Hadir-o-Nadir

                                         
                       


Believing in prophets presence, his hearing from far and replying to salutations (Hadhir-o-Nadhir).

We, the Ahlus Sunnah, believe that the Prophet [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] is Hazir and Nadhir, which simply put means that he views our actions and in this way we are presented to him. He [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] is Nadhir, since he views our actions, both good and bad.

It is not believe of ahlus sunnah that prophet is omnipresent (physically present everywhere and everytime), Ahlus sunnah believes that prophet witnesses all our deeds and actions and he can make his spiritual presence any where he likes.

1.0 Definition of Hadhir-o-Nadhir:

Mufti Ahmad Yaar Khan gives definitions Hadhir-o-Nadhir as follows: "Haadhir Nadhir does not mean that the Prophet [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] is present. Rather, it means that the Prophet [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] views the actions of his Ummah whilst he is in his grave. He can go from his grave to other places where he likes spiritually. He prays for us. [Tawzeeh-ul-Bayaan Sharh Sahih Muslim vol 1 Chapter on Mi’raj Ja al-Haqq chapter Al Haadir-u-wannadir by Mufti Ahmad Yaar Khan].

2.0 Proofs from Quran:
Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’an

i. "O Prophet! [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] no doubt, We have sent you as a witness, bearer of glad tiding and a Warner" [Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:45.]

ii. " And know that Allah’s Noble Messenger is among you,…." [Surah Hujurat 49:7]

iii. We have indeed sent you (O dear Prophet Mohammed - peace and blessings be upon him) as a present witness and a Herald of glad tidings and warnings. (The Holy Prophet is a witness from Allah.) [Surah Fath 48:8]

iv. We have indeed sent a Noble Messenger towards you, a present witness over you [Surah Muzzammil 73:15]

v. And the day when We will raise from every group, a witness from among them, in order to testify against them and will bring you O dear Prophet (Mohammed - peace and blessings be upon him) as a witness upon them all; and We have sent down this Qur’an upon you which is a clear explanation of all things, and a guidance and a mercy and glad tidings to the Muslims. [Surah Nahl 16:89]

vi. Then how shall it be, when We bring up a witness from every nation, and (O beloved Muhammad !) We will bring you as a witness and a guardian against all those. " [Surah al-Nisa, 4:41]

vii. "And thus We made you exalted among all nations that you may be witnesses to the people and this Messenger your guard and witness.” [Surah al-Baqara, 2:143]

The Qur’an refers to RasoolAllah [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] as ‘Shahid’(witness) and the witness is someone who sees whilst being present. [Mufradaat, Imam Raghib, under the word Shahid]

Allah sent the Prophet [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] as Shahid. It is for this reason we refer to him as metaphorically being Haadhir/Nadhir and that he is not Hadhir/Nadhir in the way that are the Angels Kiraman, Katibeen. (The Angels who are constantly present on the right and left shoulder of every human being.)

viii. The Prophet is closer to the Muslims than their own lives [Surah Ahzab 33:6]
Our lives are present. Nobody can deny this fact because if the life is absent then it would mean that we are dead. So if our lives are present, then the one who is nearer to us than our own lives has to be present.

Moulvi Shabeer Ahmad Uthmaani says, regarding the same ayat : If a Believers's Imaan is considered seriously, then it is like a ray from the light of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam). On this account, if a Believer ponders about his own reality, then, before he understands the state of his own Imaan, he has to first understand the wisdom of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam). On this point it is true that the august presence of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) is closer to us than our own souls.

3.0 Proof from Ahadith:

i) Deeds of ummah are presented to prophet.

a. The Prophet [May Allah bless him and grant him peace] stated: "My life is better for you, you narrate Ahadith and Ahadith are narrated for you. When I pass away it will continue to benefit you because your actions will be presented before me. If I see a good deed I shall praise Allah Soobha Nahu Wata'ala, If I see a bad deed of yours I shall ask Allah Soobha Nahu Wata'ala to forgive you. [Majma-uz-Zwaa’id, vol.9, pg.24]

b. The Holy Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) says, "My entire Ummah was presented before me with each individual's scroll of deeds, good as well as bad."(Muslim Shareef, Volume 1, Page 207, Musnad-i-Ahmad, Ibn Majah)

Further it is firm believe of ahlus sunnah that that the Holy Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) hears the Salaat/Durood (Blessings) and Salaam (Salutations) that are sent to him. Furthermore, it is within His capabilities to see and hear events taking place far away as mentioned in Ahadees referred below.

ii. Blessings and Salutations are presented to beloved prophet:

a. Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Invoke blessings on me abundantly on the day of Jum‘ah (Friday). Verily it is attended and the angels attend it, and none invokes blessings on me but his supplication is presented to me till he finishes it." Ibn Majah, book of jana’iz (funerals) ch. 65, Hadith 1637.

