The Prophet only knows what Allah reveals to Him
Bismillah wal-Hamdulillah, wa Sallallahu ^Ala Rasulillah:
It’s confirmed that the Prophet only knows what Allah reveals to Him. Only Allah knows all of the (Ghayb) unforeseen. So the one who says or claims that the Prophet knows all the unseen, or that he knows everything that Allah knows, then he would have made an equal to Allah, and that is kufur. Allah has no equal or similitude subhanahu in the self, nor in the doings nor in the attributes (Sifat).
Enough to clarify that and to refute the false claim that the Prophet knows all the Ghayb, the ayah 59 in surat al-‘An^am
{ وعنده مفاتح الغيب لا يعلمها إلاّ هوَ ويعلم ما في البرِّ والبحر وما تسْقُطُ من ورقةٍ إلاّ يعلمها ولا حبَّةٍ في ظلمات الأرض ولا رطْبٍ ولا يابسٍ إلاّ في كتابٍ مبين }
In this Ayah Allah praised himself by knowing everything inclusively. So the one who claims that the Prophet knows everything that Allah knows would have made the Prophet resemble Allah in that attribute, even if he claimed that the Prophets knows everything about ghayb by Allah giving him that knowledge of everything inclusively, that is still likening the creations to Allah and that is kufr.
Also the ayah in sort az-Zumar verse 46:
{عَالِمَ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ}
And:
{عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ عَلَى غَيْبِهِ أَحَداً إِلَّا مَنِ ارْتَضَى مِن رَّسُولٍ فَإِنَّهُ يَسْلُكُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ رَصَداً}( سورة الجن: 26 ، 27)
This ayah means Allah knows all the Ghayb and he does not reveal this Ghayb to anyone, however Allah reveals some of the ghayb to the Prophet and to some of the angels. Allah mentioned in the night of al-Qadr:
فيها يفرق كل أمرٍ حكيمٍ
“Fiha Yufraqu kullu ‘Amirn Hakim” which means in that night Allah gives the angels the knowledge of what is going to happen during the coming year in what pertains to the sustenance (rizq), the changes in the situation of the slaves, and the like.
And this ayah is another proof that the Prophet does not know everything that Allah knows:
{قُلْ مَا كُنتُ بِدْعاً مِّنْ الرُّسُلِ وَمَا أَدْرِي مَا يُفْعَلُ بِي وَلَا بِكُمْ إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلَّا مَا يُوحَى إِلَيَّ} ( سورة الأحقاف: 9)
This ayah clearly shows that the Prophet is saying that he does not know what Allah has willed for him and his nation, so how could one claim that the Prophet knows all the ghayb!.
Also al-Bukhariy narrated in al-Jami^ a Hadith that has the meaning of theses verses concerning ^uthman son of Madh^oon, the narration confirms that the Prophet only knows what Allah revealed to him, and that He does not have the knowledge of all of the Ghayb. Also in another Hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah where the angles say to the Prophet “ you don’t know what these people did after you from” bad deeds.. the hadith..
And it’s also known that once the Prophet sent 70 very knowledgeable companions (Sahabah) to a tribe in a certain area to teach the religion, some other tribes opposed them and killed all 70 companions. If the Prophet knows all the unseen and all the ghayb he would not have sent these great companions to get killed. This hadith is also narrated by al-Bukhariy and others.
Also once the Prophet lost his camel, then the people of Quraysh said to him: A Prophet and he does not know where his camel is? And so the Prophet said: “I only know what Allah reveals to me, and I swear by Allah that the camel is in so and so place”. This is another proof that the Prophet only knows what Allah reveals to him. The Prophet did not know the place of the camel, then Allah revealed to him at that moment where the camel was and they found it where he said Sallallahu ^Alayhi wa Sallam.
This is the creed of Ahlus-Sunnah and the true Sufis. Although some Sufis exaggerated in this issue, they not only claimed that the Prophet knows all ghayb, some they also said the Prophet is not a human and that he is physical light, and some they said he is part of Allah! All these misconceptions are due to extreme ignorance in the creed.
We ask Allah to protect us from exaggerations and extremism in religion, and we ask Allah to keep us on the moderate belief of Ahlus-Sunnah, the belief that Allah has the knowledge of all things and that Allah gives part of this knowledge to whomever he wills, and that Allah has perfect attributes and He is clear from non befitting attributes and imperfections, Allah exists without a beginning and without a place, the six directions do not contain Allah, He has no limits or Body, and he knows best.
