In The Name Of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu
Many sufi scholars believe that Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him had no shadow.This is a false belief.He was a normal man but his postion is the greatest.
11:27. The chiefs of the disbelievers among his people said: "We see you but a man like ourselves, nor do we see any follow you but the meanest among us and they (too) followed you without thinking. And we do not see in you any merit above us, in fact we think you are liars."
On the other hand, there are some authentic narrations that indicate that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) did possess a shadow.
Sayyida A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) narrates that once while the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) was on a journey, the camel of his wife Sayyida Safiyya (Allah be pleased with her) fell ill. However, his other wife Sayyida Zaynab (Allah be pleased with her) had an extra camel. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said to Sayyida Zaynab: “The camel of Safiyya has become ill, can you lend her your extra camel?” She replied: “should I give that Jew?” (Sayyida Safiyyah was originally a Jew). So, (upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allah became upset and) deserted her for two or three months and he would not come to her…. She says: “Until one day, at midday, I could see the shadow of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) approaching…..” (Musnad Ahmad, 6/132)
Sayyidduna Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that, one night the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) led us in prayer, and whilst in prayer he stretched out his hand and then pulled it back. We said: “O Messenger of Allah! We saw you doing something in prayer that we have not seen you do before.” The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Indeed, Paradise was presented before me, and I saw in it, fruits that were low and near. I intended to take one but was told to holdback, thus I held back. Then Hell was presented before me until I saw my and your shadow in it, thus I gestured to you to move back.” (Mustadrak al-Hakim, 4/456 & authenticated by Imam al-Dhahabi)
The hadith which speaks of no shadow are weak .Had this been true it would've been in sihah sitta.Had this been true,the so called belief of sufi's -Prophet pbuh is Noor/light would be valid.light does not have a shadow.So he was neither light/noor/nur nor was he shadow less.
Had he not had a shadow,this would've been considered a miracle to kuffar to believe in his Prophethood,but and yet its never mentioned even in history of Quraysh and Ansars.
Below Are The Weak Hadith Which Says He Had No Shadow
Zakwan (a ta’bi’i) narrates that the shadow of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) did not show in the sun nor did it became apparent in the moonlight.” (Recorded by al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi (and not the famous hadith master Imam Abu Eisa al-Tirmidhi) in his Nawadir al-Usul. See: al-Khasa’is al-Kubrah of Imam Suyuti, 1/164)
The chain of transmission of this report is considered by many scholars of Hadith to be extremely weak (dha’if), and also, it does not go back to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace), in that it is a statement of a student of a sahabi known as a Ta’bi’i. A report of such kind is termed as Maqtu’. One must also remember that this narration is not recorded by the famous Imam Tirmidhi in his Sunan collection (as some people believe); rather it has been recorded by a great 3rd century scholar of Tasawwuf and Islamic thought (fikr) known as Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi in his Nawadir al-usul fi ma’rifat ahadith al-rasul wherein he gathered various narrations pertaining to different aspects of Deen.
Imam al-Zurqani also states that Imams Ibn al-Jawzi and Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak have reported on the authority of Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) did not have a shadow. (See: Sharh al-Zurqani, 7/200)
Due to the above and other such reports, some scholars declared that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) did not possess a shadow. Scholars such as Imam al-Suyuti (Allah have mercy on him) in his Khasa’il al-Kubra, Qadhi Iyadh al-Maliki in his al-Shifa’, Imam al-Zurqani, Shaykh Abd al-Haq Muhaddith al-Dehalwi in his Madarij al-Nubuwwah (Allah have mercy on them all) declared that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) did not possess a shadow.
Qadhi Iyadh al-Maliki (Allah have mercy on him) states:
“The statement which has been made regarding the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) not possessing a shadow in the brightness of the sun or in the moonlight, is due to the fact that he was light (nur).” (al-Shifa, p. 462, no. 1126)
What the sufi scholars have to say about this subject
Having read the words of those who had lived with the Holy Prophet Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim and had closely watched his every action, we shall now turn to some great scholars of Islam, whose writings are considered most authentic in Islamic affairs. Pay heed to these to dispel any doubts that you may have regarding the subject. All these great scholars firmly believed that the Holy Prophet Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim did not possess a shadow.
Imam Qazi Ayaaz
1. Imam Qazi Ayaaz in his ASH-SHIFA states:"The Holy Prophet Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim did not possess a shadow in the brightness of the sun or in the moonlight, because he was Noor (light)".
Imam Ahmad Qastalani
2. Imam Ahmed Qastalani states in AL-MAWAHIBUL LADUNYA: "The Holy Prophet Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim did not possess a shadow in the brightness of the sun or moonlight is proven from the Ahadith of Tirmizi Sharief of Ibn Zakwaan and Ibn Saba".
Sheikh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlvi
3. Shaikh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlvi states in MADARIJIN NUBUWAH: "The Holy Prophet's Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim shadow did not appear in sunshine nor in moonlight".
Maulana Jalaluddeen Rumi
4. Maulana Jalaluddeen Rumi in his MATHNAWI SHARIEF states: "Let alone the Holy Prophet Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim, even if an ordinary servant of the Holy Prophet Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim reaches the stage of inner mortality (BAQA), then like the Prophet Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim, his shadow too disappears".
Allah knows best.
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