Humans Seeing Angels and Prophet in Awakened State
Question

                We held a march in the capital to support the Palestinian and Iraqi people against the Israeli and American occupations. After the march ended, I heard some of the brothers and sisters saying that they had seen Jibreel coming down from the sky, and they had seen the Prophet Muhammad (S) and many of the angels accompanying them and supporting this march. Could these visions be real, and are we obliged to believe them? Otherwise we may think badly of our Muslim brothers. As for me, I cannot believe it knowing that the people of Badr and the companions and the ten who were promised Paradise did not see the angels with their own eyes, and they did not see Jibreel. Can we say that this was just their imagination, i.e., they imagined that they saw something and it became something that they believed they had really seen with their eyes?
Praise be to Allah.
    Firstly: 
We 
    have explained the ruling on demonstrations in the answer to question no.
    
    11469; please refer to it. 

    Secondly: 
The 
    blessings and salams (salutations) upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of 
    Allah be upon him) should not be reduced to a single letter or abbreviation. 
    Whoever can write such a lengthy question is not incapable of writing (peace 
    and blessings of Allah be upon him) in full. We have explained the ruling on 
    writing these abbreviations in the answer to question no.
    
    47976; please refer to it. 

    Thirdly: 
The 
    angels have been created from light, as was narrated by Muslim, and no one 
    can claim to have seen them in their true form unless he is a Prophet whose 
    words are to be believed. As for those who see them in human form, this is 
    possible for both the common folk and the elite. There are many such reports 
    in the saheeh sunnah (authentic prophetic teachings), whether this happened 
    among this ummah (nation) or among the nations who came before. 
The 
    Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who was blessed with 
    deep wisdom and understanding of religion, could not bear to see Jibreel 
    (peace be upon him) in his true form with which Allah created him, so how 
    can these people bear it – even if we assume that they saw him at all? 

    Shaykh ‘Umar al-Ashqar said: 

    
    Because the angels have subtle bodies of light, people cannot see them, 
    especially since Allah has not given our eyes the ability to see them. No 
    one in this ummah has seen the angels in their true form except the 
    Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He saw Jibreel 
    (peace be upon him) 
    twice 
    in the form with which Allah created him. The texts indicate that humans can 
    see angels if the angels appear in human form. 
‘Alam 
    al-Malaikah al-Abrar

Translator’s note: this book by ‘Umar al-Ashqar is available in English 
    under the title The World of the Noble Angels, published by International 
    Islamic Publishing House (IIPH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 
He 
    also said, in the context of affirming the humanity of the Messengers and 
    refuting those who said that they were angels: 
It is 
    difficult to see the angels. When the kuffar (non-Muslims) demanded to see 
    the angels, and expected that the Messengers who were sent to them should be 
    angels, they did not understand the nature of the angels and they did not 
    know the difficulty and hardship that they might encounter as a result of 
    seeing them. 

    Contacting the angels and seeing them is not something easy. Although the 
    Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the best of mankind 
    and was physically and spiritually strong to a great degree, when he saw 
    Jibreel (peace be upon him) in his true form, he was stricken with immense 
    fear and fled back to his house with his heart trembling. He (peace and 
    blessings of Allah be upon him) suffered great hardship when the revelation 
    came to him, hence Allah said, refuting them (interpretation of the 
    meaning): 
“On 
    the Day they will see the angels no glad tidings will there be for the 
    Mujrimoon (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners) that day.” [25:22] 
     

    That 
    is because the kuffar only see the angels at the time of death or when the
    divine 
    punishment descends, so when they are able to see angels, that is the day of 
    their doom. 
It 
    was essential that human messengers be sent, so that they would be able to 
    address mankind, and so that mankind would be able to learn from them and 
    understand. If Allah had sent messengers from among the angels to them, that 
    would not have been possible.  
“And 
    nothing prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them, except 
    that they said: ‘Has Allah sent a man as (His) messenger?’
Say: 
    ‘If there were on the earth, angels walking about in peace and security, We 
    should certainly have sent down for them from the heaven an angel as a 
    messenger.’” [17:94, 95] 
But 
    those who live on the earth are human, and the mercy and wisdom of Allah 
    dictated that their messengers should be of their own kind. 

