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PREDICTIONS
OF GOD’S MESSENGER CONCERNING HIS OWN TIME
¨
As reported by authentic books of Tradition including Sahih
al-Bukhari, one day, God’s Messenger mounted the pulpit.
With the highest dignity and solemnity, he first delivered a
sermon and then told the congregation to ask him whatever they
wished to. They asked him different questions and then a young
man stood up and asked who his father was. Since illicit
intercourse was widespread in pre-Islamic times, this young
man, whose name was ‘Abd Allah, was said by some to be the
son of one other than the man whom he called ‘father’. God’s
Messenger told him that his father was Hudafa al-Sahmi, the
one whom ‘Adbullah called ‘father’. Freed from
groundless accusations, ‘Adbullah was relieved and
thereafter was called ‘Adbullah ibn Hudafa al-Sahmi.
People
continued to ask questions until, eventually, ‘Umar,
noticing the anger of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, stood up and said: ‘We are pleased with God as
our Lord, with Islam as our religion, and with Muhammad as our
Messenger’. This eased the Prophet and he came down from the
pulpit.1
This
event took place before the whole congregation of the
Companions and no one was reported to contradict God’s
Messenger that day.
¨
‘Umar reports in a narration recorded in Sahih al-Muslim:
Before
the Battle of Badr started, God’s Messenger walked around
the battlefield and pointed to some locations, saying, Abu
Jahl will be killed here, Utba here, Shayba here, Walid here,
and so on. By God, we found, after the battle, the dead bodies
of all those men in the exact places that God’s Messenger
had pointed out.2
¨
Ahmad ibn Hanbal reports:
One
day, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was
sitting in the mosque together with his Companions. He told
them: In a few minutes, a man with a shining face will
come. He is one of the best people of the Yemen and he has on
his forehead the print of the hand of an angel.
After
a short while the man did come and, kneeling before God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, proclaimed his
conversion. He was Jarir ibn ‘Adbullah al-Bajali.3
¨
In his Dala’il al-Nubuwwa, Bayhaqi narrates:
Abu
Sufyan accepted Islam during the conquest of Makka, but belief
had not yet been established firmly in his heart. While God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was
circumambulating the Ka’ba, it occurred to him: ‘I wonder
what would happen if I formed a new army to confront this man
once more.’ No sooner had he conceived of this than God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, approached him and
said: If you do, then God will defeat you once again.4
This
led Abu Sufyan to have a more established belief and he begged
God’s forgiveness. He too, understood that the Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, was taught by God, the
All-Knowing.
¨
As related in the reliable books of Tradition, ‘Umayr ibn
Wahb, who was called a ‘diabolic man’ prior to his
conversion, conspired with Safwan ibn Umayya to assassinate
God’s Messenger.
‘Umayr
arrived in Madina to carry out his plot and, pretending to be
a Muslim, was taken to the mosque. The Companions had no
confidence in ‘Umayr so they formed a ‘stronghold’ of
bodies around God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings. The Messenger asked ‘Umayr why he had come to
Madina. Many lies as he invented, he could not convince God’s
Messenger, who retorted to him at last: As you are not
telling the truth, I will tell it. You conspired with Safwan
to kill me in return for a hundred camels.
‘Umayr
was struck by this answer and, holding the Prophet’s hands
tightly in awe and amazement, became a Muslim. He became so
deeply committed to Islam that he came to be called ‘a most
ascetic devotee of Islam.’5
1.
Bukhari, Fitan, 15.
2. Muslim, Janna, 76, 77.
3. I. Hanbal, 4.360-4.
4. I. Kathir, al-Bidaya, 4.348; Bayhaqi, Dala’il
al-Nubuwwa, 5.102.
5. Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al-Sahaba, 3.36.
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