What is the Muhammadan Light? How was the Light of Muhammad (pbuh) created? The creation of the Light of Muhammad (pbuh)…

We cannot think of time and space for Allah, glory unto Him, who transcends all dimensions.[1] Existent in pre-eternity, His existence comes from Himself without need for any other. That stated, the Almighty nonetheless willed to be known and hence created existence, the world of plurality (âlam’ul-kasrat), which is also called mâ siwallâh, denoting anything other than Allah, glory unto Him.[2] In the process of creation, He first created a light that is the essence of Haqîqat’ul- Muhammadiya, the Muhammedan Reality.

A precious gem is kept in an ornamented box, not a rudimentary one. Seen in this respect, the Muhammedan Light is the precious gem hidden in the rest of creation, the ornamented box serving to preserve it. Beings were created only for the sake of his greatness. It could therefore be said that Allah, glory unto Him, created existence to ornament the Muhammedan Light. In the language of divinity, the Almighty is the origin of creation, possessing absolute freedom to do anything He wills, while the cause is the Muhammedan Light, the first creation.

Contrary to the claims of some philosophers, the universe is not eternal and uncreated, on the contrary, it is fashioned by Allah, glory unto Him. Only the Almighty is uncreated and timeless. Created first was the Muhammedan Light, which sheds light on the hadith below:

“I was a Prophet when Adam was between soul and body (i.e. when Adam’s creation was in its preliminary stages)” (at-Tabarani, Al-Mu’jam al-Kabir; Al Khasa’is al-Kubra, vol.1, p.4). (Tir­midhî, Ma­nâqib, 1)

In other words, the Blessed Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- was created and thus entrusted with the mission of prophethood well before the creation of Adam –upon him peace. His bodily manifestation on Earth, however, marks the final page of the book that is prophetic history, which means that the first page of that very book was turned with the Muhammedan Light and similarly came to a close with the embodiment of Muhammad -upon him blessings and peace- as a Prophet on the physical plane.


Prophet Muhammad -upon him blessings and peace- is thus the Light of Creation, from whom beings borrow their value, a fact elaborated in the hadith below:

“When Adam was ejected from Paradise due to his sin, he asked forgiveness from Allah through the words: ‘Forgive me, my Lord, for the sake of Muhammad!’

‘How do you know Muhammad’s name when I have not yet created him?’ the Almighty asked.

‘When you created me, my Lord, and breathed into me Your spirit, I raised my head and saw the words Lâ ilâhe illAllâh, Muhammedun Rasûlullâh inscribed above the pillars of the Throne. I therefore thought that You would only mention Your name with the Most Beloved of Your creation.’

‘I forgive you, Adam’, the Almighty declared, ‘and were it not for Muhammad I surely would not have created you.’” (Hâkim, II, 672)

Narrated from Ibn Abbas, Allah, glory unto Him, inspired Isa –upon him peace- to “Believe in Muhammad and command those who live in his time from among your community to believe in him. For were it not for Muhammad, I would not have created Adam; neither would I have created Paradise and Hell. When I created the Throne (Arsh) on water, it started rocking, coming to a standstill only after I wrote over it Lâ ilâhe illâllâh Muhammedun Rasûlullâh”.  (Hâkim, II, 672)

Jabir –Allah be well-pleased with him- is reported to have one day asked the Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-:

“May my father and mother be ransomed for you Messenger of Allah! Could you please tell me what the first created thing was?”

“The first thing Allah created was the Light of your Messenger from His Own Light.” [3]

Ibn Arabi affords the following comments in regard:

“When Allah almighty heralded Muhammad -upon him blessings and peace- with Prophethood, Adam was not fully created; he was in a state between water and mud.  Thus, the Messenger of Allah -upon him blessings and peace- effectively became, at once, the foremost core of all Divine laws (sharia) to transpire through prophets thereafter. Even as early as then, he had a sharia, as the Prophet indicates in the hadith that he was a Messenger when Adam was still in a state between spirit and body; he does not say he was a ‘man’ or that he simply existed. Prophethood may only be through a law, a sharia, given by the Almighty.” (Ibn Arabi, al-Futuhat, II, 171; IV, 66-67)

In another famous work, Ibn Arabî says:

“Being the most perfected of all human species, Prophethood thus began and ended with the Messenger of Allah.”(Ibn Arabî, Fusûsu’l-Hikem, IV, 319)

In his Mathnawi, Rumi states:

“Come, o heart! The true festival is unity with Muhammad, his Majesty; for the luminosity of the universe is from the light of his sacred being.”

Sulayman Chelebi also makes mention of the Muhammadan Light in his Mawlid:

Mustafâ nûrunu evvel kıldı vâr

Sevdi ânı ol Kerîm ü Girdigâr[4]

The Light of Mustapha, He first made,

Which He loved, the Generous, the Great.

Thus the Muhammadan Light, labeled also as the Muhammedan Truth, is an essence that represents the spiritual identity of the Blessed Prophet -upon him blessings and peace-. It is he who is the most beloved and the most precious in the sight of the Creator. The reason for the existence of creation is the love of the Almighty towards the Muhammedan Light, the first entity created. The entire universe has therefore been given existence in the honor of the Muhammadan Light, the core which it envelops. Existence is only to expose and explain his reality. Having said that, just as it is impossible to pour an ocean into a cup, it is inconceivable to understand the Muhammadan Light as befits its nature.


[1] The human mind is of a nature that can think only within the bounds of space and time. Through the impressions it receives from the physical world, it can, albeit to a certain degree, reach Truth. Bound by the impressions received from the world of observation to refer to the truths that transcend the observational realm, both in terms designating and insinuating the content of metaphysical truths, man is thus virtually compelled to resort to metaphor.

[2] Ma siwallah is a term used to indicate all that which is other than Allah, glory unto Him, and which keeps one away from Him.

[3] See Ajlunî, I, 265.

[4] The other couplets of Sulayman Chalabi’s Mawlid pay further lyrical tribute to the Blessed Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- being the Light of Existence and that the universe was created but in honor of the Muhammedan Light.