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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

MIRACLES - ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE IN BRIEF-PART 7

Miracles - Islamic Perspective in Brief - Part 7.
Continued...


IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST BENEFICIENT, MOST MERCIFUL. 

Regarding the Awliya-Allah, one of the Islamic doctrines mentioned in Tahawi’s Aqida is: “We believe in what has appeared regarding their marvels and such narrations of them as having been authentically reported from trustworthy persons. In order to deny the Karamaat, some ignorantly claim that the Sahabas did not work any miracles. Nothing could be further from the truth as the following examples from the prophetic traditions will show:




1. 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud ® narrated: "A man from among the humans went out and was met by a man from among the jinn, who said: "Will you wrestle with me? If you throw me to the ground, I will teach you a verse which, if you recite it when you enter your house, no devil will enter." So, he wrestled with him and threw him to the ground. He said: "I see that you are very small and your forearms are like the front paws of a dog. Are all the jinn like this, or only you?" He said: "I am strong amongst them. Let us wrestle again." So, they wrestled again and the human threw him to the ground. So, the jinn said: "Recite Ayat al-Kursi, for no one recites it when he enters his house except that Satan leaves, passing wind like a donkey."" It was said to Ibn Mas'ud ®: "Was that man 'Umar ®?" He said: "Who else could it have been, other than 'Umar?"
['Majma' az-Zawa'id'; 9/71]


2. When the bodies of the martyrs of Uhud were being relocated forty years after their burial (during the reign of Mu'awiyah), the foot of Hamzah bin 'Abd al-Muttalib ® was scratched in the process of being moved, and it started gushing blood. ['al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah'; 4/43]


3. Ibn 'Abbas ® died in at-Ta'if, and a bird, the likes of which had never been seen before, was seen at his funeral. The bird entered the hole in the ground where Ibn 'Abbas was to be buried. So, we looked and waited to see if it would come out, and it didn't. When his body was finally placed in the ground, we could hear the verse {"O, the one in rest and satisfaction! Come back to your Lord, Well-pleased and well-pleasing!"} [al-Fajr; 27-8] being recited from the edge of his grave, but we were unable to find out who had recited it. (Authentically reported by al-Hakim in 'al-Mustadrak' 3/543)


4. Khayshamah narrated: "Khalid bin al-Walid ® came to a man carrying a jug of alcohol, so, he said: "O Allah! Turn it into honey!" So, it turned into honey."
[Reported by Ibn Hajar in 'al-Isabah fi Ma'rifat as-Sahabah'; p. 414]


5. The Romans imprisoned a son of the Companion, Abu Qurfasah ®. So, whenever it was time for prayer, Abu Qurfasah would climb the wall of 'Asqalan (in Syria) and call out: "O, son! It is time to pray!" And, his son would hear him all the way from the land of the Romans." ['Majma' az-Zawa'id' (9/396)]


6. When Sa'd and the Muslim army arrived at the Tigris River during the battle of Qadisiyyah, Salman stopped and said: "A river from the rivers of Allah. Will it not carry the soldiers of Allah?" So, he took Sa'd by the hand and stepped onto the water, leading all 30,000 soldiers across the Tigris River on foot. The Persians saw this and escaped, saying: ‘The demons have arrived! The demons have arrived!’"
[Reported by at-Tabari in 'at-Tarikh' (3/123), and Ibn Kathir in 'al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah' (7/64)]


7. During the khilafah of 'Umar ®, the governor of Egypt wrote to him asking for help as the river Nile had failed to flood. 'Umar ® wrote a letter in return, addressing the Nile itself. This was then placed in the Nile, and no sooner this was done, than the Nile's water began to flood. [Tarikh Ibn Kathir, volumes 1 and 8, the chapter on Rivers and chapter on Khilafah of 'Umar, ®


