The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, had a shadow
Fatwa No: 120893

Question

Assalamualaykum I listen that Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu'alayhiwasallam has a shadow and the below two hadeeth were told as a reference.Are the below hadeeth saheeh(hasan,saheeh or can they be accepted). Sayyida A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) narrates that once while the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) was on a journey, the camel of his wife Sayyida Safiyya (Allah be pleased with her) fell ill. However, his other wife Sayyida Zaynab (Allah be pleased with her) had an extra camel. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said to Sayyida Zaynab: “The camel of Safiyya has become ill, can you lend her your extra camel?” She replied: “should I give that Jew?” (Sayyida Safiyyah was originally a Jew). So, (upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allah became upset and) deserted her for two or three months and he would not come to her…. She says: “Until one day, at midday, I could see the shadow of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) approaching…..” (Musnad Ahmad, 6/132) ------------------- Sayyidduna Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that, one night the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) led us in prayer, and whilst in prayer he stretched out his hand and then pulled it back. We said: “O Messenger of Allah! We saw you doing something in prayer that we have not seen you do before.” The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Indeed, Paradise was presented before me, and I saw in it, fruits that were low and near. I intended to take one but was told to holdback, thus I held back. Then Hell was presented before me until I saw my and your shadow in it, thus I gestured to you to move back.” (Mustadrak al-Hakim, 4/456 & authenticated by Imam al-Dhahabi)

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

In principle, the physique of the Prophet was like all other human beings and he had a shadow. This is the principle even if there is no evidence about it. The two Prophetic narrations that you quoted in the question confirm this but the first narration is classified by some scholars as weak while the second one is authentic.

However, we do not know any confirmed evidence from the Sunnah about what you mentioned that among the characteristics of the Prophet was that he had no shadow in the brightness of the sun or in the moonlight.

Allaah Knows best.

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