b. "Invoke blessings upon me, since blessings invoked by you are conveyed to me wherever you may be" (Abu Dawood, Kitab Al-Manasik Wal-Hajj, Hadith 2042)

iii. Prophets hears Salutations and greetings

"He who invokes blessings upon me by my grave, I will hear him and he who invokes upon me at a distance it will be conveyed to me." Ahmad bin Husayn Bayhaqī, Shu‘ab-ul-īmān, (Hadith: 1583)

iv. Allah returns soul and Prophet replies to salutations and greetings

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If any one of you greets me, Allah returns my soul to me and I respond to the greeting. (Abu Dawood, Kitab Al-Manasik Wal-Hajj (rituals of hajj) Hadith 2036)
Some people misunderstands or misinterpret this Hadith saying that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is not alive since his soul returns to his body only when he is greeted.

The 'Ulama have given various answers to people who use this Hadith and try to imply that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is dead and that he comes alive only when someone sends Salaam. Imam Jalaal'uddeen as-Suyuti (rahmat allahi 'alaih) listed 17 of these explanations. In the book Anba' al-adhkiya' fi hayat il-ambiya' he said that "radda" means "'ala al-dawam", i.e. permanently, and not temporarily: in other words, Allah does not return the soul and take it back, then return it again and then take it back again, but He has returned it to the Prophet (peace be upon him) permanently, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) is alive permanently, not intermittently as understood by few due to ignorance.

The above explanation is very much confirmed even if the Hadith is taken literally, since there is always people at prayer (Salaah) in the world during the entire twenty-four hour cycle, and sending Salawat on the Prophet (peace be upon him) is part of Salaah, therefore people are constantly and permanently invoking blessings and greetings on the Prophet (peace be upon him) without break. This shows that the Hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) on the return of his soul takes into consideration the continuity of prayer (Salaah) concomitant with the revolving five times of prayer around the world, and that indeed he is alive in permanence, since Allah has entitled him to return every single Salaam that is made to him.

v. Prophet sees his entire ummah

Allama Imam Qastalani (rahmat allahi 'alaih) commentator of Bukhari Shareef, writes in his book Mawahib ul-ladunya and Imam Muhammad Ibn Hajar al-Makki (rahmat allahi 'alaih) writes in his book Madkhal, "There is no difference between the states of life and death of the Holy Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam), in his seeing his entire Ummah and his recognising of their states, their intentions and their minds, and all this is clear to him; there is no secret thereof of him." (Mawahib ul-ladunya Page 32, Madkhal Page 21)

4.0. Prophets can make their presence after physical departure from our vision:

It is written in the Sahihain of al-Bukhaari and Muslim, that Allah Ta'ala sent all the Prophets to our Prophet on the Mi'raj night. He became the Imam, and they performed two rak'as of Salaah, which is agreed by all and denier of this event of miraj is kafir. From this event of Miraj, it is established that all the Prophets ('alaihimus salaam) made Haaziri (were present) in Musjid al-Aqsa to perform Salaah with our Noble Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) being the Imam. If Prophets cannot leave their Blessed Graves then how is it that all of the Prophets ('alaihimus salaam) were present in Musjid al-Aqsa, on the blessed night of Mi'raj an-Nabi which occured long after (thousands of years of) the Wisaal of the other Prophets.

After establishing the permissibility of sending salutations, prophets bestowed power of hearing, witnessing deeds of umma and prophets authority to make their presence after physical demise, now the question is what happens if salawaat is recited in different places at the same time? how can prophet make his presence in various places at same time? how fast he can make his spiritual presence?

before answering this let us quote the following.

i) It is recorded that at the time of the call to prayer (Adhan) the Iblees (Shaitaan) runs thirty six miles away and returns in an instant after the completion of the Adhan (Mishkaat - Chapter Adhan). We ask the individuals who generally pose this question to please explain, how can it be, that Allah Ta'ala's Beloved, Huzoor-e-Aqdas Muhammad Mustafa (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) is confined to his Blessed Grave while Shaitaan the cursed is freely running up and down, and that too, at high speeds !