8. Abu Hurairah narrated: "al-'Ala' al-Hadrami supplicated for rain, and it then began to rain in the middle of the desert. In another incident, he supplicated, and we were able to walk over the water in the Arabian Peninsula (near Bahrain), without even the bottom of our feet getting wet. When he died, we buried him, and after a while, we opened up his grave to find that he was not there."
('Majma' az-Zawa'id'; 9/276)


9. During the Caliphate of Hazrat of 'Umar ®, a fire was noticed in the desert. Hazrat 'Umar ®, asked Tamim al-Dari ® to assist him. They approached the area of the fire when Tamim al-Dari ® began to gather the fire with his hands and started shoving the fire into a hole in the ground. This was a karamah of Tamim al-Dari ®. (Tarikh Ibn Kathir, Vol. 6, the chapter on Miracles, and Sirat un-Nabi, Ibn Kathir, chapter on Mu'jizat)


10. Sa'id bin al-Musayyib, a famous Tabi, narrated: "Zayd bin Kharijah al-Ansari died during the reign of 'Uthman bin 'Affan. When he was wrapped in a shroud in preparation of the burial, a gurgling sound was heard coming from his chest. Then Zayd got up and said: "Ahmad! Ahmad! He is in the first Book! Abu Bakr has spoken the truth! 'Umar has spoken the truth! 'Uthman has spoken the truth!" [Authentically reported in 'al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah'; 6/293]


11. Sa'id then said: "Then, another man died shortly thereafter. When he was wrapped in a shroud in preparation for the burial, a gurgling sound was heard coming from his chest. The man then got up and said: "Zayd bin Kharijah has spoken the truth!”
['Majma' az-Zawa'id'; 8/230]


12. A Sahaba once pitched his tent on a plot of ground without realizing that he was doing so over a grave. After a while, he realized that his tent was over a grave for he could hear the recital of the Surah Mulk. He related the entire episode to the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam), who replied that the recital of Surah Mulk indeed assists the person within the grave and protects him from pain and punishment. (Tirmidhi Shareef)


From this episode, we see that the beloved servants of Allah are still alive within their graves, or else the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) would have merely disregarded the entire incident. But he did not do so. Rather, he commented on the excellences of the Sura Mulk, which means that he also accepted that the beloved servants of Allah Ta'ala are still alive within their graves.


13. It is recorded that in the period of Ameer-e-Mu'awiya (R) a canal was dug between Mecca and Medina. Co-incidentally, the canal passed through that plot of land where the Shuhada (Martyrs) of Uhud lay buried. A person while digging accidentally cut the foot of a Shaheed with a spade. As a result of this, blood began to flow from the blessed foot. We learn from this incident that aside from their souls, even the bodies of these great and beloved servants of Allah are alive. (Jazbul Quloob, Sharahus Sudr)


Imam an-Nawawi was a wali and a great scholar who authored many works. A karamah of his states that when the lantern extinguished for want of oil, Allah illuminated his finger for him at night so he could see and continue writing about the Religion. Imam Nawawi has mentioned some miraculous incidents of the Sahaba in his Riyadh as-Saliheen (Meadows of the Righteous):




1. Quraish ordered ‘Uqbah bin Al-Harith, whose father had been killed by Khubaib ® himself, to execute him. They also appointed someone to guard his corpse.   Al-Harith’s daughter reported that shortly before his execution, Khubaib ® was seen eating a bunch of grapes when no fruit was available in Makkah at that time. [In fact, it was nothing but sustenance bestowed upon him by Allâh.]


2. ‘Asim ibn Thabit, who had previously slain one of the Chieftans of Quraysh in the Battle of Badar. When the Quraysh were told that he had been slain, they sent a few of their men to bring something that might identify him. To their disappointment, they could not reach his corpse because a large swarm of hornets had been shielding him against any malicious mutilation. ‘Asim had already sought his Lord’s pledge to protect his body from mutilations by the polytheists. He had also kept aloof from any contact with the enemies of Allâh. On hearing this piece of news, ‘Umar ® exclaimed, “Allâh verily protects His believing slave after death just as He does during his lifespan.” ( from al- Bukhari)


3. Ibn Umar ® said that he never heard from ‘Umar say about anything that I conceive to be thus and thus, but that it turned out to be in accordance with what he had conceived.


