Even the atheist have not said that the Prophet first...
Even the atheist have not said that the Prophet first brought one thing from Allah and then announced from Him other things contrary to the first." Abu Qurrah then said, "Does Allah Himself not say, 'And indeed he (the Prophet) saw him in another descent.?" (53: 13) Imam abu al-Hassan (a.s.) said, "The other verses point out what the Prophet actually saw. Allah has said, "His heart did not lie about what he saw" (53: 11) It means that the heart of Muhammad did not belie what his eyes saw.
Therefore, Allah in the subsequent verse has said, "Indeed he saw of the greatest signs of his Lord." (53:18) The signs of Allah are different from Allah Himself. Allah has also said, "They can not limit Him in their knowledge." (20:110) If the eyes could see Him, then people might limit Him in their knowledge and He could be fully defined." Abu Qurrah asked, "Do you disregard Hadith?" Imam abu al-Hassan (a.s.) replied, "If Ahadith are contrary to Quran, I disregard them.
Besides, all Muslims believe that Allah cannot be limited by knowledge, that eyes can not see Him and that nothing is similar to Him." H 254, Ch. 9, h 3 Ahmad ibn Idris has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Isa from Ali ibn Sayf from Muhammad ibn 'Ubayd who has said the following. "I wrote to abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.) and asked him about the belief in eye-witnessing Allah's self.
Is it is possible to see Allah's self with one's own eyes as is traditionally narrated in the affirmative by the Sunni Muslims (al-'ammah) and the Shi'ah Muslims (al-khassah) who are contrary. I requested him to explain the matter. The Imam answered in his own handwriting. "All agree and there is no dissension among the people that eye-witnessed knowledge of things is certainly knowledge without doubt. It is the form of knowledge that does not require logical proofs.
If it is true that seeing Allah's self with the eyes is possible then it becomes a necessity to acknowledge that Allah becomes entirely known and defined through eye-witnessed process. Now, can eye-witnessed knowledge of Allah's self be considered faith or not? If the knowledge of Him as such, i.e.
eye-witnessed knowledge (which according to Sunni Muslims will happen on the Day of resurrection) be considered faith, then faith in Allah in this world, which comes through non-eye-witnessed knowledge is not faith. It is contrary to eye-witnessed knowledge and faith (contrary things do not exist at the same time).