Qiyamah: Encyclopedia II - Qiyamah - Seeing Allah

Qiyamah - Seeing Allah

Islam also addresses the question of whether believers will be able to see Allah on that day. According to one or more Hadith classified as sahîh (trustworthy), God will reveal a "leg" or "shin" for the believers. According to Imam Muslim and Muhammad al-Bukhari believers will not see Allah until they have died. Again, classical commentators, with the notable exception of Ibn Taymiya, prefer the safe route of interpreting that Hadith as neither literal (haqiqi) nor figurative, but most if not all agree that it answers the question in the affirmative; believers will see God. Another Hadith states that believers will be able to see their Lord, just as we are able to see the sun or the moon in the sky. When God reveals Himself to the faithful, a Hadith states that those who during their life would not pray of their own free will will be made to fall on their backs.

Since most of those hadith are on the authority of Abu Huraira, most Shia dismiss them as a sad examples of what happens when all Sahaba are counted as trustworthy: A clear breach in Tawhid, the belief that God is above its creation.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Seeing Allah", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki