6

Certain websites claim that in a Hadith it is mentioned the following:

Prophet Muhammad declared, "There was a prophet of God in India who is dark in color and his name was Kahan." (History of Hamadan Dailmi Chapter Al-Kaaf)

Looking at the above verse, it is highly likely that this is referring to Lord Krishna who is need called ''Kahan'' and is dark-complexioned. The Quran does mention that there have been 1,24,000 prophets send by Allah but there are also high chances of this Hadith being interpolated just like many Puranas are in Hinduism (especially the Bhavishya Purana which seems to mention Prophet Muhammad and many Biblical characters). So is the above Hadith a ''sahih'' Hadith or is it also interpolated like the Bhavishya Purana in Hinduism?

2
  • 1,24,000 is very weak report, 1,28,000 is false Jul 30, 2017 at 12:36
  • It is better not to assume any one's name to be a prophet of that's region. We know that that we are told by Allah or by Muhammad( pubh) either by Quran or hadith.
    – GyL 209
    Aug 12, 2020 at 8:02

2 Answers 2

7

Please see this answer with regard to Hinduism being of divine origin according to Islam. In short, there were several messengers, and we don't know the names of all of them and hence it is possible that some figure revered in Hinduism was a Messenger or Prophet.

Quran 4:164 And [We sent] messengers about whom We have related [their stories] to you before and messengers about whom We have not related to you. And Allah spoke to Moses with [direct] speech.

However one can not claim with certainty that some specific person was a prophet of Allah. Rather doing so without solid proof and insisting on it is tantamount to inventing lies about Allah.

Quran 6:93 And who can be more unjust than he who invents a lie against Allah, or says: "I have received inspiration," whereas he is not inspired in anything.

Krishna\Kahna is not mentioned in the Quran, nor in any well known hadith collections.

Regarding the "hadith" quoted in the question:

كان في الهند نبيا أسود اللون اسمه كاهنا

— (Allegedly) Taarikh-i-Hamdaan Dailami تاريخ همذان

  • The book which is cited here has long been lost and so it is impossible to verify whether it even contained this tradition, what the original wording of the tradition was, and whether it had an authentic chain of narrators.

  • There are no reliable secondary sources which have related this tradition from this book. Rather it is exclusively mentioned in the writings of the Ahmadiyya - and they are not accepted as reliable in mainstream Islam rather are claimed to misquote and misrepresent texts.

  • The narration with this wording or meaning does not exist in any other collection of hadith. The closest hadith which exists is as follows:

    عن على رضى الله عنه: أن الله تعالى بعث نبيا أسود

    Ali narrated: Allah sent a prophet who was black

    Tafsir al-Kashaf 40:78

    عن علي بن أبي طالب، رضي الله عنه، في قوله: {منهم من قصصنا عليك ومنهم من لم نقصص عليك} [غافر: 78] قال: بعث الله عبدا حبشيا نبيا

    Ali ibn Abi Talib narrated regarding the saying of Allah {"Among them are those [whose stories] We have related to you, and among them are those [whose stories] We have not related to you"} that Allah sent an Abyssinian prophet.

    Tafsir al-Tabari 40:78 and Mu'jam al-Awsat

This version:

  • Does not mention any name for the prophet.
  • Does not say that he was sent to India, rather it is about Africa
-3

In the Holy Quran, God states: “messengers to every people“ (10:48) and “We raised among every people a messenger“ (16:37). Prophet Muhammad further declared that God has sent no less than 124,000 prophets to mankind throughout history (Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 5, 169). Some people make a case where if it does not state in the Quran, it doesn't exist which is false because in the Holy Quran, it state “And We sent some Messengers whom We have already mentioned to thee and some Messengers whom We have not mentioned to thee...“ (4:165). Thus, to declare that Lord Krishna is not a prophet simply because the Quran does not mention him is a meritless argument.

Prophet Muhammad declared, “There was a prophet of God in India who is dark in color and his name was Kahan [Krishna]” (History of Hamadan Dailmi Chapter Al-Kaaf). Some critics allege this is not a Sahih (authentic) hadith, and while their assessment could be valid, their conclusion that the hadith should be discarded is invalid. Basic Islamic jurisprudence holds that if a hadith does not contradict the Quran, then it may be accepted as valid. As mentioned earlier, nothing in the Quran, Sunnah or Hadith declare that Lord Krishna was not a prophet of God. Thus, Prophet Muhammad’s testimony provides clear guidance of Lord Krishna’s status in Islam —

Even in Hinduism Krishna says in the Bhavisyath Purana 3:5-8 states, “A spiritual reformer will come from a foreign land (outside Bharat) with his disciples. His name will be Mahamad. He will dwell in a desert.” Likewise, “His [Mahamad’s] followers will perform circumcision. They will not keep their hair in the form of Choti as the Brahmans do. They will keep beard. They will bring about a revolution. They will call with a loud voice [i.e. Adhaan]. They will eat meat of animals other than that of swine. They will attain purity through Jihad. Their civilization will be called Muslay [Muslim].” Here Krishna prophesies the coming of The Holy Prophet.

There are many more examples or this if you just do ipenough research

1
  • Although I do not agree to all you arguments, the Bhavisyath Purana 3:5-8 is interesting. Do you know whether it is really pre-Islamic?
    – Jeschu
    May 29, 2021 at 12:14

You must log in to answer this question.