Question:
1) Is the prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) alive in the grave ? and,
2) What is the meaning of the concept ” Haazir / Naazir ” as concerns the prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) ?
Answer:
(1) Yes, as narrated of all Prophets in the Sunan and Musnads.
(2) It means the souls of the righteous are free to roam where they please as related from Imam Malik, first and foremost the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace; and the Awliya agree that he attends the meetings of dhikr, salawat, and mawlid, not just the angels.
And Allah knows best.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
You may read “Hâdir Nâzir”,Omnipresence of the Prophet sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam, Standing During Mawlid by Shaykh Gibril Haddad, at the As-Sunnah Foundation of America website.
We quote some short excerpts here:
Allah Most High said: {And know that the Messenger of Allah is among you} (49:7). In the verses {Allah and His Messenger will see your conduct} (9:94) and {Act! Allah will behold your actions, and (so will) His Messenger and the believers} (9:105), the Prophet’s, sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam, perception is put on a par with that of the Lord of the worlds Who sees and encompasses all on the one hand and, on the other, that of all the living believers.
Ibn Khafif al-Shirazi said in his al-`Aqida al-Sahiha (§48):
[The Prophet, sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam, ] is knower of what is and what shall be and he gave news of the Unseen (wa [ya`taqidu] annahu al-`âlimu bimâ kâna wa mâ yakûnu wa akhbara `an `ilmi al-ghayb).
Meaning, in the sense of being imparted by Allah whatever He imparted to him. Our teacher the Faqîh Shaykh Adib Kallas said: “Note that Ibn Khafif did not say ‘He knows all that is and all that shall be.’”
Shaykh `Abd al-Hadi Kharsa told us:
The Prophet, sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam, possesses knowledge of all that is and knows the created universes in the same way that one knows a room in which one sits. Nothing is hidden from him. There are two verses of the Holy Qur’an that affirm this,{ But how (will it be with them) when we bring of every people a witness, and We bring you (O Muhammad) a witness against these} (4:41) and {Thus We have appointed you a middle nation (ummatan wasatan), that you may be witnesses against mankind} (2:143), nor can the Prophet, sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam, be called to witness over what he does not know nor see
The above evidence is confirmed by the authentic Prophetic narration from Abu Sa`id al-Khudri in the Sahih, Sunan, and Masanid:
The Prophet, sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam, said: “Nuh and his Community shall come <also: ‘shall be brought’> and Allah Most High shall say: ‘Did you convey [My Message]?’ He shall say, ‘Yes, indeed! my Lord.’ Then He shall ask his Community, ‘Did he convey [My Message] to you?’ and they shall say, ‘No, no Prophet came to us.’ Then Allah shall ask Nuh, ‘Who is your witness?’ and he shall reply, ‘Muhammad, sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam, and his Community.’ Then we shall bear witness that he conveyed [the Message] indeed, and this is [the meaning of] His saying, {Thus We have appointed you a middle nation (ummatan wasatan), that you may be witnesses against mankind} (2:143), al-wasat meaning ‘the upright’ (al-`adl).” (Narrated by al-Bukhari with three chains, al-Tirmidhi (hasan sahîh), and Ahmad.)
Staff
