SEEING ANGELS (RU'YAT AL-MALA'IKAT) FOR NON-PROPHETS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPTS OF KASHF AND KARAMAH IN THE THOUGHT OF IBN HAJAR AL-HAITAMI AND AL-GHAZALI

Ali Yusuf  Muzaki; Muhammad Fatkhun Niam; Muhammad Syafiiq; Agus Salim; Muh.  Fatihuddin; Nur Hanan

doi:10.37249/assalam.v10i1.1667

Authors

Ali Yusuf Muzaki Ma’had Aly Hasyim Asy’ari Tebuireng Jombang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia
Muhammad Fatkhun Niam Ma’had Aly Hasyim Asy’ari Tebuireng Jombang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia
Muhammad Syafiiq Ma’had Aly Hasyim Asy’ari Tebuireng Jombang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia
Agus Salim Ma’had Aly Hasyim Asy’ari Tebuireng Jombang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia
Muh. Fatihuddin Ma’had Aly Hasyim Asy’ari Tebuireng Jombang, Jawa Timur, Indonesia
Nur Hanan UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Jawa Timur, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37249/assalam.v10i1.1667

Keywords:

Seeing Angels, Ibn Hajar al-Haitami, al-Ghazali, Hadith, Karāmah, Kashf

Abstract

This study examines the discourse on the possibility of seeing angels by non-prophets from the perspectives of hadith and Islamic theology, focusing on the views of Ibn Hajar al-Haitami in Fatawa Hadithiyyah and their comparison with al-Ghazali's Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din. The study is motivated by the emergence of various claims of spiritual experiences in society that require scholarly clarification based on the Islamic intellectual tradition. This research employed a qualitative library research design using a descriptive-comparative approach. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources and analyzed through the stages of description, comparison, and interpretation. The findings indicate that both Ibn Hajar al-Haitami and al-Ghazali affirm that seeing angels by non-prophets is possible (mumkin) and falls within the category of saintly miracles (karamah). However, they differ in their approaches. Ibn Hajar emphasizes divine will within a hadith-theological framework, whereas al-Ghazali highlights inner spiritual purification through the concept of kashf within a Sufi paradigm. The study concludes that such experiences do not contradict Islamic theology as long as they are understood within proper theological boundaries, while providing a scholarly framework for evaluating contemporary spiritual claims in Muslim society.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ahdori, A. R. (2024, June 25). Pengakuan terbaru Mama Ghufron: Bisa panggil Malaikat Izrail, Munkar, Nakir. Retrieved from https://www.erakini.id/nasional/era-QB3fD/pengakuan-terbaru-mama-ghufron--bisa-panggil-malaikat-izrail--munkar--nakir

Aisyah, R. D., Sari, A. P., Anggelia, M., & Wismanto, W. (2024). Keyakinan terhadap malaikat dalam sudut pandang pendidikan Islam. Jurnal Manajemen dan Pendidikan Agama Islam, 2(3), 139-151. https://doi.org/10.61132/jmpai.v2i3.265

Al-Baijuri, I. M. A. (2020). Tuhfat al-Murid Sharh Jawharat al-Tawhid. Retrieved from http://archive.org/details/20200928_20200928_0134

Al-Bukhari, M. I. (2020). Sahih al-Bukhari. Retrieved from http://archive.org/details/79565

Al-Ghazali. (n.d.). Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din. Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/doc/294024644/Al-Ihya-Ulumuddin-pdf

Al-Haitami, I. H. (n.d.). Fatawa al-Hadithiyyah. Retrieved from https://id.scribd.com/document/997812666/Fatawal-Haditsiyyah-Ibnu-Hajar-Haitami

Al-Syaikh, N. 'A. 'A. H. (n.d.). Mabahith al-'Aqidah fi Surah al-Zumar. Retrieved from https://app.turath.io/book/12059?page=414

Anwar, K. (2020). The concept of Kashf in al-Ghazali's Sufism epistemology. Teosofia: Indonesian Journal of Islamic Mysticism, 9(2), 165-180. https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v9i2.6455

Arif, S. A. (2020). Epistemologi dan teologi dalam pemikiran al-Ghazali tentang ilmu kasyf. Tsaqafah, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.21111/TSAQAFAH.V16I2.4765

Arni, A. (2009). Kasyf sufistik dalam perspektif ulama Kota Banjarmasin. Jurnal Ilmiah Ilmu Ushuluddin, 8(1), 71-98. https://doi.org/10.18592/jiu.v8i1.1359

Azra, A. (2013). Jaringan ulama Timur Tengah (terbaru 2021). Jakarta: Prenada Media.

Burge, S. (2025). Angels (mala'ika). In St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology. Retrieved from https://www.saet.ac.uk/Islam/Angels

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2020). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (5th ed.). Sage.

El-Aswad, E.-S. (2020). Al-Ghaib: The invisible/unknowable. In D. A. Leeming (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_200245

Fahrezi, D. A. (2025). Konsep waliyullah dan karamah dalam perspektif tasawuf klasik. Maliki Interdisciplinary Journal, 3(6), 273-282.

Fithoroini, D. (2021). Hadis Nabi yang tekstual dan kontekstual (Analisis pemikiran Muhammad Syuhudi Ismail). Nabawi: Journal of Hadith Studies, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.55987/njhs.v2i1.42

Ismail, M. S. (2020). Metodologi penelitian Hadis Nabi. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar.

Kabbani, S. H. (2023). Angelology in Islamic scholastic theology: A comparative review of Ash'arite and Maturidite interpretations. Journal of Islamic Studies, 34(1), 12-35. https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etas044

Mursalim, Fansuri, F., & Nuraini. (2024). Eksistensi malaikat dalam perspektif tasawuf dan filsafat. Jurnal Mu'allim, 6(1), 181-192. https://doi.org/10.35891/muallim.v6i1.4007

Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. (n.d.). Sahih Muslim. Baitul Afkar al-Dauliyyah. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/SahihMuslimKarmi

Mustaqim, A. (2019). Metode penelitian Al-Qur'an dan tafsir. Yogyakarta: Idea Press Yogyakarta.

Rhamdani, P. A., Fatunnisa, R., Fathurrahman, R., & Wardati, S. W. (2023). Penerapan iman kepada malaikat pada kehidupan. Gunung Djati Conference Series, 22, 314-322.

Rouf, A. (2020). Malaikat dalam perspektif Al-Qur'an (Kajian komparatif penafsiran al-Tabari dan Quraish Shihab). Sumbula: Jurnal Studi Keagamaan, Sosial dan Budaya, 5(1), 74-97. https://doi.org/10.32492/sumbula.v5i1.570

van Arendonk, C., & Schacht, J. (1971). Ibn Hadjar al-Haytami. In Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.). Brill.