Was the light of Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) from the Light of Allāh, or from some other light? The Sufis say he was light and not a human.

Question 2: Was the light of Muhammad (ﷺ) from the Light of Allāh, or from some other light? I have heard the Sufis say that he was light (noor) and not human.

Answer: The light of the Prophet (ﷺ) is the light of the Message and the Guidance by which Allāh guides whom He wills from amongst His creatures. Without doubt, the light of the Message and the light of Guidance are from Allāh. He (ﷻ) stated: “It is not for any human being that Allāh should speak to him unless it be by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or that He sends a Messenger to reveal what He wills by His leave. Verily, He is Most High, Most Wise. And thus We have sent to you, O Muhammad, an inspiration of Our command. You knew not what is the Book, nor what is Faith. But We have made it (this Qur’ān) a light wherewith We guide whosoever of Our slaves We will. And verily, you (O Muhammad) are indeed guiding mankind to the Straight Path. The Path of Allāh, to whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth…” (Qur’ān 42:51) 

Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) was created from a father and a mother and he was a human being. Allāh (ﷻ) stated, “Say (O Prophet), ‘Indeed I am only a man like yourselves.’” (Qur’ān 18:110). And the Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Indeed I am a man like yourselves, I forget like you forget. So if I forgot, then remind me.” (Al-Bukhārī and Muslim). 

The affirmation of these texts does not entail any belittlement of our noble Prophet (ﷺ), indeed we clearly state as Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) stated, “The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad.” (Muslim). And Allāh (ﷻ) said, “Say (O Prophet to the people), ‘If you truly love Allāh then follow me and then Allāh will love you and forgive you your sins.’” (Qur’ān 3:31)―and Allāh’s saying, “Indeed in the Messenger of Allāh, you have a fine example.” (Qur’ān 33:21) 

As for narrations which claim that Allāh created the light of the Prophet Muhammad or that Allāh filled His Hand with light from His Face and that this handful of light was Muhammad (ﷺ), or that Allāh created the whole of creation from the light of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), then none of these narrations can authentically be traced to Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ). It is not permissible to describe the Prophet with descriptions that are not established in the Qur’ān and authentic Sunnah. However, we find in our times some Muslim sects claiming that the Prophet (ﷺ) was not a human, that he was light, that he has independent knowledge of the Unseen and that he is present in Sūfi gatherings of dhikr and Dervish dances. All of this is falsehood and not supported by any evidence.