Did the Prophet ﷺ have a Shadow?

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most Merciful Most Kind

Short Answer

Regarding the question, did the Prophet ﷺ have a Shadow or not, there is no clear and authentic evidence for either side of the argument. Therefore, it is probably best not to delve into it. There certainly were prominent Imams of Ahl al-Sunnah who believe that there was no shadow. However, it is not a matter of consensus (Ijma). So, one can refrain from delving into it.

Explanation

عَنْ سُمَيَّةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ فِي سَفَرٍ لَهُ، فَاعْتَلَّ بَعِيرٌ لِصَفِيَّةَ، وَفِي إِبِلِ زَيْنَبَ فَضْلٌ، فَقَالَ لَهَا رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: إِنَّ بَعِيرًا لِصَفِيَّةَ اعْتَلَّ، فَلَوْ أَعْطَيْتِهَا بَعِيرًا مِنْ إِبِلِكِ، فَقَالَتْ: أَنَا أُعْطِي تِلْكَ الْيَهُودِيَّةَ، قَالَ: فَتَرَكَهَا رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ذَا الْحِجَّةِ وَالْمُحَرَّمَ شَهْرَيْنِ، أَوْ ثَلَاثَةً، لَا يَأْتِيهَا، قَالَتْ: حَتَّى يَئِسْتُ مِنْهُ، وَحَوَّلْتُ سَرِيرِي، قَالَتْ: فَبَيْنَمَا أَنَا يَوْمًا بِنِصْفِ النَّهَارِ، إِذَا أَنَا بِظِلِّ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مُقْبِلٌ

Sumayah narrated from (Sayidah) Aishah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on a journey and the camel of Safiyyah was incapacitated. And Zainab had additional camels, so The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to her: Indeed, the camel of Safiyah is incapacitated, so if you could give her one of your camels. She said: I give it to the Jewish lady?

So, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ left her for Dhul-Hijjah and Muharram, two or three months. He ﷺ did not come to her. She said: Until I despaired of him, and I turned my bed. One day, I saw the shadow of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ approaching in the middle of the day. (Musnad Ahmad, 25002).

In the Hadith above the shadow of the blessed Prophet ﷺ is clearly mentioned. Therefore, one could say that it unequivocally answers the question, did the Prophet ﷺ have a Shadow or not? However, this Hadith is considered weak by many, due Sumayah not being a well-known narrator of Hadith.

Weak Hadith

If we accept that it is a weak narration, then it is not binding evidence. Since scholars are not obliged to accept individual weak narrations. Rather a scholar is permitted to reject a weak Hadith. This is widespread amongst authoritative scholars. However, they do not consider all weak Hadith to be redundant. That attitude is a modern innovation.

Evidence to the contrary

As for the view that the Prophet ﷺ did not have a Shadow, it does not seem to have any direct evidence. Rather scholars who hold that view often cite Hadith narrations that do not directly address the question, did the Prophet ﷺ have a Shadow or not? They often cite the following narration:

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ فِي قَلْبِي نُورًا، وَفِي بَصَرِي نُورًا، وَفِي سَمْعِي نُورًا، وَعَنْ يَمِينِي نُورًا، وَعَنْ يَسَارِي نُورًا، وَفَوْقِي نُورًا، وَتَحْتِي نُورًا، وَأَمَامِي نُورًا، وَخَلْفِي نُورًا، وَاجْعَلْ لِي نُورًا

The Prophet ﷺ said: O Allah, place light in my heart, light in my hearing, light in my sight, light on my right, light on my left, above me light, below me light, in front of me light, behind me light, create for me light. (Sahih al-Bukhari, 6316).

The above Hadith seems to be speaking about the spiritual light of our beloved Prophet ﷺ. It does not appear to be addressing anything physical. It certainly does not address the question at hand. Namely, did the Prophet ﷺ have a Shadow or not? Therefore, it is not unequivocal evidence for those who cite it. Rather it is speculative.

وَكَانَ إِذا مَشى فِي الشَّمْس أَو الْقَمَر لَا يظْهر لَهُ ظلّ. وَيشْهد لَهُ أَنه عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاة وَالسَّلَام سَأَلَ الله تَعَالَى أَن يَجْعَل فِي جَمِيع أَعْضَائِهِ وجهاته نورا وَختم ذَلِك بقوله: واجعلني نورا. (غاية السول في خصائص الرسول)

When he ﷺ walked in the sun or moon, no shadow would appear. This is supported by the fact that he ﷺ asked Allah (Most High) to place light in all his limbs and directions. And he ﷺ concluded that by saying: And make me a light. (Imam Ibn al-Mulaqin 804H, Ghayatu al-Sool).

كَانَ إذَا مَشَى فِي الشَّمْسِ أَوْ الْقَمَرِ لَا يَظْهَرُ لَهُ ظِلٌّ وَيَشْهَدُ لِذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ سَأَلَ اللَّهَ أَنْ يَجْعَلَ فِي جَمِيعِ أَعْضَائِهِ وَجِهَاتِهِ نُورًا وَخَتَمَ بِقَوْلِهِ وَاجْعَلْنِي نُورًا. (أسنى المطالب في شرح روض الطالب)

When he ﷺ walked in the sun or moon, no shadow would appear. This is supported by the fact that he ﷺ asked Allah (Most High) to place light in all his limbs and directions. And he ﷺ concluded that by saying: And make me a light. (Imam Zakariyah al-Ansari 926H, Asna al-Matalib).

The wording cited by these Imams is a little disputed. The narration in Bukhari says: Make for me light (وَاجْعَلْ لِي نُورًا) not make me light (وَاجْعَلْنِي نُورًا). However, that has been narrated in Ahmad and Muslim, but it has been narrated as being disputed. In any case, the is no unequivocal evidence in the narrations.

Other consideration

There are many other arguments that can be presented by people on both sides of the discussion. However, none of them will be definitive. Therefore, room for differences of opinion remains.

For example, those who disagree will say that if it were a miracle of the blessed Prophet ﷺ then we would have multiple authentic narrations to prove it. Whereas we have no clear, authentic narration. They will add that we must go by the normal reality unless we have evidence to the contrary. And there is no such evidence. Rather a weak narration supports the norm.

This may be countered by saying that not everything has explicit evidence. Something ambiguous can be used as speculative proof, whilst recognising that it is not definitive.

Conclusion

There is no clear and authentic evidence to answer the question posed. Namely, did the Prophet ﷺ have a Shadow or not? There is a clear Hadith that mentions a shadow for the blessed Prophet ﷺ, but it is not authentic. And there is an authentic Hadith that is used for the opposing position, but it is not clear.

Therefore, this is an issue that is open to difference of opinion. The Muslim is not obliged to take a position either way. We know that our Mubarak Prophet ﷺ had countless miracles that are clearly evidenced and agreed upon by the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah. We can focus on those.

However, if someone does want to believe that the blessed Prophet ﷺ did not have a shadow, then there were great classical scholars who held that position. The most important thing is that people do not make it a sectarian issue and use it to divide the Ummah

And Allah Most High Knows Best.

–Answered by Shaykh Noorud-deen Rashid (09.08.24)