(Fatwa: 903/876=D)
Hazrat Hakimul Ummah, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi has mentioned a Hadith in his book نشر الطیب فی ذکر النبی الحبیب صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم with reference of Ahkam bin Al-Qattan that Hazrat Ali bin Al-Hussain (Zainul Abdeen) narrated from his father Hazrat Hussain (رضی اللہ عنہ) and he narrated from his father (Hazrat Ali رضی اللہ عنہ) that the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) said: ?I was a noor (light) in front of my Lord some forty thousand years before the birth of Hazrat Adam (علیہ السلام)?.
There are some more traditions which prove that the noor of the Prophet (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) was created in the earliest time, some traditions say that his noor was created before the Tablet, the Pen, earth, sky and even before all creatures.
Allah knows Best!
Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband
http://www.darulifta-deoband.com/home/en/Hadith--Sunnah/3126
