Even if we were to concede that the Quran contains no explicit statement in its favor, the authentic hadiths by themselves would suffice to establish this doctrine. The notion that matters of creed cannot be proven by rigorously authenticated solitary reports is a baseless claim imported into Islam; none of the great imams—such as the Four or anyone else—ever espoused it. It is something introduced by certain speculative theologians without any proof or authority from Allah. I have written a dedicated chapter on this critical subject in one of my books, and I hope to be granted success to refine it and make it available to the public.
- The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—could hear what others could not hear. This is one of his distinctive privileges, just as he used to see Gabriel and speak with him while the people around him could neither see the angel nor hear his words. Al-Bukhārī and others authentically relate that he once said to ʿĀʾishah, “This is Gabriel conveying to you greetings of peace,” whereupon she replied, “And upon him be peace, O Messenger of Allah—you perceive what we do not.”
However, the Prophet’s unique privileges are established only by sound textual evidence; they cannot be proven by weak reports, by analogy, or by personal whims. In this matter people have fallen into two extremes. Some reject many of his genuine privileges because, they claim, the reports are not mutawātir, or because such privileges do not square with their intellects. Others affirm for him what has no basis at all, such as saying that he was the very first of created beings, that he cast no shadow on the earth, or that when he walked on sand his feet left no imprint while a trace appeared when he stepped on rock—and other such falsehoods.
The balanced position is to affirm that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—was a human being, as stated unequivocally in the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the ummah. Therefore, no attribute or privilege may be ascribed to him unless it is established by authentic evidence from the Book or the Sunnah. Once that evidence is confirmed, it must be accepted, and it is not permissible to dismiss it on the pretext of some so-called scientific or rational philosophy. Sadly, in our own times there has spread—at an alarming rate—the practice of rejecting authentic hadiths on the flimsiest of doubts raised by certain people, to the point that one senses they are treating his hadiths as though they were the statements of ordinary, fallible human beings; thus they