Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.
Wa'laykum-as-Salaam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuhu.
If a question requires thought, consideration, research, then that is what is required from what the questioner, has posed.
Some questions are easy to relate, record, or copy, yet ceratain questions in Islam which do not have a recorded answer need clarification by the scholars ('ulama'), through their own research, thought, analysis etc.
Although there is no clarification of those people who will see Syedina Isaa (may Allah bless him) to be a 'tabi'in', nevertheless, there is no proof or evidence to say that those people who will see Him, will not be a 'tabi'in.
Those people who have firm belief in the Almighty, His Messengers and Prophets, His books and angels, in the divine decree and the Day, will no doubt have such a passion in their hearts about the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him), that they will do anything in life, say anything in life, live in any way in life, be anything in life, simply, to become closer to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him), so long as it complies with the Shar'iyyah that He bought.
Actually, this is, a way of thought, analysis, research, passion for His being and loving, that although the Companions had had their share of having closeness to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him), we must find a way, excuse, a route, or an analysis to become close to Him, as we are not one of those fortunate ones, yet we still have that desire and hope, that what will it be like, on that Day when our eyes are blessed with the vision of the appearance of He, because of whom we are in existence, and the whole world exists and will not cease to exist, until that time arrives which has been promised to us all.
Not only will we be 'tabi'is' because of the meeting of Our Master (peace be upon Him) with Syedina Isaa (may Allah bless Him) on the occasion of 'Me'raj', but there are other occasions which comply with the rule that, whoever sees He, who sees the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him) is a 'tabi'i.
To the extent that, one day, will we not see the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him), with our own two eyes, when darkness will prevail, and everyone will be screaming 'oh my! oh my! (nafsi, nafsi), and we will be found by He as a rescuer, who no other rescuer could contest, not in this world, and not even in the Hereafter?
Will it not be He, who will go in front of the Almighty, and request that until every member of His community is not withdrawn from the realms of hellfire, that He will not take a single breath of relaxation, and that by only identifying us, recognising us, seeing us, knowing us, He will rescue us, and that no other shall ever have this power (ikhtiyaar) except He?
That He has already seen us (naazir), and knows us ('alim), and that we cannot see He, or even know He, but what we can merely do is to wish that we could see He and know He?
Isnt it true that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him) used to spend endless nights in supplication, invocation, prayer and worship, so that it could be easy on us both in this world and the Hereafter, and that His prayer used to consist of the words 'rabbi hab li ummati'? because he knew that we would become so misguided, so dark, so evil, so ignorant, so disrespectful, and so mean? If we wer'nt, then why did The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him) spend countless sleepless nights, and go through all the trauma and trouble of telling us how to pray, of how to keep clean, how to sleep, how to wake, how to keep clean, and how to live?
In straightening out this issue of whether we will become tabi'is or not, first of all we should be grateful that we are His Community ('ummatis').
Secondly, even those Prophets and Messengers, who had seen the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him), had desired to be from the community of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him).
Thirdly, this community, is the middle community, yet the final community, just as there is no other Messenger after He, there is no other community after this one. Similarly, just as the Qur'an is the final testament, there is no other book of revelation after this one.
Fourthly, when all else fails, it will be our Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him) who will have the 'given power' to save whom he wills, and give the verdict of torment to whom He wills. This power will not be granted to any other Messenger or Prophet (shifa'at-e-uzma/kubraa).
Fifthly, we will be undergoing the same difficulty as the other Prophets and Messengers, on the day of Judgement, because the prophets and Messengers will be trying to save their community's, yet the Messenger of Allah will be in power, to save all the other communities as well as His.
No doubt being a tabi'i is great, but are our actions, deeds, practices, customs, way of life, and performances like those of tabi'is? Indeed they have had their time, which is greater than our time, their personalities which are greater than our personalities, their excellence in knowledge and in wisdom to be greater than ours, then is there anything that we posess, that may reflect in the appreciation of becoming a 'tabi'i'?
So i ask this one question to the questioner, is it amazing to become a tabi'i, or is it amazing and should we be grateful for being from the Messengers community? If all the Prophets were of the desire of becoming a member of the community of Muhammad, which is the same as us, then do we deserve their rank, or the status of a Companion, or even the station of a tabi'i?
A little food for thought......
M. Waseem Ashrafi
