At a glance
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Overview
Al-ghayb in the creed is what lies beyond sense and perception of what God has informed; the Sharh al-Tahawiyya treats the unseen matters and warns against transgressing Qur'an and hadith in them 1.
In the sources
The Sharh notes that the exposition of unseen matters is clear in the Book and Sunna, and that exceeding them is where the warning lies 2.
From Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy's Tafsir lectures (episode 2)
The Sheikh says the surah sets out nine scenes a person can see, so as to show the power of God, who made everything in the world of the witnessed, to create the hereafter for him in the world of the unseen 3. He says that Paradise and the Fire are unseen as far as we are concerned, while for God nothing is unseen 3. He holds that the unseen is unseen only to the one who is veiled, and he cites a line by a poet to the effect that the hearts of those who know God have eyes that see what onlookers do not (needs_source) 4.
People and things also explored
The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin· The hereafter: the grave, resurrection and reckoning· Islamic eschatology· Reason and heart· The Throne (al-Arsh)· Al-din al-qayyim (the upright religion)· Absolute unseen (al-ghayb al-mutlaq)· «Be, and it is» (kun fa-yakun): creation by command, not by a mould
Sources
- Sharh al-Tahawiyya, Ibn Abi al-Izz al-Hanafi (Dar al-Hadith, Cairo)
- al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya, Dar Ibn Hazm 1995
- Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Tafsir Al Quran Al Qareem, episode 2, at 00:14:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Omar Abdelkafy's lectures (audio and video) , Tafsir Al Quran Al Qareem, episode 2, at 00:15:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Al-ghayb (the unseen)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/ghayb/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.