We are very often misinformed about this subject and it is for this reason that i am sending this article to you written from classical works of Islaamic research. I hope you enjoy it emmensely. It was written solely with the aim of upholding the honour and respect of the Holy Prophet.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
The Prophet's (s) Miracles of Reviving the Dead by Allah's Leave
1) Bringing his father and mother to life to believe in him, bi idhnillah.
It is said in Mawahib that at-Tabarani said in his narration from Ayesha (Razi Allah Anhu) that the Prophet one day came by Hujun in Makkah and he was sad. He stayed there for some time and then he returned very happy. He said to Ayesha (Razi Allah Anhu), "I asked Allah subhanahu wa tala to revive my mother. She accepted me and believed in me and then Allah took her back." narrated by Abu Hafs bin Shaheen in another way that Ayesha (Razi Allah Anhu) said, "we made the pilgrimage with the Prophet in his farewell Hajj and we passed by Hujun and he was sad and I cried for the sake of his crying. Then he stepped down and he said, 'O Humayrah [reddish one], wait awhile.' And I laid my back on my mount. He went and then came back and he was happy. He said, 'I went to my mother's grave and I asked My Lord to revive her and He revived her and she believed in me.'
And Suhayli narrated from 'Urwa ibn Zubayr from Ayesha (Razi Allah Anhu) that the Prophet said that he asked to revive his father and mother and Allah revived them and they believed in him and then they died.
Zaraqani said in Sharh al-Mawahib "After mentioning the hadith of their reviving that these hadith are accepted and authenticated." And ash-Shihab ibn Hajar in his book "The Life of the Prophet" and the "Explanation of Hamaziyya" that these hadith are not weak and they have been authenticated by more than one muhaddith and some of them said in a poem in Arabic:
"ayqantu anna abba an-nabiyi wa umihi ahyaahuma ar-Rabbu al-Kareemu al-Bari"
"hatta lahu shahida bi-sidqi risaalatin salimi fa-tilka karaamat il-mukhtaari"
"hadha al-hadithu wa man yaqulu bi du'fihi fa-hua ad-da'eefu 'an il-haqiqati 'aari"
"I believed that the Generous Lord, the Creator, has revived the father of the Prophet and his mother,"
"and they believed and witnessed his message as a miracle for the Chosen One,"
"this is the hadith and anyone who says it is weak he is the one who is weak and naked from understanding truth and reality."
At-Tilmisaani said "the narration of his mother's acceptance of Islam is an authentic and sahih transmission. And the same for his father. Andthese miracles happened to the Prophet to show his greatness and nobility and honor."
Many scholars have written whole books on the salvation of his parents, especially al-Hafiz as-Suyuti who wrote many books on that subject provingtheir salvation is true. He criticized all those who said other than that. He has written several books on that including :
1) Masalik al-Hunafa' fi najaat abawaya al-Mustafa
2) as-Subul al-jaliyya fil aaba il-'aaliyya wal maqaama as-sundusiyya fi nisbat khayr al-bariyya
These two books are of around thirty pages each. And I will translate a portion from the second one 'as-Subul al-jaliyya' where Imam Suyuti says, "This is the sixth book which I have put on the subject of the salvation of the parents of the Prophet (s). [and the proofs of that event are:
First Proof:
they did not receive the message because the Prophet became Prophet when he turned 40 and they were already dead. His father died at the age of 18 and his mother died at the age of 20. The judgment in Islam is that whoever does not receive the message of theProhpet will die saved and will not be punished because he died before the message. This is a fiqh judgment in Islam and that person will enterParadise."
Second Proof:
"His parents are considered from the 'People of the Period' (Ahl al-fatrah) and it is narrated through many hadiths that the 'People of the Period' (ahl al-fatrah) they will be held in custody until they will be questioned on the Judgment Day as they came before theMessage of Islam. And when they are questioned, whoever obeys and accepts the message will enter Paradise and whoever disobeys and rejects will enter Hell."
Suyuti then quotes the great muhaddith Abul Fadl bin al-Hajr who said, "It is obvious that the parents of the Prophet are the nearest to him and of course they are going to obey and accept Islam when they are asked, for the sake of the honor of the Prophet ."
