And there are those who believe that the prophets appear in their own forms to people who are awake. There are also shaykhs known for asceticism, learning, scrupulousness and religious devotion who believe such things. Some of them imagine that when they visit a prophet’s grave, the prophet emerges from it in his own form and speaks to them.

Some have seen the figure of a shaykh in the area around the top of the Kaaba and said that it was Abraham, the intimate friend of Allah. Others imagine that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has come out of his burial chamber and spoken to them. They count this among their own miraculous gifts. Some believe that if they ask the person buried in a grave a question, he answers them.

Some used to relate that whenever Ibn Mandah found a hadith difficult to understand, he would go to the Prophet’s burial chamber, enter it and ask the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about it, and he would answer him.

Another man from the Maghreb had a similar experience and counted it among his miraculous gifts. Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr therefore said to someone who believed this:

“Alas for you! Do you consider this man superior to the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants and the Helpers? Did any of them question the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, after his death and receive an answer? The Companions disagreed over various matters; why, then, did they not ask the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and receive his answer? Here was his own daughter Fātimah disputing over his inheritance; why did she not ask him and receive his answer?”