Allahﷻ gave our beloved Prophetﷺ the spiritual bliss of the whole universe by blessing him with His radiant vision on earth as well as in the solitude of the Divine Presence beyond the heavens during the Night of Ascension.
Mentioning the bounties of Allahﷻ, he proclaimed, ““Allah ﷻ blessed me one night with His vision corresponding with His dignity and put His powerful Hand in between my shoulders. Due to that I felt a chill in my chest. This lifted all veils from my vision and everything in the earth and the heavens became visible.” and he recited this Verse: وَ كَذٰلِكَ نُرِیْۤ اِبْرٰهِیْمَ مَلَكُوْتَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ وَ لِیَكُوْنَ مِنَ الْمُوْقِنِیْنَ [wa ka-dhalika nuri Ibrahima malakuta al-samawati wa al-ardi wa li-yakuna min al-muqinin].”
“And thus We showed Abraham the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth (i.e., miracles of creation), so that he might be one of those endowed with the eye of certitude.”(Q.6:75).►[Set forth by •al- Tirmidhi in al-Sunan: Bk.: TafsÏr al- Qur”an [Interpretation of the Quran] according to Allah’s Messenger(peace be upon him), §3233–3235.•Ahmad b. Hanbal in al-Musnad, 1/368 §3484, & in al-Musnad, 4/66, and in al-Musnad, 5/243 §22162–23258. •al -Tabarani in al-Mujam al-Kabir, 8/290 §8117; 20/109, 141 §216, 290.]
This was one example of the Holy Messengerﷺ’s vision of Allah on earth. His ascension to the Divine Solitude beyond the heavens during the Night of Ascension is both unimaginable and indescribable. He approached to within two bow lengths of the presence of Allahﷻ or even nearer than that►(Surah an-Najm, 53 : 9), after which the spans of time and space ceased to exist. Here we are required to keep our belief in the oneness of Allahﷻ firm, accurate and pure. Allahﷻ is the Creator and alone worthy of all worship. The Messenger(peace be upon him), though so close and so beloved, is His servant. This difference has to be maintained as part of our faith.
Blessed in this way with every kind of bliss and bounty, the Holy Messenger(peace be upon him) proclaimed: “Anyone who has seen me, has seen Allahﷻ.”►[Set forth by •al-Bukhari in al-Sahih, Bk.: al-TabÏr [interpretation of dreams], Ch. 10, 6:2568 §6595. Ahmad b. Hanbal in al-Musnad, 3:55.]
The Prophet Musa(AS) implored Allah for a glimpse of Him. His request was heard but when the Divine glimpse was accorded to him, Musa(AS) could not bear it and fainted. On the Night of the Ascension of the Holy Prophet(peace be upon him), Musa(AS), who was in the sixth heaven, repeatedly requested him to have the number of daily prayers given to his community decreased till they were reduced from fifty to five. Each time the Holy Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) returned from Musa(AS) from the Divine Presence, after having gazed on the Face of Allah, the Prophet Musa(AS) gazed at the face of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and in this way achieved his desire by seeing the Divine Unity radiantly reflected in it. This is how divine riches of Allah’s sight were awarded to the Holy Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him). As regards the bounties of Allah awarded to our beloved Prophet(peace be upon him) in terms of the tangible physical world, they are beyond comprehension or imagination.
The Holy Prophet(peace be upon him) was awarded keys of all the treasures. ►[Sahih Bukhari,Book Adherence to the Book and the Sunnah,Hadith #6845 and Book al-Tabir,Hadith #6611;Sahih Muslim ,Book of Mosques and Places of Ritual Prayer,Hadith #523;al-Nasai in Sunan al-Kubra Hadith #4295;Ahmad b. Hanbal in al-Musnad Hadith #7575]
He became the distributor of these treasures among the believers in the world up until the Day of Judgement. He is assigned to distribute Allah’s blessings. In a similar way, the friends of Allah have the task of distributing the bounties of the Holy Prophet(peace be upon him) among his followers.
The Holy Quran tells us in Sura al-Anam (6:122): Can he who was dead (i.e., devoid of faith), then We gave him life (by guidance) and created for him the light (of faith and gnosis), and (now) by means of that, he walks amongst (the rest of) the people (also to spread that light).
The meaning is that there are people whose hearts are lifeless and then Allah brings them to life through the light of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). Having become revitalized and illuminated in this way, they now distribute the light they have received among the rest of the people. One of those assigned to distribute light like this was placed in Baghdad in the form of Ghawth al-A‘zam Abdalqadir al-Jilani; another was positioned as Data Ganj Bakhsh Ali Hujwiri; yet another was Khawaja Gharib Nawaz in Ajmer and also Baha al-DÏn Zakariyya in Multan. Another was given the same distribution task in Sirhind. This light revitalized all dead hearts so that now even death cannot conquer them; for them death is nothing more than a change of state.
Reference Book – Islamic Spirituality and Modern Science by Shaykh ul Islam Dr. Tahir ul Qadri
