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Fatwa CenterInterpretation of verse 46:9 {...nor do I know what will be done with me or with you...}
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. There is a verse that says that the messenger is commanded to say, "nor do I know what will be done with me or with you", it is verse 9 of surah. Please explain this verse, does it mean that the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, did not know whether he would be in Paradise or not?
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.
Some scholars hold the preponderant view that what is meant by this verse is that the Prophet did not know what would happen to him in this worldly life. As regards the Hereafter, he saw his status in Paradise and was the best of the Muhajireen (migrants), about whom Allaah says (what means): {And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhaajireen and the Ansaar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allaah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.} [Quran 9:100]
Moreover, the Prophet said, “The prophet (any prophet) is in Paradise, and the truthful one is in Paradise...” [Ahmad - al-Albaani graded is saheeh (sound)]
It was said that the verse in question was abrogated by the verse 2 in Chapter 48 that reads (what means): {That Allaah may forgive for you what preceded of your sin and what will follow and complete His favor upon you and guide you to a straight path}, but the most preponderant opinion is that it was not abrogated; al-Qurtubi said:
“The verse was not abrogated because it is a report; An-Nahhaas said, 'It is impossible to have abrogation in this regard for two reasons: firstly, it is a report, and secondly, from the beginning of the Soorah until this place [i.e. where the verse is mentioned], it addresses the polytheists, it is an objection against them and a reprimand, so this must also be an address to them as beforehand and after, and it is impossible for him (the Prophet ) to say to the polytheists that he does not know what will happen to him and to them in the Hereafter. Since he was sent as a prophet until his death, he always informed that whoever dies on disbelief will be in Hellfire eternally and whoever dies on belief and followed and obeyed him will be in Paradise. He saw what will happen to him and to them in the Hereafter. It was impossible for him to say that he did not know what will happen to him and to them in the Hereafter, as, in this case, they would have said, 'How would we follow you while you do not know whether you will be in bliss and enjoyment or in torment and punishment.' The correct opinion about the verse is the statement of al-Hasan al-Basri, 'I do not know what will happen to me or to you in this world.' Abu Ja'far at-Tabari said, 'This is the best and most correct view; he does not know what will afflict him and them of disease, health, low cost and high cost of living, richness and poverty, and the like...' This view is the closest to the truth...."
Allaah knows best.
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