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Longing to see Allah

ByShaykh Haytham Tamim

Surat al-A’raf is a Makki surah, which was revealed to show the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) what previous Messengers faced from their people. The last story is the story of Musa (peace be upon him), and one of the specific scenes highlighted is when Musa (peace be upon him) asked to see Allah. 

وَلَمَّا جَآءَ مُوسَىٰ لِمِيقَٰتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُۥ رَبُّهُۥ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِيٓ

 أَنظُرۡ إِلَيۡكَۚ قَالَ لَن تَرَىٰنِي وَلَٰكِنِ ٱنظُرۡ إِلَى ٱلۡجَبَلِ 

فَإِنِ ٱسۡتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُۥ فَسَوۡفَ تَرَىٰنِيۚ

 فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُۥ لِلۡجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُۥ دَكّٗا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ

 صَعِقٗاۚ فَلَمَّآ أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبۡحَٰنَكَ 

تُبۡتُ إِلَيۡكَ وَأَنَا۠ أَوَّلُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ

When Musa came at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, “My Lord, show (Yourself) to me that I may look at You.” He said: “You shall never see Me. But look at the mount. If it stays at its place, you will see Me.” So when his Lord appeared to the Mount, He levelled it to the ground, and Musa fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said: “Pure are You. I repent to You, and I am the first to believe (that no one can see You in this world.)” [7:143] 

Musa (peace be upon him) yearned to see Allah 

When Musa (peace be upon him) first fled Egypt, he went to Madyan, where he stayed for at least ten years, and got married and had children. The first time Allah spoke to him directly was on his way back from Madyan to Egypt; this was the first time he received revelation, and conversed with Allah directly which is why Musa (peace be upon him) is called Kaleem Allah, the one who was spoken to by Allah. 

After this, he received revelation on several different occasions, and this made his heart yearn to meet Allah. Normally in a meeting, you don’t only hear someone’s voice, you also see them, and Musa (peace be upon him) longed to see Allah. 

Allah knew Musa’s capabilities 

Allah knew Musa’s capabilities – after all, He created him. So He told Musa (peace be upon him) that he didn’t have the ability to see Him. Even in the dunya, we have things like X-rays, which we can’t see but know can hurt us. Similarly Allah’s power and majesty is too much for us to handle. No human can see Him. 

Yet, Allah didn’t tell Musa off for asking for something forbidden. Musa (peace be upon him) didn’t know it was impossible: he had never been a Messenger before, he was effectively learning as he went. 

Instead, Allah said that although Musa wouldn’t be able to see Him, He would reveal Himself to the mountain. The word used in the Quran is tajalla, from tajliya – to show Himself clearly. And the mountain, made of solid rock, crumbled to dust and was flattened. 

Did the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) see Allah? 

There is some debate even among the Companions as to whether the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) saw Allah during his Night Journey. Some of the Companions thought he did, such as Ibn Abbas and Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with them), while others thought he didn’t, including Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her).

Abdullah bin Shaqiq (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ شَقِيقٍ، قَالَ قُلْتُ لأَبِي ذَرٍّ لَوْ رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لَسَأَلْتُهُ فَقَالَ عَنْ أَىِّ شَىْءٍ كُنْتَ تَسْأَلُهُ قَالَ كُنْتُ أَسْأَلُهُ هَلْ رَأَيْتَ رَبَّكَ قَالَ أَبُو ذَرٍّ قَدْ سَأَلْتُ فَقَالَ ‏ “‏ رَأَيْتُ نُورًا ‏”‏ ‏.رواه مسلم.‏


I said to Abu Dharr: Had I seen the Messenger of Allah, I would have asked him. He (Abu Dharr) said: What is that thing that you wanted to inquire of him? He said: I wanted to ask him whether he had seen his Lord. Abu Dharr said: I, in fact, inquired of him, and he replied: I saw Light. (Muslim)

Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ قَالَ سَأَلَتْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: هَلْ رَأَيْتَ رَبَّكَ؟ قَالَ: «نُورٌ أَنَّى أَرَاهُ» . رَوَاهُ مُسلم

I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): ‘Did you see your Lord?’ He (peace be upon him) replied: ‘I saw light; how could I see Him?’ (Muslim)

In another translation based on the meaning of Anna (أنَّى):

Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ قَالَ سَأَلَتْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: هَلْ رَأَيْتَ رَبَّكَ؟ قَالَ: «نُورٌ أَنَّى أَرَاهُ» . رَوَاهُ مُسلم

I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): ‘Did you see your Lord?’ He (peace be upon him) replied: ‘Light, wherever I look I could see Him?’ (Muslim)

Some scholars reconciled the statements of Aisha and Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with them) by saying that Aisha denied the vision of the eye, while Ibn Abbas affirmed the vision of the heart.

The reason for this debate is because when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) was asked if he saw Allah, he replied, “Nurun anna ara.” The word nurun means ‘He is light’, but the word anna has two meanings: either ‘wherever I looked I saw Him’, or ‘how could I have seen him?’ 

Being prepared to see Allah 

Scholars have asked how he could have seen Allah if Musa (peace be upon him) and all other humans are incapable of this in our lifetime on earth.

There is no disagreement on the akhirah, that the believers will see Allah in Jannah:

‫وُجُوهࣱ يومئذ نَّاضِرَةٌ

Some faces on that day are radiant,
‫إِلَىٰ رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةࣱ

looking towards their Lord. (75:22-23)

The difference between Musa (peace be upon him) and Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) is the Musa (peace be upon him) did not undergo the preparation to be able to see Allah. Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) underwent the opening of his chest four times which prepared him for the Night Journey. This strengthened his heart so that he could travel to Jerusalem and ascend through the skies to heaven. He could have seen Allah, though of course Allah has no physical presence, as He is outside the physical world, so we have no idea how he would have seen Him.  

The importance of isolation 

Going back to Musa (peace be upon him) – the key to note here is that when this episode happened, Musa had gone into isolation for forty days. This is the time for seclusion, to be focused entirely on Allah. 

We have Ramadan to do this for us. Of course, it’s different and isn’t total isolation in the same way, but nevertheless you still taste the sweetness of some isolation and increased focus on one task, which is pleasing Allah.

We ask Allah to enable us to be on this journey of pleasing Him always, both during Ramadan and outside it.  

Delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 11th Ramadan 2025. Transcribed by H Khan.

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