Haadhir Naadhir

Haadhir Naadhir

We, the Ahl as-Sunna wa’l-Jama’a, believe that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is hadir and nazir which, simply put, means that he views our actions and in this way we are presented to him.He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is nazir, since he views our actions, both good and bad.

Definition of Hadir/Nazir

Mufti Ahmad Yaar Khan and Allama Ghulam Rasool Sa’idi write:

“Hadir/ nazir does not mean that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is present. Rather, it means that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) views the actions of his Ummah whilst he is in his grave. He can go from his grave to other places where he likes spiritually. He prays for us”

[Sa’idi, G, R., Tawzeeh al-Bayan Sharh Sahih Muslim, chapter on ‘Mi’raj’, vol 1; Khan, Ahmad, Y., Ja al-Haq, chapter on ‘al-Hadir-u-wan-nazir’]

Proof of Hadir/Nazir

Allah Most High says in the Qur’an:

“O Prophet! No doubt, We have sent you as a witness, bearer of glad tiding and a warner”

[Sura al-Ahzab, verse 45]

The Qur’an refers to Rasulu’llah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as ‘shahid’ (witness) and the witness is someone who sees whilst being present [Imam Raghib, Mufradat, under the word ‘shahid’]

Allah sent the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) as a shahid.It is for this reason we refer to him as metaphorically being hadir/nazir and that he is not hadir/nazir in the way that are the angels kiram katibin (the angels who are constantly present on the right and left shoulder of every human being).

Proof of Hadir and Nazir from Hadith

Imam Qurtubi writes:

“The angels present the actions of the Ummah to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) every single day. This is not correct, but the truth is that the actions of the Umma are presented not every day but every Friday”

[Tafsir Qurtubi, Sura an-Nisa, under verse 41]

Hafiz Ibn Qayyim writes:

“It is true that our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is presented with the actions of his Umma in his grave. This is from unauthenticated ahadith and it is not something to be surprised with, because when our parents pass away from this world, our actions are presented to them to view. However, with our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), he is presented with the actions of the all humans and the jinn”

[Ibn Qayyim, Qasida Nounia 13]

Hafiz ibn Kathir writes:

“When a parent of a Muslim dies then their children’s actions are presented to them. If the actions are good then they are happy, but if their actions are bad, then they pray to Allah so that He may forgive them”

[Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Sura at-Tauba, under verse 105]

Hafiz Ibn Rajab also says on this subject:

“Deeds of the humans are presented in front of our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). That is why a person should be ashamed of themselves from doing bad deeds”

[Ibn Rajab, Lataef-ul-Mahrif, page 91]

Some people may have difficulty in comprehending how the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) could have so much power to the extent thathe views the actions of his Umma every day or once a week. Firstly such a thing can never be difficult for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and secondly, there is nothing to be surprised by when Allah grants his special servants abilities of such nature.

Hafiz Ibn Kathir writes:

“An example of this would be of the Angel Izra’il, who at all times has the al-Lawh al-Mahfuz [Guarded Tablet] in his sight, and it is through this he sees the whole world.He even visits every house on land and under water five times a day

[Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah as-Sajda, under verse 11. Also in Ta’rikh Ibn Kathir,, chapter on ‘al-Lawh -al-Mahfuz’, vol.1]

Apart from his servants, Allah has even given power to Shaytan, who sits on his throne in the sea and sees you wherever you may be [Suraal-A’raf, under verse 27]. So if Allah can bestow such powers to a kafir then why is it so difficult to believe that He can bestow such powers to the most beloved of his creation – our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)?

The evidence provided above demonstrates that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is a witness over the whole of his Umma – and this is what is meant by hadir/nazir.

Hafiz Ibn Kathir writes that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) stated:

“My life is better for you; you narrate ahadith and ahadith are narrated for you. When I pass away it will continue to benefit you because your actions will be presented before me.If I see a good deed I shall praise Allah Most High. If I see a bad deed of yours I shall ask Allah Most High to forgive you”

[Majmu’ az-Zwa’id, vol.9, page24; Ta’rikh Ibn Kathir, Death of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)]

Similarly, Qadi Shawkani writes:

“Our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) knows the actions of his Umma. When he sees them doing something good, he is happy and when he sees them doing bad actions he makes du’a for them”

[Qadi Shawkani, Nayl al-Awtat, chapter of ‘Jumu’a’ and ‘Hajj’]

All this implies, that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is hadir/nazir over our actions.

Hafiz Ibn Kathir writes:

“On the Day of Judgment, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will be a witness over our actions and the actions of the previous Ummas. Even the Umma of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will bear witness to the fact that the previous prophets conveyed the message of Allah Most High to their respective Ummas.To this, the people from the previous Ummas will ask: ‘How can they testify when they were not present at that time?’ The Umma of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)will reply:’We were informed by our Prophet that the previous messengers had all conveyed the message from Allah.’ Then Rasulu’llah will himself bear witness to the fact that all the prophets before him had conveyed their message from Allah Most High to their respective Ummas”

[Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Sura Baqara, under verse 143]

On the Day of Judgment there will be an objection to the certification of the Ummas, but there shall be no objection to the word/certification of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). In fact it will used as a decision, since the certification of the Umma would be from what they heard (from Qur’an and Sunna) but the certification of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will be from what he had witnessed.

Imam al-Bukhari states:

“The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) saw all the previous prophets and their followers. This is the difference in the testimony of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and that of his Umma

[Sahihal-Bukhari, chapter on ‘al-Manaqib’]

From the above, it can be understood that the testimony of Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) will not be challengable on the Day of Judgement, because his testimony will be based on observation.