The Nearness of Allah on the Night of the Ascension and the Meaning of His Saying: Then He Drew Near and Settled Himself
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Question:
Is it permissible to affirm that Allah drew near to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on the Night of the Ascension? And what is the evidence for that?
Answer:
The apparent meaning of the verse "Then He drew near and settled Himself, so He revealed to His servant what He revealed" is: to whom did He reveal? To His servant, the servant of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). This indicates that the One who drew near is Allah, and that He revealed to His servant Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Some of the exegetes say that the intended meaning is Jibril, who is described as "of intense strength," saying: "This is Jibril, the one of great rank, who settled himself at the highest horizon. Then he drew near, meaning Jibril, and settled himself, so he revealed to His servant, meaning the servant of Allah." This is a forced interpretation, because the pronoun refers to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Therefore, the One who revealed to His servant is Allah, not Jibril. The apparent meaning of the verse, and Allah knows best, is that the One who drew near is Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). The second opinion is that it was Jibril. Yes.
Is it permissible to affirm that Allah drew near to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on the Night of the Ascension? And what is the evidence for that?
Answer:
The apparent meaning of the verse "Then He drew near and settled Himself, so He revealed to His servant what He revealed" is: to whom did He reveal? To His servant, the servant of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). This indicates that the One who drew near is Allah, and that He revealed to His servant Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
Some of the exegetes say that the intended meaning is Jibril, who is described as "of intense strength," saying: "This is Jibril, the one of great rank, who settled himself at the highest horizon. Then he drew near, meaning Jibril, and settled himself, so he revealed to His servant, meaning the servant of Allah." This is a forced interpretation, because the pronoun refers to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Therefore, the One who revealed to His servant is Allah, not Jibril. The apparent meaning of the verse, and Allah knows best, is that the One who drew near is Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He). The second opinion is that it was Jibril. Yes.
Source
شرح الكافية الشافية في الانتصار للفرقة الناجية [ القصيدة النونية ] [ صالح الفوزان ]، بداية من قوله : يا رب قد قالوا بأن مصاحف الإسلام ما فيها من القرآن — islamhouse.com (1:09:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.