4. Jabir bin Abdullah ® related that his father called him on the eve of Uhad and said: ‘I believe I’ll be the first among the Sahaba to be killed, and after the Holy Prophet (s) you’re the one most dear to me. Discharge my debts and treat your sisters well. The next morning, he was among the first to be killed and I buried him along with another in the same grave. Thereafter, I was not happy that I should leave him with another in the same grave. So I dug up his body after six months, and he was in the same condition as he was on the day I had buried him but for his ear. Then I buried him in a separate grave. (Bukhari)


5. Anas related that Holy Prophet’s (sallal laahu alaihi wassallam) two companions (Usaid ibn Huzair and Abbad ibn Bishar) left the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wassallam) late one dark night and perceived as if there were two lights in front of them. And, when they separated each had one light before him till the time he reached home.

6. Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "In the nations, before you,  there were people who were spoken to (by Allah). If there was to be such a man in my community, it would be 'Umar." [al-Bukhari. Muslim transmits it from 'A'isha.]


7. 'Urwa ibn az-Zubayr reported that Sa'id ibn Zayd ibn 'Umar ibn Nufayl had litigation instigated against him by Arwa bint Aws before Marwan ibn al-Hakam. She claimed that he had taken some of her land. Sa'id said, "Would I take any of her lands after what I heard from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?" He said, "What did you hear from the Messenger of Allah?" He said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, 'Anyone who wrongfully takes a hand's width of land will wear it around his neck down through seven earths.'" Marwan said to him, "I will not ask you for evidence after this." Sa'id said, "O Allah if she is lying, make her lose her eyesight and kill her in her land!" He said, "She did not die before her eyesight had gone, and while she was walking in her land, she fell into a pit and died." [Agreed upon] A variant of Muslim from Muhammad ibn Zayd ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar has something to the same effect and says that he saw her blind, groping for the wall, saying, "The invocation of Sa'id has struck me." She passed by a well in the house regarding which she had litigated and fell into it and it became her grave.

Bayhaqi and others quoted 'Abdullah ibn 'Ubayullah al-Ansari: "I was present when Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas was buried after being martyred during the Battle of Yamama. As he was being buried, 
people heard him say: 'Muhammad is God's Messenger, Abu Bakr is truthful, 'Umar is a martyr, and 'Uthman is pious and merciful.' We opened the grave only to find him dead." Thabit thus predicted 
'Umar's martyrdom even before 'Umar became caliph.
(Shifa', 1:320.)

Imam Tabarani and Abu Nu'aym in Dala'il al-Nubuwwa (Proofs of Prophethood) report from Nu'man ibn Bashir: "Zayd ibn Kharija died unexpectedly at the market. We took his body home. Women cried
around him for some time between the evening and the late evening prayers, when he was heard to say: 'Silence, silence!' and continued fluently: 'Muhammad is God's Messenger. Peace be upon you, O Messenger.' We examined him, and found that he was dead."

Traditionists also report, through authentic narrations having the certainty of mutawatir (a large chain of narrations in hadith) in meaning, that Companions often saw Gabriel with God's Messenger as Dihya, a very good-looking Companion. For instance, 'Umar, Ibn 'Abbas, Usama ibn Zayd, Harith, 'A'isha, and Umm Salama report: "We
frequently saw Gabriel with God's Messenger in the form of Dihya." Would they have said this if they could not see Gabriel?

(Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 1:212; Bukhari, 4:250; Bayhaqi, 7:52, 87.)

The Readers are reminded that we are not discussing the evidentiary miracles of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam, but only the karama (miracles or marvels of the pious and holy persons). 






To continue, Insha Allah…


NASIR

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