Night of Power
A message from Abu Eesa:
Ive been getting a lot of messages passed on about a few things I mentioned in the above lecture that is perhaps causing confusion so let me clarify these things and you can perhaps spread that amongst those whod like to know.
Firstly is the story of Zohrah i.e. the angels being sent to Earth as humans to sin etc and realise first hand for themselves how hard it is to be a human, what a huge test it is, and why therefore the humans are better than the rest of creation because of it. This principle is correct without doubt, but the story of Zohrah was only mentioned as a support of this principle (i.e. that humans are better than the angels because they have to make the choice to avoid sin). Also note that I mentioned clearly in the lecture that the story has many different chains and also note that I said it was a story from the Israelites and that in my own personal conclusion it is only correct to say that is an authentic statement of Kab al-Ahbar and never a Prophetic hadith, despite some Ulema believing that. This is also the opinion of Ibn Hajr (r) who has a separate book just on the chains of this narration.
Again, the reason for mentioning this story is to make the people realise that the Angels have come a long way from their surprise and contempt for mankind at the time of the creation of Sayyidina Adam (as), to their love and support for mankind once Allah jalla wa ala told them, I know (about them) what you dont know. The use of the stories of the Israelites are to be thought about only, to add context and to give a deeper sense of the history of the issue. They are not to be taken as aqidah but they are also not to be thrown in the bin as we are taught by the best of generations.
Secondly, the salam of the Angels helping Ibrahim (as): Listen, there is no doubt that Allah jalla wa ala was the One who commanded the fire to become cold. Indeed the Angels particularly Jibril (as) in one narration wanted to help Sayyidina Ibrahim (as) in the fire but he refused. Regardless, it is said that some Angels came and kept Ibrahim (as) company during his stay in the fire. And in any case, tawil could possibly be made here that regardless of how the fire was made cold through Angelic intervention, it would have to be the direct command and will of Allah azza wa jall anyway, and completely impossible without that of course. But this is not the issue here.
No, what I want to say is what Imam al-Razi (r) brilliantly mentioned: that the Angels are always seeking forgiveness for us, looking out for us, trying to cover our faults, make excuses for us, sending salams upon us etc. This is all over the Quran and Sunnah and I have mentioned some of that in the talk.
Specifically speaking though, when the noble guest Angels went to visit Sayyidina Ibrahim (as) as in Surat Hud, verse 69, in Suratl-Hijr, verse 52 and Suratl-Dhariyat, verse 25, they all pronounced salam upon Ibrahim (as). Imam al-Razi mentions that there has to be some barakah in that, some benefit in that, and that one of the blessings from that specific and general salams sent upon Ibrahim (as) from these Angels (the Ulema differed whether they were 3, 4, 7, 10, 11 or 12 of them) was that Allah jalla wa ala sent a real Salam upon His Prophet, a true peace and safety that saved him in the fire, after he was thrown in by Nimrod.
So what WE need to consider then is that perhaps if millions upon millions of Angels will come and keep company with the righteous servants of Allah who are worshipping Him during these blessed nights, then perhaps WE also might get a bonus and extra blessing of safety from Allah jalla wa ala as He gave to His Prophet Ibrahim (as) after only a handful of Angels sent salams upon him.
Believe me folks, Imam al-Razi can be criticised sometimes, but this is a wonderfully deep and poignant reflection and I hope that everyone thinks about it carefully.
And thirdly and finally, it is not the practice of the early generations to give salams randomly to the Angels, or to ask them specifically for dua, although there isnt anything blatantly prohibiting this action. Yet the guidance of the early ones is what will guide the later ones, may He jalla wa ala write us from those that are guided to the Straight Path, ameen.
And Allah knows best.
Abu Eesa Niamatullah was born in Essex, England, and belongs to the Naser Kheil tribe of the North West Frontier in Pakistan. He read Pharmacy at the University of Manchester and studied the sacred sciences of Shari’ah in North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and also in Europe under various prominent scholars.
Abu Eesa was the original founder of ‘Prophetic Guidance’ and is the current director of ‘The Nahlah Foundation’, a Publishing House. He is an instructor for AlMaghrib Institute and currently resides in Cheadle Hulme with his wife and four children.
