Ahmad Rida Khan Barelwi writes in al-Dawlat al-Makkiyyah:
Translation
As for us, the assemblies of Ahl al-Haqq (people of truth), we know, with praise to Allah, that this, what we mentioned, i.e. the details of everything of what has occurred from the first day and will occur until the last day, is only something small in relation to the knowledges of our Prophet ﷺ.
The evidence (dalil) for this is the statement of Allah: ‘He taught you what you knew not and Allah’s grace upon you is immense.’ (4:113) I say: Allah has mentioned in this verse His favouring His beloved by teaching him what he knew not. He concluded the mention of His favour with something indicating the immensity of this great favour and the magnitude of this massive blessing, and thus said: ‘Allah’s grace upon you is immense.’
It is known that what has occurred and will occur in the aforementioned sense – the entirety of it, each individual part, in detail and total – that is contained in the Lawh Mahfuz is only “Dunya” because the Akhirah occurs after the last day. Beyond that is Allah’s essence and attributes, which cannot be contained by Tablet or Pen. Allah says about the Dunya: ‘Say, the utility of the Dunya is small.’ (4:77) Where does what Allah has deemed small fall in relation to what He has deemed immense and considered great its stature?
The Prophet’s ﷺ knowledge in fact extends beyond the last day to the gathering, distributing, accounting, [handing of] the book [of deeds], and the details of these things from reward and punishment, until people settle in their places in Jannah and Nar, until beyond that to whatever Allah wishes to inform him. He knows from Allah’s essence and attributes the magnitude of which is comprehensible only to Allah Who granted those blessings to His Chosen One ﷺ. Hence, the knowledge of what has occurred and will occur that is contained in the Lawh Mahfuz is only a portion of the knowledges of our Beloved ﷺ, let alone being too much for him. (al-Dawlat al-Makkiyyah, pp145-6)
Analysis
The argument Ahmad Rida Khan is here presenting can be summarised as follows:
- After mentioning Allah has taught the Prophet ﷺ what he knew not, the Qur’an refers to Allah’s favour on the Prophet ﷺ as being “immense”
- The Qur’an refers to the utility of the Dunya as being “small”
- Therefore, the total knowledge of the entirety of the Dunya (the pre-Akhirah realm of existence) is only a small amount of the Prophet’s ﷺ knowledge!
Yet, “small” and “immense” are (normally) relative terms, which are applicable only in their respective contexts. The Dunya is small specifically in relation to the Akhirah as the Qur’an explicitly mentions: “The utility of the Dunya in relation to the Akhirah is but little.” (Qur’an, 9:38) In other words, if someone enjoys what the Dunya has to offer while gaining nothing of the Akhirah, their enjoyment in relation to what they could have enjoyed in the Akhirah is very small indeed.
Allah’s grace on the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in 4:113 is about His protection of the Prophet ﷺ from the attempts of his enemies to harm and mislead him. Hence, the verse starts out saying: “Were it not for Allah’s grace and mercy on you, a group of them would certainly have been determined to mislead you. They mislead none but themselves and harm you not in the least…” (4:113) Hence, the immense favour is in relation to the potential harm of being misled by his enemies. Allah taught the Prophet ﷺ via revelation and protected him from the plots and ploys of enemies.
How does this in any way relate to the smallness of the Dunya in relation to the Akhirah? Or have anything to do with the Prophet’s ﷺ knowledge encompassing all physical things from before the Akhirah?
In fact, the fact of the smallness and the insignificance of the utility of the Dunya can be advanced as evidence against the Prophet’s ﷺ encompassing knowledge of it. How so? Because he himself said: “You are more knowledgeable about the matter of your world.” (Sahih Muslim) Allah says: “We taught him not poetry, nor is it fitting for him.” (36:69) As in, the Prophet’s ﷺ concern is with gnosis of the Creator, how to observe the reverence of his Lord, protect himself from being misled and guide his ummah towards divine pleasure and eternal salvation. His heart is much too filled with the realities of the divine, religion and otherworldly realities (i.e. real, true, virtuous knowledge) to be concerned with the insignificant knowledge of this lowly world. Furthermore, he sought refuge from useless knowledge (Sahih Muslim), which will surely include insignificant details of this world, like lyrics of songs, lines from movies etc.
Sayyid Ahmad Barzanji defined the knowledge which the Prophet ﷺ was imbued with as: “Knowledge and recognition of what is due to the greatness and exaltedness of Allah in terms of reverence, humbleness, servility, worship and devotion as hinted at in Allah’s statement: ‘It is only the knowers who from Allah’s slaves fear Him.'” (Risalah fi ‘Ilm al-Ghayb)
فإن قلت: فما معنى قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ((إن أتقاكم وأعلمكم بالله أنا))، وقولهم: ((العلماء بالله والعارفون))؟ قلت: معنى ذلك: العلم والمعرفة بما يجب لكبريائه وعظمته من الخشية والخشوع والتذلل والعبادة والخضوع المشار إليه بقوله تعالى: ((إنما يخشى الله من عباده العلماء))
Qadi ‘Iyad said: “As for that which is connected from these [knowledges] with the affair of the world, protection is not a condition with respect to prophets, in that the prophets are unaware of some of it or hold a belief about it contrary to reality. There is no blemish on them in this, since their aspirations are connected to the next life and its events, and the matter of Sharī‘ah and its laws, while the matters of the world are contrary to these, as distinguished from others of the people of the world who ‘know the outward of the worldly life and are heedless of the next life.’ (Qur’ān, 30:7)…Although it may not be said that they know nothing of the affair of the world because that will amount to ignorance and foolishness which they are free of.” (al-Shifā’, pp. 631-2)
And: “In such things and their likes from the matters of the world which have no involvement in religious knowledge, belief or education, what we mentioned is possible for him, as none of this is deficiency or diminishment. Rather, they are ordinary things known to those who have experience of them and make it their concern and occupy their minds with them. The Prophet’s ﷺ heart is filled with knowledge of the divine, his sides filled with knowledges of Sharī‘ah, his mind restrained by the religious and worldly interests of the Ummah.” (al-Shifā’, pp. 724)
It is almost as though Ahmad Rida Khan is substituting the vast spiritual knowledge of the Prophet ﷺ with vast physical knowledge, apparently because he sees value in worldly knowledge but doesn’t see the same value in spiritual knowledge. This goes against the very evidence he cites about the smallness of the Dunya.
This and other “evidences” of Ahmad Rida Khan can actually serve as good case studies for how Ahl al-Bida‘ argue their positions. How, as al-Shatibi explained in al-I‘tisam, if someone wanted to they could try to “prove” anything from the Qur’an. But this is in fact not the way of “Ahl al-Haqq” (the people of truth), who adhere to the correct way of drawing evidence that is not based on whims and false belief.
(This is not to say Ahmad Rida Khan does not present any points of substance that need addressing. Some of these points have been dealt with in this article. Also relevant is the refutation by the scholars of Madinah of Ahmad Rida Khan: Ghayat al-Ma’mul.)
Barelwis: A Critical Review 