and grant him peace—and what his Companions said. Thus, at times he says, “He saw Him with his heart,” following Abū Dharr, for he narrated through his chain from Abū Dharr—may Allah be pleased with him—that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—saw his Lord with his heart (1).
It is established in Sahih Muslim that “Abū Dharr asked the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—‘Did you see your Lord?’ He replied, ‘Light—how could I see Him?’” (2). This question has not been reported from anyone other than Abū Dharr. As for the claim related by some common people that Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—asked the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and he replied (3), “Yes, I saw Him,” whereas Aisha asked him and he replied, “I did not see Him,” it is a lie. No scholar has ever narrated it. Nor would the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—give both an unqualified negative and an affirmative answer to the very same question; he is far above that (4).
(1) In my annotation on a similar statement by Ibn Taymiyya in *Dar’ Ta‘ārud al-‘Aql wa-l-Naql*, 8/42, I mentioned that I had searched for the hadith of Abū Dharr—may Allah be pleased with him—in Imām Ahmad’s *Musnad*, specifically the *Musnad* of Abū Dharr in volume five of the al-Halabī edition, but had not found it. I said: “Perhaps Imām Ahmad narrated it in a work other than the *Musnad*.” The hadith was narrated by Ibn Khuzayma in *Kitāb al-Tawhīd*, edited by Shaykh Muhammad Khalīl Harrās—may Allah have mercy on him—(Cairo ed., 1387/1968), p. 208. Its wording is: “Ahmad ibn Manī‘ narrated to us on more than one occasion, saying: Hushaym narrated to us, saying: Mansūr—that is, Ibn Zādhān—narrated to us, from al-Hakam, from Yazīd ibn al-Rishk, from Abū Dharr, regarding the words of the Most High: ‘And indeed he saw Him another time.’ He said: Hushaym narrated to us, saying: Mansūr informed us, from al-Hakam, from Yazīd ibn al-Rishk, from Abū Dharr, who said: ‘He saw Him with his heart and did not see Him with his eyes.’”
(2) This hadith was cited previously at 2/636–637.
(3) W reads: “He asked him, and he replied.”
(4) See al-Ājurrī, *Kitāb al-Sharī‘a*, edited by Shaykh Muhammad Hāmid al-Fiqī—may Allah have mercy on him—(al-Sunna al-Muhammadiyya Press, 1369/1950), pp. 491–497; see also Shaykh Muhammad Hāmid’s annotations. See also Ibn Khuzayma, *Kitāb al-Tawhīd*, pp. 197–230, and al-Bayhaqī, *Kitāb al-Asmā wa-l-Sifāt*, pp. 433–447, edited by Shaykh Muhammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī (al-Sa‘āda Press, 1358).