(1) Ibn al-Qayyim writes in Zad al-Maʿad, 3:36-37 (Muʾassasat al-Risala edition), that the Companions disagreed as to whether the Prophet saw his Lord on the night of the Isra. Authentic reports from Ibn ʿAbbas state that he did see Him and that the vision was “with his heart.” Sound reports from ʿAʾisha and Ibn Masʿud reject this, explaining that the Quranic phrase “He saw him on another descent, by the lote-tree of the furthest limit” (al-Najm 53:13) refers instead to Jibril. Abu Dharr relates that when he asked, “Did you see your Lord?” the Prophet replied, “Light—how could I see Him?” meaning that a veil of light prevented the direct sight; in another wording he said, “I saw light.” ʿUthman ibn Saʿid al-Darimi even claimed the Companions unanimously held that the Prophet did not see his Lord. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya comments that Ibn ʿAbbas’s statement does not contradict this, for Ibn ʿAbbas also said, “He saw Him with his heart,” and it is authentically reported that the Prophet once said, “I saw my Lord,” but this occurred in Madina when he delayed the dawn prayer and later told the Companions of a dream-vision of his Lord that night. On this basis Imam Ahmad affirmed that the Prophet truly saw his Lord, for the visions of prophets are necessarily true; yet Ahmad never claimed the vision was with the physical eyes while awake. Those who attribute that view to him are mistaken. He alternately said, “He saw Him,” and, “He saw Him with his heart.” A third version, asserting a waking, physical sight, is a later misrepresentation not found in Ahmad’s own statements. (2) If by this he intended to declare them outside the fold of Islam, then his judgment is an unwarranted exaggeration.