# Qur’an 46:9: Did Muhammad Know He Was Saved? > Qur’an 46:9 has Muhammad say he does not know what will be done with him. 1 John 5:13 says believers may know they have eternal life. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/islam/assurance-of-salvation-quran-46-9 - Religions: Islam - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: islam, muhammad, salvation - Updated: 2026-10-18 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) [Qur’an 46:9](https://quran.com/al-ahqaf/9) has Muhammad say he does not know what will be done with him or with his hearers. [Sahih al-Bukhari 1243](https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1243) has him say the same beside the death of Uthman bin Maz‘un, while calling himself God’s messenger. The New Testament letters written to people who believe in the Son say they may know that they have eternal life. ## Key Points - Saheeh International at [Qur’an 46:9](https://quran.com/al-ahqaf/9) has him say he is not something original among the messengers, and that he does not know what will be done with him or with them. - [Ibn Kathir’s abridged tafsir](https://quran.com/al-ahqaf/9/tafsirs/en-tafisr-ibn-kathir) reports that Ikrimah, al-Hasan, and Qatadah said the clause about not knowing was abrogated by Qur’an 48:2, the promise of forgiveness for his past and future sins. - Ibn Kathir draws a rule from the Uthman bin Maz‘un report: no one may declare a specific person bound for Paradise except those Allah or his messenger named. - [Sahih al-Bukhari 1243](https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1243) has him say, by Allah, he does not know what Allah will do with him, though he is Allah’s messenger. - [1 John 5:13](/bible/1-john/5/13) says these things were written so that those who believe on the name of the Son of God may know that they have eternal life. - [John 5:24](/bible/john/5/24) says the one who hears his word and believes the one who sent him has everlasting life and has passed from death to life. [John 10:28](/bible/john/10/28) says he gives them eternal life and no one plucks them out of his hand. - [Salvation by Scales of Deeds or by Grace?](/islam/salvation-by-scales-or-by-grace) is the Qur’an’s scales on the last day. [Muhammad’s Intercession and Blessings](/islam/muhammads-intercession-and-blessings) is the later hope of his intercession. ## What Does Qur’an 46:9 Mean? Saheeh International renders [Qur’an 46:9](https://quran.com/al-ahqaf/9): > Say, "I am not something original among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am not but a clear warner." The sentence has three parts. He is not a new kind of messenger: the Arabic is bid‘an min ar-rusul, which Ibn Kathir’s English renders “a new thing among the Messengers.” He does not know the outcome for himself or for the people in front of him. He follows what is revealed, and he warns. [Ibn Kathir’s abridged tafsir of that verse](https://quran.com/al-ahqaf/9/tafsirs/en-tafisr-ibn-kathir) glosses the opening as meaning he is not the first messenger who ever came to the world, so the hearers should not treat his coming as an unprecedented incident. On the clause about not knowing what will be done with him or with them, the tafsir reports Ali bin Abi Talhah from Ibn Abbas. The ayah, he said, “was followed in revelation by” Qur’an 48:2, “That Allah may forgive for you your sins of the past and future.” It then says that “‘Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, and Qatadah all said that this Ayah was abrogated” by that verse, and that when a Muslim asked what Allah would do for the rest of them, 48:5 was revealed, on admitting believing men and women to Gardens. That is the classical Muslim answer to this page’s question: the not-knowing was real when it was spoken, and a later revelation answered it for Muhammad. ## What Rule Does Ibn Kathir Draw? Ibn Kathir does not stop at abrogation. He tells the Uthman bin Maz‘un report from Imam Ahmad, the same scene Bukhari 1243 records, and draws a rule from it: > This and similar texts indicate that it is not allowed to declare that a specific person will enter Jannah except for those who were distinctly indicated by Allah or his Messenger. He names examples, beginning with “the Ten.” They are the ten companions in [Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 3747](https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3747), where Abdur-Rahman bin Awf reports Muhammad naming Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Talhah, az-Zubair, Abdur-Rahman bin Awf, Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas, Sa‘eed bin Zaid, and Abu Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah as in Paradise. On his reading, assurance is given to named persons by revelation. An ordinary believer is not told the outcome in advance. ## Did Muhammad Know He Was Saved? [Sahih al-Bukhari 1243](https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1243), in Muhammad Muhsin Khan’s English, records him at the death of Uthman bin Maz‘un: > By Allah, I too wish him good, but by Allah, I do not know what Allah will do with me though I am Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). The setting is a funeral. In the fuller version Ibn Kathir gives from Imam Ahmad, the woman is Umm Al-‘Ala’, who had nursed Uthman in her house. A woman of the Ansar had spoken as if Uthman’s honor with God was already known. Muhammad corrects that certainty, and he includes himself. He wishes the dead man good. He does not claim to know Allah’s decision about his own end, and he says this while naming himself Allah’s messenger. Sunni Muslims receive Bukhari as sound. The report does not say he denied being a messenger. It says he did