The Third Proof:
"That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has revived the parents of the Prophet (s) and they believed in his message according to many hadith. And these hadith were authenticated by many Muslim scholars and muhaddithin. From these scholars are Al-Haafiz Abu Bakr al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi and al-Haafiz Abul-Qassim ibn Asakir and al-Haafiz Abu Hafs bin Shaheen and al-Haafiz Abul-Qassim al-Suhayli and the Imam al-Qurtubi and al-Haafiz Muhib ad-Din at-Tabari and al-Allama Nasir ad-din bin al-Munir and al-Hafiz Fath ad-Din bin Sayyid an-Naas and the scholar Salah as-Safadi and al-Haafiz Shams bin Nasir ad-Din ad-Dimashqi and Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Hajar [al-Asqalani]."
"And Qurtubi said, 'Allah was honoring the Prophet without stopping until he passed away. And this reviving of his parents was from the honor of the Prophet . Their reviving and their acceptance of their son as the Messenger is acceptable by the mind and cannot be denied through the mind or through the shari'ah because it is mentioned in the Qur'an that Allah revived the dead man of Bani Israil and his telling of who killed him. And it is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an that 'Isa (علیہ السلام) was reviving the dead, so why is it impossible for the Prophet by Allah's Order and by Allah's Honoring him to revive his parents and for them to believe in him. But these hadith which are authenticated, show how much the Prophet was beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.'"
Fourth Proof:
"'kaanu 'ala al-hanifiyya dinu Ibrahim' - They were on the religion of Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) as were Zayd bin 'Amru bin Nafil and Qass bin Sa'idah bin Naufal and Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (Razi Allah Anhu) were on the religion of Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) as were many others. And to this opinion al-Imam Fakhr ad-Din ar-Razi [subscribes], 'The Prophet's parents back to Adam (علیہ السلام) were on tawhid (belief in Unity of Allah). Because the Prophet (s) mentioned inhis hadith [which is our first hadith in the 40 series] from Anas ibn Malik (Razi Allah Anhu) who said, the Prophet said, >'"[end of quote from Suyuti]
Suyuti said in al-Maqam as-Sundusiyya, "He is the best of creation and from the best of mother and father and the best of lineage and Allah created for him the heavens and the earth and gave him the power in the two lives, here and Hereafter, and He made him the Prophet of prophets,even when Adam was still in clay and He wrote his name on the Throne, and Adam asked forgiveness for his sake and Allah accepted, and Allah told him 'if not for him I would not have created you.'"
Suyuti wrote a poem a small part of which I quote,
"Nabiyyin khussa bi-taqdeemi qudooma
wa Adamu b'adu fi teenin wa ma'u"
"A Prophet chosen to be the first to come forth
and Adam was still between clay and water"
We quote here what the Prophet's uncle al-'Abbas said in a long poem praising the Prophet (s),
"wa anta lama wulidtu ashrqat al-ardu wa da'at bi-nurika al-ufuqu"
"fa-nahnu fi dhaalika ad-di'ya'u wa fi an-nuri wa subul ar-rashaadi nakhtariqu"
"and You when you were born the entire earth was illuminated and shone and with your light the whole horizon was luminous"
"and we in this lamp and this brilliant light and the path of guidance are penetrating"
As-Subki said, "He (s) is sent to all nations before also and all prophets and their nations are considered from his nation and they are under hismessage [mashmuloona bi-risaalatihi wa nubuwatihi] and that is why 'Isa (علیہ السلام) in the Last Days will come on his shari'ah following the Prophet Muhammad (s).... And from his miraculous power and his specialty is his reviving of his parents to believe in him."
al-Hafiz Shamsuddin bin Nasir ad-Dimashqi said in a long poem,
"fa ahyaa ummahu wa kadha abaahu li-imaanin bihi fadlan muneefa"
"fa-sallim fal-illahu biha qadeerun wa inn kaana al-hadeethu da'ifu"
"for he revived his mother and so his father to believe in him as a favor [from his Lord]"
"so accept ! because Allah is able to do iteven if the hadith was weak!"
"Even the weak hadith will be a strong hadith when most of the scholars accept it and this is the case of these hadith..." Yusuf an-Nabahani commented on al-Hafiz ad-Dimashqi's saying by saying, "and that is why it is said in the Holy Qur'an 'wa maa kunna mu'adhdhibeena hatta nab'atharasula' 'and we were not wont to punish them until we sent forth among them a Messenger'."
