Sixteenth Sign.Part6

THE SECOND KIND

Eighth: The First is the famous soothsayer, Shiqq, who had only one eye, one arm, and one leg; he was quite simply half a man. His repeated predictions concerning the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH) have passed into the history books, with the certainty of ‘consensus in meaning.’

The Second is the famous soothsayer of Damascus, Satih, who was a monstrosity lacking bones, and even limbs, whose face was in his chest and who lived a very long time. He was highly reputed at that time for the correct information he gave concerning the Unseen.

The Persian king, Chosroes, even, sent a learned envoy called Mubezan to ask Satih to interpret a strange dream he had at the time of Muhammad’s birth, in which the fourteen pinnacles of his palace collapsed. Satih said: “Fourteen men will rule over you, then your empire will be destroyed. Also someone will come who will announce a religion; he will abolish both your religion and your empire,” sending news of this to Chosroes. In this way, Satih explicitly foretold the coming of the Prophet of the end of time.As written in detail in the books of history and the Prophet’s biography, soothsayers like Sawad b. Qarib al-Dawsi, Khunafir, Af‘a Najran, Jidhl b. Jidhl al-Kindi, Ibn Khalasat al-Dawsi, and Fatima bint al-Nu‘man al-Najariyya, foretold the coming of the Prophet of the end of time, stating that that Prophet was Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace).

Also, one of ‘Uthman’s relations, Sa‘d b. bint al-Kurayz, received knowledge from the Unseen by means of soothsaying about the prophethood of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace). In the early days of Islam, he told ‘Uthman Dhi’l-Nurayn to go and accept faith. ‘Uthman did so and entered the fold of Islam at the beginning. Sa‘d expressed the event with a poem, which went like this:Through my words, God has guided ‘Uthman to the sourceThat yields righteousness; truly God guides to the truth. Like soothsayers, jinns who were invisible but whose voices were heard, called hâtif, repeatedly foretold the coming of God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace).

For example: An invisible jinn shouted out the following to Dhayab b. al-Harith, and was the reason of he and others accepting Islam: “O Dhayab! O Dhayab! Listen to the oddest thing: Muhammad has appeared with the Book. He is calling on Makkah, yet they do not respond to him!”

Another unseen jinn called out to Sama‘ b. Qarrat al-Ghatafani, “The truth has come in manifest radiance, the false is destroyed and uprooted,” and caused him and some others to believe.

Such messages and good tidings of unseen jinns are extremely well-known and numerous.

Just as the voices of jinns and the soothsayers foretold him, so did the idols and sacrifices slaughtered for the idols who gave news of the prophethood of God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). For example:

One is the famous story of the idol of the Mazan tribe, who shouted out: “This is the Prophet who has been sent; he comes with the revealed truth,” telling of Muhammad’s (PBUH) prophethood.

Another is the well-known incident which caused ‘Abbas b. Mardas to accept Islam: there was an idol called Dimar, which one day called out: “Dimar was worshipped before the declaration of Muhammad; that misguidance can no longer continue.”

Before he accepted Islam, ‘Umar heard an animal sacrificed to an idol exclaim: “O sacrificer, the means of success are at hand: an eloquent man proclaiming, No god but God!”

There are many more examples like these, which have been accepted as authentic and narrated in reliable books.

And just as soothsayers, gnostics, invisible jinns, and even idols and sacrifices told of Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership, and each instance was the cause of people coming to believe in him, so too inscriptions on stones over and in graves, and on gravestones, like “Muhammad, a worker of righteousness, the trustworthy,” were the means of some people coming to believe. Because, in the time shortly before Muhammad lived, there were only seven men bearing that name, and not one of them deserved the epithet of righteous and trustworthy.