    “Indeed, Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among 
    them a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves.” [3:164] 
Since 
    humans cannot easily see the angels and learn from them, this means that if 
    Allah had wanted to send an angel as a messenger to mankind, He would have 
    had to make him a man: 
“And 
    had We appointed him an angel, We indeed would have made him a man, and We 
    would have certainly confused them in which they are already confused (i.e. 
    the message of Prophet Muhammad).” [6:9] 

    They 
    would have been confused because of his appearing in human form, and they 
    would not have been able to verify that he was an angel. As that is the 
    case, there would have been no point in sending angels as messengers in this 
    manner. 
    
    Rather, 
    sending angels as messengers in this manner would not have achieved the 
    intended aim, because an angel-messenger would not be able to feel what 
    humans feel, and share their emotions and reactions, even if he appeared in 
    their form. 
Al-Rusul 
    wa’l-Risalat.

Translator’s note: This book by ‘Umar al-Ashqar is available in English 
    under the title The Messengers and the Messages, published by International 
    Islamic Publishing House (IIPH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 

    Fourthly: 
With 
    regard to seeing the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when 
    one is awake, this is akin to Sufi myths, and there is no basis for this in 
    sharee’ah (Islamic law) or in real life. Tremendous events befell the 
    sahabah/companions (may Allah be pleased with them) after the death of the 
    Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and they were in the 
    greatest need of seeing him among them, so why did he not appear to them, 
    and why did they not see him when he was the dearest of people to them and 
    they were the dearest of people to him? 
With 
    regard to some of them quoting the hadeeth (narration) that is narrated in 
    al-Saheehayn from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) – 
    that he said, “Whoever sees me in a dream will see me when he is awake” – as 
    evidence that it is possible to see the Prophet (peace and blessings of 
    Allah be upon him) when one is awake, there is nothing in this hadeeth to 
    support what they say. Rather it is glad tidings to the one who sees him in 
    a dream, that he will see him in Paradise. It does not mean that he will see 
    him when he is awake in this world. 

    Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    Some 
    of the righteous erred and claimed that it is possible to see him with one’s 
    own eyes. 
Fath 
    al-Baari.
Al-Nawawi 
    (may Allah have mercy on him) said, concerning the meaning of the words of 
    the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “he will see me when 
    he is awake”, there are a number of opinions concerning this. 

    1 – 
    That what is meant is the people of his own time, i.e., that whoever saw him 
    in a dream and had not migrated, Allah would enable him to migrate and to 
    see him with his own eyes when he was awake.
2 – 
    That he would see the confirmation of that dream whilst awake in the 
    Hereafter, because all of his ummah (nation) will see him in the Hereafter. 
3 – 
    That he will see him in a specific sense in the Hereafter, by being close to 
    him and attaining his intercession, and so on. 
Sharh 
    Muslim
What 
    al-Nawawi mentioned in the first opinion is not contradicted by the opinion 
    of al-Hafiz ibn Hajar that it is not possible to see him, because al-Nawawi 
    stated that what was meant was the people of his own time, and what al-Hafiz 
    was objecting to was those who claim to have seen him in a real sense after 
    he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) died. 

    Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Qurtubi said, refuting those who said that the Prophet 
    (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) could be seen when one is awake: 
This 
    idea, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) may be 
    seen when one is awake, may easily be refuted by common sense, because it 
    implies that no one can see him except in the form in which he died, and 
    that two people may see him at the same time in two different places, and 
    that he may come to life sometimes and emerge from his grave and walk about 
    in the marketplaces and converse with the people. This implies that his body 
    is not in his grave and there is nothing left in his grave, so the grave is 
    visited and salam (salutation) is said to one who is not there, because he 
    may be seen by night and by day in his real form outside his grave. [Quoted 
    by al-Haafiz ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari] 

    
    Moreover, if it were true that someone could see the Prophet (peace and 
    blessings of Allah be upon him) when he is awake, then he would be one of 
    his companions and there would be 
    sahabah
    
    (companions of the Prophet) 
    until 
    the Day of Resurrection. 

    
    Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallani stated that Ibn Abi Jamrah narrated from 
    some of the Sufis that they saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be 
    upon him) in a dream, then they saw him after that when they were awake, and 
    they asked him about some things which they were worried about, and he told 
    them how to deal with them, and they followed his advice and achieved the 
    desired results. Then al-Hafiz commented on this by saying: This is very 
    odd. If we interpret it as it appears to be, then these people would be
    sahabah, 
    and there could be 
    sahabah 
    until the Day of Resurrection. But this may be refuted by the fact that many 
    people see him when they are asleep but no one says that that they saw him 
    when they were awake, so there is an inconsistency. 
Fath 
    al-Bari 
The 
    scholars of the Standing Committee said, refuting the beliefs of al-Tijani: 

    There 
    is no proven report from the Rightly-Guided Caliphs or from the rest of the
    sahabah 
    (may Allah be pleased with them), who are the best of mankind after the
    prophets, 
    that any of them claimed to have seen the Prophet (peace and blessings of 
    Allah be upon him) when he was awake. It is well known, and no Muslim has 
    any excuse for not knowing, that the religion was completed during the 
    lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and that 
    Allah perfected this ummah’s religion for it and completed His 
    favour 
    upon it before the death of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be 
    upon him). Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):  
     
“This 
    day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, 
    and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” [5:3] 

    So 
    there can be no doubt that what Ahmad al-Tijani claims, that he saw the 
    Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when he was awake, and 
    learned the Tijani tareeqah 
    (a Sufi order)
    
    from him orally when he was awake, and that he told him what 
    wird 
    (certain recitations) 
    to recite to remember Allah (dhikr) and send blessings upon His Messenger, 
    is false and is evident misguidance. 

    Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah
They 
    also said: 
The 
    Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) died after 
    having conveyed the message in full and after Allah had perfected His 
    religion through him and established proof against His creation through him. 
    His companions (may Allah be pleased with them) offered the funeral prayer 
    for him and buried him where he died, in the room of ‘Aishah (may Allah be 
    pleased with her). After him came the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, during whose 
    time events occurred which they dealt with on the basis of their own 
    reasoning (ijtihad), and they did not refer concerning any of them to the 
    Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Whoever 
    claims after that to have seen the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be 
    upon him) when he was awake, living and speaking to him, or to have heard 
    anything from him before the Day of Resurrection, his claim is false, 
    because it goes against the texts, the narrated reports and the laws of 
    Allah that govern His creation. There is nothing in this hadeeth to suggest 
    that he will be seen when one is awake in this world, because it could be 
    interpreted as meaning, “he will see me in the Hereafter,” or it may mean, 
    “he will see the interpretation of his dream”, because this dream is true 
    according to what is stated in other reports, namely that the Prophet (peace 
    and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “… he has indeed seen me.” The 
    believer may truly see the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon 
    him) in his dream in the form in which he appeared when he was alive. 

    Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah. 
To 
    sum up: 

    It is 
    not permissible for anyone – after the 
    prophets 
    – to claim to have seen the angels, for they have bodies of light which 
    Allah has not enabled humans to see, unless the angels appear in human 
    form. 
It is 
    not permissible for anyone to claim to have seen the Prophet (peace and 
    blessings of Allah be upon him) when he is awake. Perhaps these illusions 
    come from those who do not have any Islamic knowledge or maturity, so they 
    imagine things that are not there. 
And 
    Allah knows best.