OMNIPRESENT AND OMNISCIENT (HAAZIR AND NAAZIR)
OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD ﷺ
Allah Ta'ala states in the Holy Quran:
'YA AYYUHAN NABIYYU INNA ARSALNAKA SHAHIDAN
WAMUBASHSHIRAN WA NAZEERA'
'WADA AAIYYAN ILA ALLAHI BIITHNIHI WASIRAJAN MUNEERA'
'O Prophet of Allah (the communicator of the hidden news). Surely, We have sent you as a witness and a bearer of glad tidings and a warner'
And an inviter towards Allah by His Command and blazing sun
(Surah Ahzab. verse 45,46)
We have sent you as a witness witnessing the Divinity.i.e. witnesses of both worlds. And, We have sent you as one who is present at all places where your knowledge and use would continue at all times. And, We have sent you as a witness over all the believers and the infidels so that on the Day of Judgement, Prophet ﷺ would be an eyewitness over their deeds. And he gives information in the world of who would be an inmate of Paradise and who would be an inmate of Hell.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is an eternal beloved of all the creation. Due to this, the wood, camels etc. wept due to separation from Prophet ﷺ. And even today, millions of people are his followers without seeing him.
All the prophets were witnesses of Allah Ta'ala, givers of glad tidings of His mercies and blessings, and warners of His punishment. Since Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had seen Paradise and Hell, he gave testimony about them.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the caller and the Prophet of the entire creation because his prophethood is mentioned without any introductory discussion. The sun, the light of the heart and the light of the grave are unable to make the day. Prophet ﷺ is able to provide light here as well through his illumination light is provided in the grave and brightness is created in the heart.
In this verse of The Holy Quran, Allah Ta'ala is describing the splendour of His beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. 'Ya ayyuha alannabiyyu', meaning
'Ya Rasoolullah ﷺ' Allah Ta'ala is addressing his beloved with respect and dignity. Hence, proclaiming 'Ya Rasoolullah' is not shirk but a sunnah of Allah Ta'ala.
'We have sent you as a witness of both the worlds' (Shaahidan). We believe in the omnipresent and omniscient (haazir and naazir) of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Physically, Prophet ﷺ is present in Madina Munawarah, but is spiritually present everywhere (haazir) and having an infinite awareness, understanding and insight of both the worlds (naazir). We are naazir until where our sight ends and haazir until our authority ends. The exalted presence of Prophet ﷺ is in Madina Munawarah, but spiritually he sees the entire world, listens to both far and near voices equally, and travels through the whole creation assisting those with needs. The attribute of omnipresent and omniscient is granted to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by Allah Ta'ala. By the permission of Allah Ta'ala Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is watching all the creations and being granted the attribute of Rahmatal lil-aalameen, he bestows his bounty upon the world. Thus Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is both omnipresent and omniscient (Haazir and Naazir).
In the verse of The Holy Quran, Allah Ta'ala has mentioned Prophet ﷺ as 'Shahidan'. What does Shahidan mean?
Allah Ta'ala states in The Holy Quran:
'And when you are busy in any work, or you recite any part of the Quran from Him, and you perform any act, We are witnesses over you when you commence it. And there is nothing hidden from your Lord even to an atom's weight in the earth or in the Heaven. And there is nothing smaller than that, or greater, but it is in the Luminous Book'
(Surah Yunus. verse 61)
By 'you' is meant the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and he is at all times and under all circumstances the center of attention of Allah Ta'ala. 'Shahid' is witnessing both the worlds. Thus, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is Haazir and Naazir, witnessing all the creations.
'Please declare: 'O People of the Scripture, why do you disbelieve in the signs of Allah when your works are before Allah'
(Surah Ale-Imran. verse 98)
Allah Ta'ala is omnipresent and omniscient.
'Who is the Supreme Ruler of the Heavens and the earth. And Allah is a witness on everything'
(Surah Al-Buruj. verse 9)
Allah Ta'ala is looking at every object, like witnessing full incident due to His presence.
