Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem, assalamu alaikum.

“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision (He is responsible for all vision).” (6:102)

Imam ‘Ali was asked by one of his companions, Tha΄lab al-Yamani whether he had seen his Lord. Imam ‘Ali replied, “How can I worship something that I do not see?” When asked how he saw Him, Imam ‘Ali replied, “Eyes do not reach Him with physical sight, but the hearts reach Him with the realities of belief (With the realities one reaches with Al Yaqeen, certainty, because it is a force that directs inner sight in ghayb).” (The source is Shia)

When you ask the Question have you seen Allah, you are asking have you seen an object, a shape, a thing, in this sense no eyes have seen Allah because all these things are created by the universe while Allah is not created by anything, or made of anything to be seen.

Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (as) was once asked, “will Allah be seen on the Day of Resurrection?” His answer was, “May He be exalted and glorified from that! The eyes can only reach an object which has color and shape, but Allah, the Exalted, is the Creator of colors and shapes.” (The source is Shia)

It was narrated that Abu Dharr said: “I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), ‘Did you see your Lord?’ He said, ‘ He is veiled by Light, how could I see Him.’” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Eeman, 261).

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said: “ ‘The (Prophet’s) heart belied not what he saw, and indeed he saw Him at a second descent.’ [al-Najm 53:11-12] (This means that) he saw Him twice with his heart.” (Rather once with his eyes and once with His heart) (Narrated by Muslim, al-Eeman, 258).

It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “Whoever told you that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saw his Lord was lying. He said that no vision can grasp him [al-An’aam 6:103].”

So, the Question of seeing Allah is of two kinds, can you see Allah and Have you seen Allah, while it is not possible to see Allah directly you can see Allah indirectly, you can see the Maqam of Allah in the universe and He has taught us about this in the Quran and Sunnah.

The Messenger (saws) said, “When the inhabitants of Paradise enter Paradise, Allah will say to them, ‘Do you want Me to give you anything more?’ They will reply, ‘Have You not made our faces bright? Have You not brought us into Paradise and moved us from Hell?’ Allah will then remove the Veil and they will feel that they have not been awarded anything dearer to them than looking at their Lord.” (Muslim)

How is this possible, what these Ahadith are saying is that you are not looking at Allah directly but His Maqam in the universe and the things that carry it. A number of things in the universe Allah has placed His maqam in, the Arsh, Light (all the subatomic particles in the universe), Time and the Mala’ikah.

“Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who is created the heavens and earth in six periods He then istawa (established His Maqam upon) the Throne.” (Himself in the verse means His Maqam) [Surat-al-Araf 54]

Anytime Allah says He Is something it refers to his Maqam:

“Allah is the Light (particles) of the heavens and earth.” (Particles here means in their totality and what they are doing everywhere in the universe at the same time, they paint a picture that perfectly represents Allah) (24:35)

“Allah said, ‘The sons of Adam offend Me and say, Woe to time, but they should not say Woe to time. I Am Time, I alternate the night and the day, and if I willed, I could seize them both.’” (Muslim)

Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated from Abu Hurayrah (ra) that some people said: “O Messenger of Allah, will we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?” The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, “Do you doubt that you see the moon on the night when it is full?” They said, “No, O Messenger of Allah.” He (saws) said, ‘Do you doubt that you see the sun when there is no cloud?” They said, “No, O Messenger of Allah.” He (saws) said, “You will see Him likewise…”

Abdullah b. Shaqiq reported: I said to Abu Dharr: Had I seen the Messenger of Allah, I would have asked him. He (Abu Dharr) said: What is that thing that you wanted to inquire of him? He said: I wanted to ask him whether he had seen his Lord. Abu Dharr said: I, in fact, inquired of him, and he replied: I saw Light (which is His Maqam).” (Muslim)

Alhamdulillah it is in this respect we can say we have seen Allah, Allah has so far honoured us with vision of Him once in our life when He established us in this world.

I have seen the Arsh of Allah like any person sees anything in this world in front of them, but seeing Allah does not compare to that because of the honour that is with it, in its light. For some time, Allah guided our heart to help one of his servants, a woman who has suffered much in life, she was not a Muslim but had many of its qualities.

My help was from a distance and it was spiritual in nature, when the time came the prophets of Allah came to me and asked if I had al Yaqeen regarding her, after affirming, in an instant I saw four prophets of Allah go to her soul and begin working on it, at that moment I saw Allah, His immense light as He worked on her soul, after my vision returned to me, I realised I was seeing one of the prophets of Allah, Sayidinah Ibraheem talking to Allah at that moment while her soul was being healed and I saw Him (saws) and Allah conversing over the matter.

Allah gave me the honour of seeing Him while He fixed her soul so it can accept Islam, Understand, the Arsh is Azeem, Immense, it has the magnitude with it of being the largest thing Allah created, the known universe is like a small ring sitting inside an immense desert compared to the size of the Arsh, but the honour that is in Allah’s light alone is more immense than it, when you see His light honour is what you see.

Abu Musa reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was standing amongst us and he told us five things. He said: Verily Allah the Exalted and Mighty does not sleep, and it does not befit Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and lifts it (Balance in the universe, that decides fate in every moment). The deeds in the night are taken up to Him before the deeds of the day (There is order and precedence in how the universe works). and the deeds of the day before the deeds of the night. His veil is light. In the hadith narrated by Abu Bakr (instead of the word “light”) it is fire (subatomic particles). If he withdraws it (the way these particles have formed the universe and everything in it, if He unravels the universe, if He unravels the subatomic fields, the layers of particles), the splendour of His countenance would consume His creation so far as His sight reaches.” (Muslim)

“And when Musa (Moses) came at the time and place appointed by Us, and his Lord (Allah) spoke to him; he said: “O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You.” Allah said: “You cannot see Me (Qur’an states: LAN TARANI NOT LAN URA), but look upon the mountain; if it stands still in its place then you shall see Me.” So when his Lord appeared to the mountain , He made it collapse to dust, and Musa (Moses) fell down unconscious. Then when he recovered his senses he said: “Glory be to You, I turn to You in repentance and I am the first of the believers.” [Al Qur’an, Surah 7, Verse no 143]

In Tafsir al Jalalayn the Imams write “{You shall not see Me}, which means you do not have the capability to see me the use of the wording (Lan Tarani) rather than Lan Ura (I shall not be Seen) implies that it is possible to see Allah”.