ii) Besides Iblees, even Angels have this ability. The Holy Qur'aan says, "...when death comes to any of you, Our Angels take his soul and they do not fail " (Surah al-Anaam, Verse 61). Relating to this it is written that, "For the Angel of Death the whole of the Earth is like a tray, so that he may take the souls as he pleases. There is no difficulty for the Angel of Death to take souls, even though there are many and many deaths in different places !" (Tafseer Kabir Khazeen and Ruh-ul-Bayaan)

iii) The speed of Jibra'eel ('alaihis salaam) is such that, when Nabi Yusuf ('alaihis salaam) was thrown into the well Jibra'eel ('alaihis salaam) travelled from Sidratul Muntaha to the bottom of the well. When Nabi Ibraheem ('alaihis salaam) was about to sacrifice Nabi Ismail ('alaihis salaam) and had his knife on the neck of Nabi Ismail ('alaihis salaam), Jibra'eel, travelled from Sidratul Muntaha to the earth with a Ram(sheep).
The above events relate to an Angel and it's abilities, but men of Allah (Awliya Allah) are also bestowed with such powers. Asaf ibn Barkhiya's taking the throne of Bilqis [the Queen of Sheba] to Sulaiman ('alaihis salaam) is also reported in the Qur'an al-karim, Surah Naml, Verses 39 and 40. Queen Bilqis throne was miles away and protected in chambers, Hazrath Asaf ibn Barkhiya got the throne in blink of the eye. how did he go there? at what speed? how did he made his presence there in no time?? is not time factor applicable to him??

When our senses accepts this all, the freedom given to the iblees, the bestowed power to angles, Jibrael and Asaf ibn Barkhiya then why the minds get blocked when this attributes are related to prophet (peace be upon him)?

Hadhrat Sheikh Abd al-Haqq Muhaddith Dahlawi is unanimously accepted as a great 'Aalim and a Mujaddid (Reviver of Religion) of his time.

Shaikh Abd al-Haqq Muhaddith Dahlawi states, "Allah Ta'ala has given the Holy Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam) the strength and power to go anywhere he likes, he can go with his own body or only in soul. On the earth, in the sky, in the grave and the Holy Prophet's (sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam) connection stays with his own shrine.'' (Madarigun Naboowat - Volume 2 Part 4 Wasleh Hayaateh Ambiya)

Haji Imdadullah Muhajir Makki (rahmat allahi 'alaih) writes, "The possibility of arrival of Rasoolullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) in the Meelad assembly is not wrong because the bodily world is restricted to time and place, but the spiritual world is free from both. So the arrival of Rasoolullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) is not far from being possible". (Shamaime Imdaadiya, Page 50, Madani Qutub Khana, Multan)

A Hadith Shareef declares, "The one who sees me in his dream sees me as he would see me when he is awake." This is why Imam Nawawi (rahmat allahi 'alaih) said, "Seeing him in a dream is really seeing him." As a matter of fact, it was declared, "Anyone who has seen me in his dream has seen me truly, for the devil cannot appear in my form," in a Hadith Sharif reported in the book Kunuz ad-daqa'iq by al-Imam al-Manawi on the authority of al-Bukhari and Muslim, [and recorded in Sahi bukhari in interpretetion of dreams book 87#122, 123]. We would not see Rasoolullah (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) "truly" if we saw his likeness in a dream.

Concerning the questioning (of the dead person) in the grave, the third question that will be asked by the Angels of the grave is, "Ma kunta taqulu fi haqqi hazar rajul" (meaning : "What did you have to say about this person?" (i.e. the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam)). When this question is asked the veil is removed from the dead person's eyes so that he can see the Holy Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) who will be present (Haazir) in the grave. (Mishkaat Shareef, Bukhaari Kitaabul Janaaiz, Hadith 422)

From this Hadith we learn that the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) is seen by the dead in person and not in some sort of mental thought, because the word "rajul" that is used in the question, in Arabic grammar refers to a real person made of flesh and bones.

So it is established that every person that dies sees the Holy Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) in his grave in person. Now, at any given time thousands of people around the world are buried and all these people see the Holy Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) at the same time and are asked the same question.

This is ample proof that the Holy Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam) by the grace of Allah Ta'ala can present himself in many places at the same time. All the 'Ulama of Ahl as-Sunna agree with this, and the following comment regarding this issue is the fatwa of Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Haitami (rahmat allahi alaih), which is written on the ninth page of the second volume of Fatawa al-Kubra:

Many of the youth don't know why they were told not to send Blessings and Salutations on the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam). This is because they were brainwashed by their local 'aalim/ ameer/ relatives/ friends not to do it, and not to ask why they should not do it. Many of the youth live in areas away from major city centres where they have never been exposed to Salawat and Salaam, Mawlid etc. but have only been lied to and brainwashed by silly rumours initiated by those who are not scholarly enough to present any authoritative evidence in refutation of it. Many youth come from country towns to work and to study in tertiary institutions. So when they enter a mosque or a Jamaa'at Khana at the University or in the area that they are boarding, and if Salaam is recited, they rush out of the musjid as if a grave sin is being committed. Then, (like their elders) start to initiate silly rumours and theories as to why Blessings and Salutations should not be sent to the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wasallam).

May Allah Taala guide us on Siraatul Mustaqeem and instill in our hearts the true love for Taajidare Madina, Muhammadur Rasoolullah (sallalaahu alaihi wasallam). Aameen.