Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is endowed by Allah with knowledge of the unseen. It does not suggest that the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) knowledge equals to that of Allah. Whatever knowledge the Prophet (peace be upon him) had received was gifted by Allah.

Qur’an clearly says:

• “That is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you, [O Muhammad peace be upon him]”. (3: 44)

• “The Knower of Unseen reveals not His secret to anyone. Except to His chosen Messengers” (72: 26)

• “Allah has sent down to you the Book and Wisdom and has taught you what you did not know and great is the grace of Allah upon you.” (4:113)

• “Nor will He disclose to you the secrets of the Unseen. But He chooses of His Apostles (For the purpose)” (3:179)

The verses quoted above clearly establish that Allah almighty has granted Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the knowledge of the unseen.

Authentic Hadiths (justifying that the prophet has the knowledge of unseen):

• During the battle of Badr, the Prophet had already told the names of those pagans who were going to die. He also described how the companions would be martyred. (Sahih Bukhari chapter on the Battle of Badr, Tafsir Ibn Kathir on Surah Luqman Aayat 34).

• Imam Bukhari writes: “Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) stood up in one meeting and started telling us about events from the beginning of this world to the end. He told us about the Heaven, the Hell, the people who were going to hell or heaven and what will be their places in heaven and hell. Of course, some people remember what he told us and some people have forgotten. (Bukhari, Chapter Bada-Ul-Khalq)

• “The Munafiqs (hypocrites) made an objection to the knowledge of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) stood on the pulpit and said, “Ask me what you will”. One person stood up and asked, “What will be my place in the Hereafter?” The Prophet replied, “Hell”. Another person whose name was Abdullah bin Huzaifa, (people doubted whether he was a legitimate child), stood up and asked, “Who is my Father?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “Your Father is Huzaifa”. (Thus the accusation on Abdullah bin Huzaifa was cleared.) The Prophet (peace be upon him) repeated, “Ask me, ask me”. (Bukhari Kitab-ul-I’tisaam Muslim chap on Fadial]

• “The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) led the Fajr prayer. Then he sat on the pulpit. He, thereafter, informed the people of the unseen things till Zuhar. After Zuhar, he sat on the pulpit and continued the same till Asar, then sat on the pulpit and continued until Maghrib prayer. He even informed of the dwellers of Paradise and Hell” (Muslim Shareef: chapter of Fadial)

• Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that we were in the company of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) when we heard a bang. Thereupon, he said: "Do you know what this (sound) is?" We said: "Allah and His Messenger know better." He said: "That is a stone that was thrown into Hell seventy years ago and it has just reached its bottom and now you've just heard its bang." (Narrated by Sahih Muslim).

It is clear from the verse above that only hypocrites (Munafiqs) rejected the prophet’s knowledge of the unseen. It is notable that Allah imparted His Prophet more knowledge than anyone else on the earth, which is the belief of every companion (Sahabi).

Narration from Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (further confirms the Prophet’s knowledge of the unseen):

• “The Prophet (peace be upon him) stated, “I have seen my Lord, He put His hands upon my chest, after which everything appeared before me and I recognized everything” (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, vol 5, page 243)

There is a Hadith with identical meanings from Sahih Muslim:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) stated, “Allah put the earth before me and I saw it from the East to the West” (Muslim, Chapter of Excellence of the Prophet (peace be upon him) [Sahih Muslim]

Hafidhh Ibn Kathir and Ibn Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab al Najdi writes:

• “Suad bin Qarib recited a poem in front of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace), “I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. Allah has made you the trustee over all the unseen knowledge (Sirat-un-Nabi and Mukhtasar Sirat ul Rasool, Storey on Swad bin Qariq by Hafidhh Ibn Kathir and Ibn Muhammad bin Abdul Wahhab al Najdi)

Hafidhh Ibn Kathir writes:

• A shepherd was with his goats. A wolf came to them, grabbed one goat and fled away. Then the shepherd chased after the wolf to take the goat back. The wolf then spoke to him and said, “Why do you take the food (rizq) provided by Allah for me?” The shepherd was surprised, for the wolf spoke. The wolf again said, “If you are so much astonished that I can speak. You should then go to Madina. You will find the last of the Prophets who can tell you about the Past and the Future”. The shepherd left his goats and went straight to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and mentioned his experience. The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “The wolf spoke the truth" (The chain of narrators for this Hadith is Authentic) (Taareekh: Chapter of Miracles of Prophet peace be upon him)

Allama Hafidhh Ibn Hajar Asqalani writes:

“One of the qualities bestowed upon a Prophet is the quality that he knows what has already happened in the past and what will happen in the future”. (Fathul Bari chapter of the prophets)

The Hadiths quoted above evidently prove the unseen knowledge given to the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

A narration from a companion (Sahabi) and the classical authorities prove even the following narration about Hazrat Khidr’s unseen knowledge.

Ibn Abbas reported that Khidr was such a man who did all his work with the knowledge of the unseen because he knew the unseen (Ghaib)”. (Tafsir Tabari, Tafsir Qurtabi, Tafsir Fathul Qadir, by Imam Tabari, Qurtabi and Qadi Shawkani)

The intellectual mind can easily grasp this fact. When Allah almighty could grant this virtue to Hazrat Khidhr, it was more possible for the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be given the unseen knowledge.

The Holy Quran does not explicitly describe the signs of the doomsday. However, details about the day of judgement were revealed by our Prophet (peace be upon him). He knew the unseen knowledge, and he told us about the second coming of Jesus, the Dajjal, and the Mahdi. Prophet (peace be upon him) informed about the specific question(s) to be asked in the grave, and the scales (Meezan) where everyone’s doings will be weighed.

The angels too are granted the knowledge of the unseen things by Allah, and it is Allah who also granted the the knowledge of the unseen to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as being the most beloved among all creations.