What Are the Five Keys of the Unseen in Islam?

Al-Harith Ibn `Amr Ibn Harithah, a man from the desert, came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and asked him about the Hour and its timing. He said: “Our land has become barren—when will rain descend? I left my wife pregnant—what will she give birth to? I know where I was born—but in which land will I die?” Thereupon Allah, the Exalted, revealed: {Indeed, Allah ˹alone˺ has the knowledge of the Hour. He sends down the rain, and knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn for tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.} [Luqman 31:34] ⁽¹⁾

Al-Bukhari also narrated from Ibn `Umar that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “The keys of Unseen are five which none knows but Allah: None knows what will happen tomorrow but Allah; none knows what is in the wombs (a male child or a female) but Allah; none knows when it will rain but Allah; none knows at what place one will die; none knows when the Hour will be established but Allah.”

Why Are These Five Called the Keys of the Unseen (Al-Ghayb)?

They are called keys because they represent the beginnings of five fundamental realms of the unseen that are unknown to human beings yet directly connected to them.

Ibn `Uthaymin explained:

• The Hour is the key to the Hereafter.
• The descent of rain is the key to the life on earth.
• What is in the wombs—whether a human or any animal—is the key to existence in worldly life.
• What one will earn tomorrow is the key to future actions.
• Death is the key to the transition from this world to the Hereafter.

Thus, these five were designated as the keys of the unseen. ⁽²⁾

Why Were These Five Keys Mentioned Specifically Despite the Vastness of the Unseen?

Although the unseen known exclusively to Allah is vast, these five were singled out because human beings frequently ask about the Hour and yearn to know its details.

Through these five unseen matters, Allah Draws the servant’s attention to what truly benefits him—what helps him act righteously and attach his heart to his Lord.

It is as though Allah is Saying: O questioner, you ask about the Hour and when it will occur, yet there are matters more essential to you that you do not know. You do not know your livelihood or your final return. You do not know what you will earn tomorrow—though it concerns your own actions and time. You do not know where you will die—though it concerns your actions and where you are. So how could you know when the Hour will be?

Allah did not Inform you of tomorrow’s earnings—despite their practical benefits—so that you remain constantly reliant upon Him and place your trust in Him. He did not inform you where you’ll die so that you would never feel secure from death simply because you are elsewhere.

If Allah has Withheld knowledge of what you need, how would He inform you of what you do not need—namely, the exact timing of the Hour? Rather, He has informed you that it will definitely occur, through His prophets. ⁽³⁾

Ibn Kathir said: These are the keys of the unseen which Allah has Reserved exclusively for Himself. No one knows them unless Allah Informs them.

• The time of the Hour is unknown to any sent prophet or any close angel.
• The descent of rain is known only to Allah, but when He commands it, the angels entrusted with it—and whomever Allah Wills—come to know of it.
• What is in the wombs is known only to Allah in its full reality, but when Allah Decrees that it be male or female, wretched or blessed, the angels entrusted with it and whomever Allah Wills come to know it.
• No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow in its worldly or eternal affairs.
• No soul knows in which land it will die—whether in its homeland or elsewhere among the lands of Allah.

No one possesses knowledge of any of this. ⁽⁴⁾

The Meaning of the Unseen and Its Categories

The unseen is that which human knowledge cannot perceive. It is divided into two categories:

1.      Absolute unseen, which none knows except Allah.

2.     Relative unseen, which some of creation may know while others do not, due to differences in innate ability and acquired effort.

If Allah Reveals something of the absolute unseen to His messengers, it is not acquired knowledge—it is a unique attribute of prophethood, not something earned. ⁽⁵⁾

It has also been said that: Absolute unseen is known only to Allah, as He Says, {With Him are the keys of the unseen—no one knows them except Him.} [Al-An`am 6:59]

And the Relative unseen is that which a created being may know partially, without full comprehension. It is “seen” knowledge to one who possesses it and unseen to one who lacks its means.

Allah Says, {And He knows what is in the land and sea. Not even a leaf falls without His knowledge, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth or anything—green or dry—but is ˹written˺ in a perfect Record.} [Al-An`am 6:59] ⁽⁶⁾

Can Modern Science Access the Unseen?

Ibn Kathir divided the unseen into two parts:

1. The Unseen Before Occurrence

This refers to events before their creation—before rain forms and before all causes of rainfall are completed, and before what is in the wombs is formed and brought into the realm of physical existence.

This category is what Allah alone has Reserved knowledge of, and it is the primary meaning of the verse, as clarified by the hadith that explicitly identified these five as the keys of the unseen.

2. The Unseen After Manifestation

Once these matters enter the realm of observable reality and become subject to the laws of creation and causation, some of creation may come to know aspects of them—by the permission of Allah.

This does not contradict the exclusive knowledge of Allah, because what Allah has Reserved for Himself is complete and absolute knowledge in full detail. What angels or certain individuals may know is only partial and limited. ⁽⁷⁾

Thus, the true unseen, known only to Allah, can never be uncovered by science nor accessed by human beings.

As for predicting rainfall through meteorology, this occurs after signs appear and therefore is not unseen.

Likewise, a doctor’s knowledge of a fetus being male or female comes after physical formation and is not unseen. ⁽⁸⁾

Also Read:

• Islamic Ruling on Sorcery and Fortune-Telling
• Traits and Divine Rewards of Real Believers
• 5 Islamic Etiquettes of Seeking Lawful Livelihood

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Footnotes:

(1) Asbab An-Nuzul (Reasons and Occasions of Revelation of The Quran), Al-Wahidi An-Nisaburi, p. 347.
(2) Jalasat Ramadaniyah (Ramadan Sessions), Ibn `Uthaymin (4/8).
(3) Tafsir Ar-Razi (25/134).
(4) Tafsir Ibn Kathir (6/352).
(5) Tafsir Al-Manar (11/184).
(6) `Ilm Al-Ghayb Fi Ash-Shari`ah Al-Islamiyah (Knowledge of the Unseen in Islamic Law), Dr. Ahmad Al-Ghunayman, pp. 35–36.
(7) Al-Mu`aradat Al-Fikriyyah Al-Mu`asirah Li-Ahadith As-Sahihayn (Contemporary Intellectual Objections to the Hadiths of the Sahih Muslim and Sahih Al-Bukhari), Dr. Muhammad Ibn Farid Zaruh (2/944).
(8) Manar Al-Qari Sharḥ Mukhtasar Sahih Al-Bukhari (2/292).

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