ABSTRACT
GHABA Ghaba is the root of a word that means
to be absent. The present tense is yaghib,
to be away, distant, remote or beyond
reach. The noun ghayb signifies the
unseen, invisible or unapparent; it signifies
anything unperceivable or beyond the
range of perception physically by the
senses, or mentally by the intellect.( Alama al-ghayb therefore is the unseen
world or the invisible world. The Qur ) an
was revealed to the Prophet to tell the
people in this life about the hereafter,
which is the unseen world. The Prophet’s job was to make people
aware of elements of the unseen such as
the resurrection after death, the Day of
Judgement and everlasting abodes such
as Paradise and Hell. This was not an
easy task: he had to convince the people
to believe in an invisible and yet-to-be-
experienced future. In the sura al-Baqara, the Qur
) an was
introduced as the book ‘whereof there is
no doubt, a guidance to the believers
who are pious and who believe in the
ghayb (the unseen world)’ (2.3). This
term is of great importance in the
Qur ) an because of the vast significance
of what it refers to: belief in Allah, angels,
holy books, Allah’s Messengers, the Day
of Resurrection and al-qadar (divine
necessity). It also includes what Allah
and his Messenger told people about
matters in the past, present and future.