Assalamoalaikum ALLAHUMMA HIDAYATUL HAQQI WAS SAWAAB Jazakallah for the question For those who are the ‘enemies’ of this act of reward and blessings and cure, then for an introduction I would like to say that Almighty ALLAH has give us all a brain and two eyes. If you open your eyes and develop what you see in the brain as to what you see in the “Indo-Pak” Masajid, then we would have seen a progress upon answering more questions about `aqeedah fiqh and so on.

In fact through the dala’il we can prove that this blessed act was first “innovated” by the Great Companion of the Holy Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, the person who is the Best of Creation after the Beloved Prophet, the Companion who spent his days, his nights, his wealth, his love, his time in the service of the Holy Prophet to the extent that even after he passed away he did not depart the Messenger of Allah i.e. Sayyiduna wa Maulana Abu Bakr al-Siddiq radiallahu ta’ala ‘anho wa ardah.

From centuries the pious people have kissed their thumbs on respect on hearing the blessed name of the Holy Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, especially in the adhan when the Mu’addhin states: Ashadu Anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).

Indeed we are obliged to respect the Holy Prophet as stated in many verses of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah

How can an ummati of the Holy Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam ask for “evidence” to prove such an act of respect of the Holy Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam which even the First Caliph used to do!?

Nonetheless, for the benefit of some we give the following evidence, wa ma tawfiqi illa billah ‘alayhi tawakkaltu wa ilayhi unib:

Dailami has narrated in Musnad al-Firdaus:

Asdaqus sadiqin, Imamul Mutqinin, Khalifatul Muslimin Ameerul Mu’minin Sayyiduna Hadrat Abubakr al-Siddiq when he heard the mu’azzin say: “I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” he used to say “I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, I have accepted Allah as my Lord, and Islam as my religion and Muhammad (Allah’s peace and salutations upon him) as a prophet” then he used to kiss the back part of both the index fingers and used to place them on both of his blessed eyes. Upon seeing this, the Holy Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam stated:

Man fa’ala mithla ma fa’ala khalili faqad hallat ‘alayhi shafa’ati

“Whosoever acts upon what my dearest ‘friend’ (Abubakr) did, then my intercession has become Halal (necessary) upon him”

Imam Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari states in his famous al-mawdu’at al-Kabir:

And when this act has been proven to be done by Sayyiduna Abu bakr al-siddiq, then this is enough for us to act upon it as the Holy Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam has stated:

‘alaykum bi sunnati wa sunnatil Khulafair Rashidin min Ba’di

Upon you (is obliged) my Sunnah and that of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (amongst whom the elite is Sayyiduna Abubakr radiallahu ‘anho)

Shamsuddin al-Sakhawi has narrated this hadith in in al-Maqasid al-Hasanah and then stated the reward of this act, making it Mustahab.
Sayyidi Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmed Ibn Abi Bakr Rawad al-Yemeni has narrated in his book: mujibat al-Rehmat wa ‘azaim al-Maghfirah a narration from Sayyiduna Khizar alaihis salaam (most ulema say he is a Prophet who comes every year in Hajj to Makkah al-Mukarramah, and who Mufti Shariful Haque “Faqih-e-Azam-e-Hind” met during his Hajj period), that Sayyiduna Khizar stated:

Whosoever upon hearing the mu’ezzin’s words Ashadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolullah states: “Marhabam Bihabibi wa Qurratu ‘Ayni Muhammadubnu ‘Abdillah sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam” and then kisses both thumbs and placing them on their eyes, then their eyes shall never hurt (no illness of the eye shall occur)

Another narration in the same book… Hadrat Faqih Muhammad al-Baba’s brother narrates that once there was a strong wind and with it a small stone fell into my eye. I was tired getting it out of my eye, but couldn’t take it out and it hurt me so much so that when the Mu’azzin said “ashadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolullah” I said what “Marhabam Bihabibi wa Qurratu ‘Ayni Muhammadubnu ‘Abdillah sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam” [placing fingers on the eyes] and immediately on doing this the stone came out and I felt peace.

the author of the famous book on fiqh, Jami’ al-Muzmarrat commentary on al-Quduri, Imam al-Sheikh Yusuf ibn Umar states in his Fatawa al-Sufiyyah and Allama Abdul Ali Barjandi states in his book Sharh al-Nuqaya that: and know that it is Mustahab (act of reward and merit) upon hearing the first “ashadu anna muhamaddar Rasoolullah” that one says “Sallalahu ta’al ‘aklaika Ya Rasoolallah” and the second time one should say: “Qurratu Ayni Bika Ya Rasoolallah” then says “Allahumma Matti’ni bi al-Sama’ wa al-Basr” after placing the both the thumbs upon both the eyes, so [when one does this] the Holy Prophet shall be his/her leader on the Day of Judgement” [same has been stated in Kanz al-‘Ubbad]

so these are only a drop amongst the ocean of evidences that prove the permissibility on this rewarding act.

Not seeing the Arab world do this does not mean that its not Halal…do we get the Shari’ah from the Arabs or from the Holy Prophet?

In fact all the above mentioned were all Arabs and residents of the Arabic world.

Alhamdolillah, in the Grand Masjid of Imam al-Husain, just opposite the al-Azhar University in Cairo, I saw quite a few Egyptians kissing their thumbs, during the adhan for the Friday Prayer.

May almighty ALLAH guide us all, and may He give us the tawfeeq to act upon the sunnats of the Holy Prophet and those Rightly Guided Caliphs who he stated were the “stars, whomever you follow you shall be guided”

For more evidence please read the Great Imam Ahmed Raza’s book “Taqbeel al-Ibhamain”

Wallahu Ta’al a’lam

Ma’as salaamah

[Answer provided by: Mawlana Mohammed Kalim]