not know what Allah would do with him. A Muslim reading holds both lines: 46:9 and this hadith come before 48:2, on the abrogation Ibn Kathir reports, and the community still hopes in God’s mercy, the scales, and the messenger’s intercession. [Muhammad’s Intercession and Blessings](/islam/muhammads-intercession-and-blessings) quotes that hope. [Salvation by Scales of Deeds or by Grace?](/islam/salvation-by-scales-or-by-grace) quotes the heavy scale and the verses of mercy. The fair concession is that Islam is not a ledger with no mercy. The sentence in 46:9 and in Bukhari 1243 is still a refusal to claim knowledge of his own outcome. ## What Does the New Testament Say About Knowing You Are Saved? [1 John 5:13](/bible/1-john/5/13) tells the people who believe on the name of the Son of God that the letter was written so that they may know they have eternal life. The knowledge is tied to the Son, not to a guess about a hidden decree. [John 5:24](/bible/john/5/24) says the hearer who believes the one who sent Jesus has everlasting life, does not come into condemnation, and has passed from death to life. [John 10:28](/bible/john/10/28) says Jesus gives his sheep eternal life, they shall never perish, and no one plucks them out of his hand. [Romans 8:1](/bible/romans/8/1) says there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Those lines are addressed to believers. They are not a claim that Muhammad spoke them. They are the Christian answer to the same question his verse leaves open: can a person know what God will do with him? The Gospel’s answer is the Son, received, not a scale still waiting and not a messenger who says he does not know his own end. [What Does the Bible Say About Salvation?](/christianity/what-does-the-bible-say-about-salvation) is that gift. Jesus is God, the one who gives the life those verses name. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is Qur’an 46:9 the Sword Verse? No. The verse is in Al-Ahqaf. It is a word about the messenger’s knowledge. It is not the fighting verses of Surah 9. ### What Did Umm Al-‘Ala’ See in Her Dream? In the report Ibn Kathir gives, she went to sleep distressed and saw that Uthman owned a running water spring. Muhammad told her, “That was his (good) deeds.” The report ends on deeds, not on a declaration that Uthman was saved. ## Keep Reading - [Who Was Muhammad?](/islam/who-was-muhammad) - [What Do Christians Believe About Muhammad?](/islam/what-do-christians-believe-about-muhammad) - [Salvation by Scales of Deeds or by Grace?](/islam/salvation-by-scales-or-by-grace) - [Muhammad’s Intercession and Blessings](/islam/muhammads-intercession-and-blessings) - [What Does the Bible Say About Salvation?](/christianity/what-does-the-bible-say-about-salvation) - [Was Muhammad Sinless?](/islam/was-muhammad-sinless) ## Passages Quoted on This Page ### 1 John 5:13 King James Version. > These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. ### John 5:24 King James Version. > Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. ### John 10:28 King James Version. > And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ### Romans 8:1 King James Version. > There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Qur'an, 46:9](https://quran.com/al-ahqaf/9) (Saheeh International. He does not know what will be done with him or with his hearers.) 2. [Ibn Kathir, Tafsir of Qur'an 46:9, Al-Ahqaf 9, abridged](https://quran.com/al-ahqaf/9/tafsirs/en-tafisr-ibn-kathir) (The gloss says he is not the first messenger, reports that Ikrimah, al-Hasan, and Qatadah held the clause abrogated by 48:2, and cites the Uthman bin Maz‘un report.) 3. [Sahih al-Bukhari, 1243](https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1243) (Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Spoken beside Uthman bin Maz'un.) 4. [Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi, 3747](https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3747) (Graded sahih by Darussalam on the page. Ten companions named as in Paradise.) 5. [First Letter of John, 5:13; 2:23](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-john/5/13). King James Version 6. [Gospel of John, 5:24; 10:28](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/5/24). King James Version 7. [Letter to the Romans, 8:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/romans/8/1). King James Version ## See Also - [Did Muhammad Predict the End of the World?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/did-muhammad-predict-the-hour) — Sahih Muslim 2953 ties the Hour to a boy of the Ansar. Bukhari 6511 records Hisham’s reading that the Hour meant their death. - [Does Allah Love Sinners?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/does-allah-love-sinners) — The Qur’an says Allah loves those who do good and does not like disbelievers. Romans 5:8 says Christ died for us while we were still sinners. - [Does Isaiah Prophesy Muhammad?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/does-isaiah-prophesy-muhammad) — Matthew 12 says Isaiah 42 was fulfilled in Jesus. Kedar’s villages are told to sing. Isaiah 29:12 is a sealed book in a woe on Jerusalem. - [How Did Muhammad Die?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/how-did-muhammad-die) — Muslim sources say Muhammad died in Medina in 632, at sixty-three, and that in his last illness he still felt the poison from a sheep he had eaten at Khaybar. - [How Many Prophets Are There in Islam?](https://apologetics.wiki/islam/how-many-prophets-are-there-in-islam) — The Qur’an names messengers and says some stories were not related. It does not print a total. It calls Muhammad the seal of the prophets. Christians say God has spoken by the Son, who is God, not by a later seal.