The Hadiths about the knowledge of the Unseen

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The Knowledge of the Unseen and its effectsThe conclusion about all the verses regarding the unseen

 There is a great discussion and debate about the knowledge of the apostles and the saint about the unseen in the traditions.

There is a great debate and discussion about t he apostles of God and their knowledge of the unseen and all sects of Islam have mentioned many examples of the same about the Messenger, the Imams and the religious leaders.

There are some ideas propagated by the ignorant among the Shias about the knowledge of the unseen and one such statement suggests that the Imams were attached to God in this knowledge. This is a great error and misconception which cannot be undone because:

Firstly, no Shia can construe any man, apostle or Imam to be in anyway partner in any attribute of God. “They have learnt from those with knowledge” The Imams learnt it from the apostles and the apostles in turn learnt what they knew from God. In other words, whatever is with us comes from God and we are dependent on it for we rely on Him in every sphere of our lives. So the knowledge of unseen that the apostle or the Imam has is from God.

Secondly, the knowledge of the unseen that the apostles and the saints have been discussed in the hadiths also that are connected with the Qura’nic verses. It is enough for us that the we find in the hadiths narrated by the Ahli Sunnah that some companions of the Messenger and he himself was privy to the knowledge of the unseen. The result of this in-depth research about it is enough as defined by Allama Ameeni in his book Al-Ghadeer chapter 5. (We mention some hadiths to conclude our discussion)

The hadith found in abundance in the annals of the Ahli Sunnah says that Huzaifa said, “The Messenger gave me the knowledge of all that has passed and also of all that will happen in the future.”(1)

Second hadith is from Sahih Muslim in which we read that Abu Zayd or Umru bin Akhtab said: “The Prophet said his Fajr prayers and went to speak on the pulpit till the time of the noon prayers; then he said his Zuhar prayers and again went to the speak on the pulpit till Asr after which he again went to the pulpit and spoke till sunset.

“He spoke to us about all that has passed and all that would take place in the future” So we learnt and memorized it. (3)

We find in other hadiths that they speak about the companions of the Messenger and their knowledge of the unseen. Khateeb Baghdadi in his work on history has written about Abulhasan Almaliki “I lived for many years with Mohammad bin Ismail and I found the extra-ordinary powers from God in him that is talked about so much. Eight days before his death he told me “I will die at Maghrib on Thursday so bury me before the Juma prayers.” Abulhasan says “I forgot about till Friday and then I met the person who gave me the news of his death. I went to join his funeral procession but I found the people returning from it. I asked them the reason and they said that he will be buried after the prayers. I went ahead but paid no attention to their previous words and I found the body being taken for burial before the prayers.”

Allama Ameeni adds:

The Books of Huffaaz (the Memorizers) and Ma’ajim (addenda) mention many people and events about them that were miraculous and their knowledge of the unseen that was buried in their breasts. No one declared it to be polytheistic and they were never proud about it. (4)

We also read about the knowledge of the unseen being attributed to the Ahlulbait in the Shia traditions. Allama Majlisi has written a chapter on such traditions in Behar-ol-Anwar vol.26. One among many such traditions is the one attributed to Imam Jafar Sadiq through many sources in which he said: “Do you feel that anything can be hidden from the person whom God has chosen to handle his affairs?’

There is another tradition from him in which he says: “Indeed God is the best and greatest of all rulers, the greatest Bestower of grace, and the mighty. It is commonly known that He chose the one to represent Him among the people and gave him the knowledge of

The unseen. (5)

We, in the same way, find many sentences in the Nahjul Balagha that tell us about the vast knowledge Hazrat had about the unseen.

But this knowledge as he has said in sermon 203 is not self attained or permanent for this is the knowledge that he has acquired from the wise ( Messenger of God).

The 13th sermon in Nahjul Balagha is also one among the sermons that speak about the knowledge of the unseen and is about the future events of Basrah.

The sermon 47 is about his personal future.

The sermon 57 is about some of the kings of the Bani Omaiyya.

The sermon 59 is about the Kharijite, his companions and followers who would be killed in the battle of Nahrawan.

The sermon 116 is about the advent of Hajjaj and about his strange deeds in the future.

 The Sermon 128 is about the great chaos that would take place in Basrah (About the leaders of the Africans or Turks)

The sermon 138 is about the events that would take place in Syria in the future.

The sermon 158 is about the evil deeds of the Bani Omaiya in the future.

The sermon 369 speaks about the conditions that would prevail in the time of the expected Mehdi.

The subtle point is that that he has given the details but avoided the absoluteness and this cannot come into the minds of any fallible disbeliever. He has also explained that all this news come from the knowledge of the unseen.

We now discuss the sermon 59 in which he has given details about the events of Nahrawan. He said: “They are destined to fall on this side of the water and by God not even 10 of them will survive from among them and not even ten will die from amongst you.”

In sermon 60 when he was informed that the Kharijite had been

Eradicated, he said: “No! They are still present in the seeds of men and the wombs of women. When ever a person becomes their leader he will be slain so much so that the remainder will become thieves and brigands.

He also spoke about their organization, their vigor that would never end and their ultimate end.

There is a saying of Ibn Abi Hadeed in this regard, “So his news became a reality and truth because the last among them is either a thief or a brigand. The sway of the Kharijite was severed and one of their Kahlifas was slain, for these people were about to spread mischief on earth. He then described the downfall in details and their rebellion in the days of the Khalifas. (6)

The conclusion of this discussion is that the issue of the knowledge of the unseen whether it be for the past or the future or about things that are hidden in the present cannot be denied after studying the Qura’n and after studying the hadiths and the history of the apostles and their successors.

The issue is also very clear because the inclusion of predictions in the Qura’n enhances its stature and the glory of these things is often discussed in the commentaries. We have also discussed these issues under the explanation of verses in Tafsir Amthal. Does not the Qura’n stand for being the source of enlightenment of the apostle? What difference can there be in his education from the Qura’n and other sources?

 


 

1. Sahih Muslim- book Alfitan chapter “the news from the Prophet about the events till the Judgment Day. “Masnad Ahmad vol5 page 386 and other books
2. Masnad Ahmad vol.5 page 388.
3. Sahih Muslim vol.4 page 2217 (Chapter:” The news given by the Prophet about the events till the Day of Judgment from the book Al-Fitan. It is said that he spoke to his companion about the events of the past and future from sunrise till sunset.
4. Al-Ghadeer vol.5. Page 59 to 62 (précis) and the last hadith of the History of Baghdad vol.2 page 49.
5. Behar-ol-Anwar vol.16 page 137 to 154.
6. Sharah Nahjul Balagha –Ibn Abil Hadeed vol.5 page 73

 

The Knowledge of the Unseen and its effectsThe conclusion about all the verses regarding the unseen
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