Many of the Scholars and Awliyah have seen Allah, Imam Ahmad (as) was not just a Mujtahid Imam He was a wali.

Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal used to be severely tortured for saying that the Qur’an is not created. At that time, the caliph, Al Mu’tasim was with the opinion that Qur’an was created. When Imam Ahmad was imprisoned, as Sulaiman said, ‘He was then carried to the prison and the people departed, so I departed with them. Then when the next day arrived the people came (to the door of al Mu’tasim) so I came with them and stood in front of the chair. Then al-Mu’tasim appeared and sat on the chair and said, ‘Bring Ahmad ibn Hanbal.’ So he was brought and when he stood in front of him al-Mu’tasim said to him, ‘How were you in your cell during the night, O’ son of Hanbal?’ He said, “In goodness, and all praises are due to Allah.” Al-Mu‘tasim said, ‘O’ Ahmad, I saw a dream yesterday.’ He said, “And what did you see, O’ Ameer-ul-Mu’minin?” He said, ‘I saw in my dream as if there were two lions approaching me and they desired to tear me apart. And then two angels appeared and repelled them from me. They gave me a hook and said to me, ‘This written (piece) is the dream that Ahmad ibn Hanbal saw in his cell.’

So what is it that you saw, O’ son of Hanbal?’ Ahmad faced al-Mu’tasim and said, “O’ Ameer-ul-Mu’minin is the book with you?” He said, ‘Yes, and when I awoke, I read what was in it. Ahmad said to him, “O’ Ameer-ul-Mu’minin, I saw as if the Day of Judgement had been established, and as if Allah had gathered the first and the last (of people) in a single plain and He was calling them to account. Whilst I was standing, I was called for, so I proceeded until I stood in front of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and He said to me, ‘O’ Ahmad, for what were you beaten?’ I said, “On account of the Qur’an.” He said, “And what is the Qur’an?” I said, “Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You.” He said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ I said, “O’ Lord, ‘Abdur-Razzaq narrated to me.”

So ‘Abdur Razzaq was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an, O ‘Abdur Razzaq?’ He said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You,’ so Allah said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ He said, ‘Ma’mar narrated to me.’ So Ma’mar was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an, O Ma’mar?’ He said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You,’ so Allah said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ He said, ‘Az Zuhri narrated to me.’ So Az Zuhri was called for and he was Brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an, O’ Zuhri?’ He said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You,’ So Allah said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ He said, “Urwah narrated to me.’

So ‘Urwah was brought, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an?’ He said, ‘Your Words, O’ Allah, belonging to You,’ so Allah said, ‘O ‘Urwah, from where do you (derive and) say this?’ He said, “Aa’ishah, the daughter of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, narrated to me.’ So ‘Aa’ishah was called for and she was brought, until she was made to stand in front of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to her, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an, O’ ‘Aa’ishah?’ She said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You,’ so Allah said, ‘From where do you (derive and) say this?’ She said, ‘Your Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلمnarrated to me.’ He said, ‘So Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلمwas called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an, O’ Muhammad?’ He said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You,’ so Allah said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلمsaid, ‘Jibreel narrated to me.’

So Jibreel was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an, O’ Jibreel?’ He said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah belonging to You,’ so Allah said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ He said, ‘Such did Israafeel narrate to me. So Israafeel was called for and he was brought, until he was made to stand in front of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and Allah, the Sublime, said to him, ‘What do you say about the Qur’an, O’ Israafeel?’ He said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You,’ so Allah said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ He said, ‘I saw that in Lawhul-Mahfoodh (the Preserved Tablet).’

So the Preserved Tablet was brought and stood in front of Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, and He said, ‘O’ Lawh, what do you say about the Qur’an?’ And it said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You.’ Then Allah, the Exalted said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ And the Lawh said, ‘Such did the Qalam (the Pen) inscribe upon me.’ Then the Pen was brought until it stood in front of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, so Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said to it, ‘O Qalam, what do you say about the Qur’an?’ The Qalam said, ‘Your words, O’ Allah, belonging to You.’ So Allah said, ‘From where has this come to you?’ The Qalam said — ‘You dictated and I wrote.’ Then Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent, said, ‘The Qalam has spoken the truth. The Lawh has spoken the truth. Israafeel has spoken the truth. Jibreel has spoken the truth. Muhammad has spoken the truth. ‘Aa’ishah has spoken the truth. ‘Urwah has spoken the truth. Az-Zuhri has spoken the truth. Ma’mar has spoken the truth. ‘Abdur-Razzaq has spoken the truth. Ahmad ibn Hanbal has spoken the truth. The Qur’an is My Speech, it is not created.’

Sulaiman as-Sijzi said, ‘Al-Mu’tasim leapt upon hearing that and said, ‘You have spoken the truth, O’ son of Hanbal.’ Then al- Mu’tasim repented, ordered the necks of Bishr al-Mareesee and Ibn Abi Duwaad to be beaten and revered Ahmad ibn Hanbal and bestowed upon him, but (Ahmad) refrained from that. He was then ordered to be taken to his house and was taken.’

Shaykh Rami Al Rifai.