'And by witnessing and witnessed'
(Surah Al-Buruj. verse 3)
Allah Ta'ala states in The Holy Quran:
'Then how shall it be, when We bring from every nation (community) a witness. And (O Beloved Muhammad), We will bring you as a witness against all of them'
(Surah An-Nisa. verse 41)
Every Prophet will testify about the good and bad deeds of his followers, and the followers of Prophet ﷺ will testify for his nation. But the testimony of Prophet ﷺ will be verbally given, and his testimony will be an eyewitness account. The lesson learned is that beloved Prophet of Allah Ta'ala, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is keeping an eyewitness account of all deeds, past, present and future.
'Shahidan' (witnessing the divinity) is used in this verse of The Holy Quran as well. This witness will be an eyewitness account, and to give an eyewitness account, the witness has to present to witness the deeds. This is omnipresent and omniscient. (Haazir and Naazir).
Hazrat Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri narrates that Prophet ﷺ said, 'Nuh(aliahis salaam) will be called on the day of Resurrection and say, 'O my Lord'! Allah Ta'ala will say, 'did you convey the message?' Nuh(alaihis salaam) will say, 'yes'. His nation will then be asked, 'did he convey the message to you?' They will say, 'no warner came to us'. Then Allah Ta'ala will say to Nuh(alaihis salaam), 'who will bear witness in your favour?' Nuh(alaihis salaam) will say, 'Muhammad ﷺ and his followers'. So, the Muslims will testify that he conveyed the message. And Prophet Muhammad ﷺ will be a witness over yourselves'. (Bukhari)
Hazrat Abu Sa'id(Radi Allaahu Anhu) narrates that Prophet ﷺ said, 'On the day of Resurrection, a prophet will come with one person, another prophet will come with two people, and some prophets will come with even more people. Allah Ta'ala in turn will ask each of the prophets. 'Did you convey the message?' Each will say, 'yes'. Then, their nation will be asked, 'did he convey the message?' Their nation will say, 'no warner came to us'. Then Allah Ta'ala will say to each of the prophets, 'who will bear witness in your favour?' Each of the prophets will reply, 'Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his followers'. Then the followers of Prophet ﷺ will be asked, ' did they convey the message?' The ummah of Prophet ﷺ (us) will say, 'yes'. Allah Ta'ala will ask the followers of Prophet ﷺ 'how do you know?' The ummah of Prophet ﷺ will say, 'The beloved Prophet, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ informed us'. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ will testify and say, 'I confirm the testimony of my ummah and each of the prophets'.'' (Sunnan an-Nasa'i)
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is witnessing all the happenings of the world, and will testify on this Day of Resurrection. This is Haazir and Naazir.
Allah Ta'ala states in The Holy Quran:
'And thus We made you an exalted community among all the nations that you may be a witness over the people and the Rasool (Messenger) will be a witness over you'.'
(Surah Al-Baqara. verse 143)
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is omnipresent and omniscient (Haazir Naazir) over you.
Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Umar(Radi Allaahu Anhu) narrates that Prophet ﷺ said, 'Allah Ta'ala has given me such powers that I can see all the happenings of the world, till the Day of the Judgement, just as I see the palm of my hands.
Hazrat Ibn Abbas(Radi Allaahu Anhu) reports that once after Namaaz, the companions(Radi Allaahu Anhu) asked Prophet ﷺ, 'O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! We saw you reaching out to take something when you were standing in Namaaz, then we saw you refrain?' Prophet ﷺ replied, 'I saw Paradise and I reached out to take a bunch of grapes from it. If I had taken it, you would have eaten it as long as this world remained'. (Muslim)
This is Haazir and Naazir. Haazir, is until where the hands reach, and Naazir is until where the sight ends.
Allah Ta'ala states in The Holy Quran:
'And know that the Messenger of Allah is among you'.'
(Surah Al-Hujraat. verse 7)
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is fully aware of what is in the deepest recesses of your heart.
**
This article is an abridged English translation of an Urdu sermon delivered by his eminence, Peer Syed Imroz Dean Saifi, Hanfi, Maturidi of Masjid Anwaar e Madina, Surrey BC Canada
If there is an inaccurate translation, please pardon it and not let it be a means to negatively reflect on the honoured presenter.
