Knowledge of the unseen
21-5-2002 | IslamWeb
Question:
What is your Fatwa about the Ilm-e-ghaib (knowledge of the unseen) for the Last Prophet of Allah?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Only Allaah, The Great and Almighty, knows al-Ghayb (the unseen and invisible world). This fact is confirmed in the Quran and Sunnah (Prophetic tradition).
Allah The Almighty Says (what means):
• {"(He Alone) the All-Knower of the Ghayb (unseen), and He reveals to none His Ghayb (unseen)." Except to a Messenger (from mankind) whom He has chosen (He informs him of unseen as much as He likes), and then He makes a band of watching guards (angels) to march before him and behind him.}[Quran 72: 26-27]
• {Say (O Muhammad SAW): "I possess no power of benefit or hurt to myself except as Allaah wills. If I had the knowledge of the Ghayb (unseen), I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth, and no evil should have touched me. I am but a warner, and a bringer of glad tidings unto people who believe."}[Quran 7:188]
In a sound Hadeeth (narration) recorded in Al-Bukhari 
from 'Aa'ishah 
that Masrooq said to her, "O Mother (of the believers!) Did Muhammad 
see his Lord?" She said, 'Your words make my hair stand on end! Know that if somebody tells you one of the following three things, he is a liar: whoever tells you that Muhammad saw his Lord, is a liar. Then she recited (what means):
• {No vision can grasp Him, but His Grasp is over all vision. He is the Most Subtle and Courteous, Well-Acquainted with all things.}[Quran 6:103]
• {It is not given to any human being that Allah should speak to him unless (it be) by Revelation, or from behind a veil …}[Quran 42:51]
further said, "And whoever tells you that the Prophet knew what is going to happen tomorrow, is a liar" , she then recited (what means): {… No person knows what he will earn tomorrow…}[Quran 31:34]. She added, "And whoever tells you that the Prophet concealed (some of His orders), is a liar". Then she recited (what means): {O Messenger (Muhammad (sallallaahu Alayhi wa sallam))! Proclaim (the Message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord.…}[Quran 5:67] `Aa'ishah added, "But the Prophet saw Jibreel (Gabriel) 
in his true form twice".
In the book of Imaam Muslim 'Aa'ishah said, "And whoever pretends that the Prophet tells what is going to happen tomorrow, is a big liar" .This statement shows that one should not ascribe to the Prophet qualities which he does not possess. However, the knowledge the Prophet relates about events is, in fact, a revelation from Allaah The Almighty as stated in the first verse quoted in this Fatwa. Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Say: "None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghayb (Unseen) except Allaah…}[Quran 27:65]
Allaah Knows best.