Imam al-Suyuti writes: We begin with the Sahih hadith narrated that Abu Huraryrah (Radiyallahu ‘anhu) said, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘”If someone sees me in a dream, he will soon see me while awake. Satan cannot imitate my form.’”
The scholars say that people disagreed over the meaning of his words, ‘He will soon see me while awake.’ Some said that its meaning is, ‘He will see me on the day of judgement.’ However, they are rebuked by the argument that there would be no benefit to such an allotment, because all of his Ummah will see him on the Day of Judgement, regardless of whether or not they had seen him in a dream.
It has also been said that the meaning is that if someone believes in him during his life, despite the fact that he has not seen him due to his being hidden from him, it is a glad tiding that he would inevitably see him while being awake, before his death. However, another group said that is is understood according to its apparent meaning. Thus, whoever sees him in a dream, he will without a doubt see him while awake, meaning his physical eyes.
Ibn Sa’d narrated in his Tabaqat on the authority of Qatadah, that the Angels used to shake ‘Imran ibn Husayn’s hands until he applied cauterization. [When he did that], they avoided him.
Abu Na’im narrated in Dala’il al-Nubuwwah that Yahya ibn Sa’id al-Qattan said, “No Companion came to us in basrah, better than ‘imran ibn Husayn. The Angels came to him for over thirty years greeting him with peace near to his house. Al-Tirmidhi narrated in his history, and Abu Na’im and al-Bayhaqi both narrated in [their respective books] Dala’il al-nubuwwah that Ghazalah said, “Imran ibn Husayn used to order us to sweep his home. And we would hear, “Peace be upon you, Peace be upon you” but we wouldnt see anyone.” Al-Tirmidhi said, “That was the greeting of the Angels”
Hujjat al-islam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali said, in his book al-Munqidh min al-Dalal: “When I become unoccupied by studies, I turned my aspiration towards the path of the Sufis. And what I wish to mention, so that people may benefit from it, is that I understood with certainty that the Sufis are the wayfarers on the paths of ALlah, that their journey and method are the most excellent of journeys, that their path is the most excellent path, and that their conduct is the purest. In fact, if the intellect of the intellectuals, the wisdom of the wise, and the knowledge of those scholars who discover the secrets of the Sacred Law were gathered in order to change something of their method and conduct, or to replace it for something better than it, they would not find any way to do that. All their states of activity and inactivity are plucked from the niche of the light of Prophecy. And there is, beyond the light of Prophecy, no light on the face of the earth by which one may illumination.”
the description continues, “Until they, while awake, witness the Angels and the spirits of the Prophets. They hear their voices and they take lessons from them. And then their state of witnessing is elevated from witnessing forms and appearances, to levels which are very difficult to articulate”
Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi said in his book Qanun al-Ta’wil: “The Sufis opines, that when a person attains purity of the soul and purification of the heart, cuts off all attachments and severs the evil ties of the world, such as status, wealth and unnecessary associations, and turns to Allah (ta’ala) completely, perpetually in his knowledge and constantly in his actions, hearts will be unveiled to him, he will see the Angels and hear their speech, and he will see the spirits of the Prophets and listen to their words.”
Al-Barizi stated, ‘We have heard of a group of the saints of our time and prior to this time, that saw the Prophet alive, while awake, after his death’
Shaykh Akmal al-Din al-Babarti al-Hanafi ( RA) said in his Sharh al-Mashariq on the hadith, ‘If someone sees me in a dream’:
“The meeting of two people in wakefulness or in a dream is due to factor that unifies them. And those factors have five universal bases: sharing in a single being, in one or more attributes, in one or more states, in actions or in degree. All the concievable relationships between two things, or between many things, return without exception to these five. And in accordance with the domination of that which makes them similar over that which makes them different, or its being dominated by them, their meetings will be plentiful or few. And one characteristic may dominate its opposite, such that love may increase to the point that two people become nearly inseparable. Or, it could be the opposite. But if someone attains all five fundamental factors with regard to the spirits of the perfect people of the past, and their relationship becomes confirmed, he may meet with them whenever he wants.”
Shaykh Safi al-Din ibn Abi al-Mansur said in his Risalah, and Shaykh Afif al-Din al-Yafi’i said in Rawd al-Rayahn: The Great Shaykh, the Exemplar of the Gnostic Shaykh and the blessing of the people of his time, Abu Abdullah al-Qurashi said, ‘When great misguidance afflicted the abodes of Egypt, I concentrated on supplicating. It was said to me, “Dont supplicate. For none of your supplications regarding this matter will be granted.” So, I travelled to Sham, and when I came close to the grave of Khalil , the Khalil met me and I said to him, “O Messenger of Allah! As I am your guest, supplicate for the people of Egypt.” So, he supplicated for them and Allah granted them relief.’
Al-Yafi’i then said, ‘His words “The Khalil met me…” are true and are only negated by an ignorant person who has no knowledge of the states that overcome them, in which they witness the inner dominion of the Heavens and the Earth and see the Prophets as living and not dead, just as the Prophet saw Musa (alayhi al-salam) on Earth, and then saw him and a group of Prophets in the Heavens. And he hear their speech. And it has been confirmed that whatever is possible for the Prophets as a prophetic miracle is also possible for the Saints as a saintly miracle. However, the latter does not occur in response to a challenge.
[Tanwir al-Halak fi Imkan Ru’yah al-Nabi wa al-Malak By Imam Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti]
Is the vision of the Prophet in both spirit and body or a semblance of Him ?
Al-Ghazali states that:
“The meaning is not that someone sees his physical body. Rather, it is a semblance. And that semblance became a means by which one perceives the meaning that is within himself. At times, that tool may be real. And at times it is an imaginary form. But the self is not an imaginary semblance. Thus, the form one sees is not the spirit of the Chosen One, nor his person. Rather, it is confirmed to be a semblance of Him.”
He continued: Similar to this is when someone sees Allah in a dream. His Essence is exalted above shape and form. However, he is acquainted with him by means of a perceptible semblance, such as light or something else. But that semblance will be true in its being a means to knowing. Thus, the one who sees such a dream will say, ‘I have seen Allah in a dream’ Yet, he will not mean that he has seen the Essence of Allah, as he would with created beings.
[Tanwir al-Halak fi Imkan Ru’yah al-Nabi wa al-Malak By Imam Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti]
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