The shadow of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) could not be seen in Sunlight or Moonlight

The following Ahadith establish the fact that the shadow of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) could not be seen during the day or night (moonlight).  

(1) It is in Hadith -(رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ) who  said: "The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)

 had no shadow, not while standing in the sun, but the brilliance of his light (nur) surpassed the rays of the sun; nor while sitting before a burning light, but his luminous light excelled the luster of the light". (Kitab al-Wafa by Ibn al-Jawzi)    

 (2) It is in Hadith -(رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ),   that he said to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)

: "Allah Almighty does not let your shadow fall on the ground, so that no foot of man can fall on it".(Tafseer Madaarik by Imam Nasafi) 

(3) It is in Hadith -  (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)

 that his shadow did not touch the ground, because he was light (nur), and when he used to walk in the sunshine his shadow could not be seen." (Khasaa'el al-Kubra by Jalaluddin Suyuti)

 (4) It is in Hadith -(رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ) a Sahabi of the Prophet(صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) who said:  "The shadow of the Prophet  (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم), could not be seen in the brightness of the sun,  or in moonlight". 

Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, is a great Islamic Scholar of 3rd Century AH,  who collected many Ahadith pertaining to various Islamic issues,  in his book Nawadir al-usul fi  ma’rifat Ahadith al-Rasul (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)’.  Some Salafi scholars claim the above Hadith to be weak.  However, when Salafis find some weak Ahadith as per their own standards, which can be misinterpreted to downgrade the respect of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم), they use it  gleefully.  But when it relates to the respect of Prophet Mohammad(صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)

, they  reject it.  

Famous Imams, Islamic scholars and Shuyooks who confirmed the non-existence of the shadow of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)are as follows:

(1) Imam Qadi Iyad(رحمتہ اللہ علیہ)states:  "The Prophet  in his Ash-Shifa(صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم))". did not possess a shadow in the brightness of the sun or in the moonlight, because he was light (

(2)Imam Ahmad Qastalani (رحمتہ اللہ علیہ) states in Al-Mawahibul-laduniyya: " The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)

 did not possess a shadow in the brightness of the sun or moonlight.   

(3) Shaikh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlvi (رحمتہ اللہ علیہ), who is  heavily quoted by Deobandis and their like minded groups, states in Madaarij an-nubuwwah: " The Prophet's (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)  shadow did not appear in sunshine nor in moonlight".

(4) Shaikh Mohammad Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui (رحمتہ اللہ علیہ), the Shaikh and teacher of Shaikh Mir Asedullah Quadri has  described in several of his books that the shadow of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) did not appear in Sunshine or in the moonlight.   

(Majmu`at  al-fatawa  al-kubra by Ibn Taymiyyah).  .  (iii) Qutb al-Arifeen Sayyidi ((ii)Shaykhuna(i)(5) Ibn Taymiyyah,  

) as follows.about al-Ghawth al-A'zam (رضئ اللھ تعالی عنہ"Siyar  a`lam  al-nubala"Ad-Dhahabi, who is considered as great scholar by Salafis,

UNQUOTE"Spiritual States and Miracles (karamaat)Shaykh al-IslamZahid, QUOTE - 

Ghawth al-A'zam Shaikh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (رضئ اللھ تعالی عنہ)(صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) shadow did not appear in sunshine or in moonlight.

(6) Literally all Ahle Sunnah Scholars(صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) shadow did not appear in sunshine or in the moonlight.

Salafis quote following two Ahadith to establish that Prophet Mohammad’s (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) shadow appeared on the ground.

(1) It is in Hadith - (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ) narrates that, one night the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) led us in prayer, and whilst in prayer he stretched out his hand and then pulled it back. We said: “O Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) we saw you doing something in prayer that we did not see you do before.” The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) said: “Indeed, Paradise was presented before me, and I saw in it, fruits that were low and near.   I intended to take one but was told to hold back, thus I held back.  Then Hell was presented before me until  I saw my and your shadow in it, thus I gestured to you to move back.” 

Correct understanding of the above Hadith  - (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) says   “ Then Hell was presented before me until  I saw my and your shadow in it,  thus I gestured to you to move back.”

Hell has been referred to as Fire in Quran on many occasions which burns the human bodies,  as punishment.  Meaning, when the Hell was presented to  Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم), the brightness of the Hell was in front of  him. Then, how come his shadow will appear in the Hell?    If at all he had a shadow (as wrongly claimed by Salafis), it will appear behind him.  Therefore, the meanings of this Hadith are,  " the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) could see into the Hell from a touching distance.  Therefore, he gestured to move back from this kind of reflective closeness. In this Hadith, "I could see the Shadow in it" is used as a metaphor which emphasizes the closeness with which the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) witnessed the Hell.

(2) It is in Hadith - (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا)narrates that once while the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)  was on a journey, the camel of Ummul Momineen Safiyya (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا) fell ill.  Ummul Momineen Zainab (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا)(who also accompanied this journey) had an extra camel. The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) said to  Zainab (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا):  “ The camel of  Safiyya (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا) has become ill, can you lend her your extra camel? ”   She replied: “should I give that Jew? ”  ( Before converting to Islam, Safiyyah (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا) was  a Jew).   So, ( the Messenger of Allah - صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم  did not like this utterance, and)  left  Zainab (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا) for two or three months as he would not come to her…. She says: “Until one day, at midday, I could see the shadow of the Messenger of Allah  (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) approaching…..” 

Correct understanding of the above Hadith  - (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)  approaching…..”  

All Ummahatul Momineen were provided with rooms adjacent to each other,  close by Masjid-e-Nabawi (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم).  No one could see the inside of Prophet's (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) household from outside as these rooms were always tightly closed. When, Prophet Mohammad  (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) went to see Ummul Momineen Zainab (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا),  she must have seen the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)  approaching her all of a sudden after a long absence.  How could she see his shadow in the room  at mid-day when there is no shadow of the body falling on the ground even outside the room?  

Let us look at another possibility that when Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) approached Ummul Momineen Zainab (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا), somewhere outside their residence.  Even in this scenario, she cannot see Prophet’s  (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) shadow approaching her, because the Hadith mentioned the time to be "mid day".   At mid day, the sun is straight on the head and we find no shadow falling on the ground. 

Therefore, the meanings of the above Hadith are, Ummul Momineen Zainab (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہا) saw  Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) approaching her.  The shadow in this Hadith is used as a metaphor for the sudden approach of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)

 in front of her.   

It is important that we learn Quran and Ahadith in the company of  truthful Shaikhs of Ihsan.  If we try to learn Quran and Ahadith independently, we are sure to get mislead and go astray.  

If the shadow of Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) was there, then  we could have found its mention in many Ahadith in Saha Sitta.  The above two Ahadith which are misquoted by Salafis are taken from Musnad Ahmad and Mustadrak Al-Hakim. However, very prominent Islamic scholars have confirmed that the shadow of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) did not appear on the ground. This shows that they understood the above Ahadith in their correct perspective.

Who were the people who used to equate Prophet Mohammad  (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) with normal sinful human beings? 

They were Makkan Pagans. 

[Meaning - (the apostates of Makka used to say) ‘What is there in this Apostle (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) and other people of Makkah, as he lives a life of a normal human being.), he eats food like us and goes to around the markets like us’.It is in Quran -

Now, who are following the foot steps of Makkan Pagans?

They are Salafis and their like minded groups.