explain the texts and chains (of Bukhari).... And I have selected those additional narrations from the authentic primary Sources of hadith with the conditions of Sahih or Hasan.
Muqaddamah-Imam Ibn e Hajr Asqalani, 4/1
- From Next Post we Will discuss The Mauqoof narration of Ibn e Abbas RA (i.e. his own saying) and we will try to understand some important rules about it.
Wallahu A'lamu Wa Billahi-t-Taufeeq.
Post # 5
Mauqoof Narration of Ibn e Abbas RA:
Ibn e Abbas RA said:
"Prophet (Peace be upon Him) saw his Lord. "
- We Will see different wordings of this report in coming posts.
- With respect to chains, this report is not Solitary (ghareeb) .
List of some of those who heard it directly from Ibn e Abbas.
1. 'Ikramah.
2. 'Ata.
3. Abu 'Aaliyah.
4. Abu Salmah.
5. Shu'bi.
6. Yousuf Bin Mihraan.
7. Ad-Dahaak.
And From Each of them many other narrators took this narration. Therefore, if someone attempts to attack the authenticity of the saying of Ibn e Abbas RA will never succeed.
- Although Ibn e Abbas RA have reported it directly from the Prophet but if still some people are overly reluctant to accept the saying of the Prophet then lets discuss it as Ibn e Abbas's own saying.
Two important rules we should keep in our mind.
Rule 1: When a companion says something which does not concern his independent thought (ijtih d) will also be considered as marf u‘ (i.e. Prophet's Peace Be Upon him own saying as mentioned by Imam Ibn e Hajr and many other Hadith masters. Check comments for details)
Rule 2: The one confirming is higher and more acceptable than one negating.
These two rules will help us to develop a deep understanding of this issue. We will proceed discussion in next post In sha ALLAH.
Wallahu A'lamu Wa Billahi-t-Taufeeq.
