Another type of miracle, a
mutawatir
one with various examples, is theProphet's healing of
the sick and wounded with his breath. In their en-tirety, such miracles are
mutawatir
134
in meaning. Certain incidents alsohave the certainty of
tawatur
in meaning. The rest should be regarded asauthentic
according to the scientific principles of Tradition, althoughtheir narration
depends on only one chain of transmission, because theyare related and verified
by discerning leaders of this science. Out of many relevant examples, we
cite only a few:
First example:
Qadi 'Iyad reports in his
Shifa',
through numerouschannels and a chain of exalted
narrators from Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, aservant and military commander of God's
Messenger, commander-in-chief of the army that conquered Persia during 'Umar's
caliphate, andone of the ten Companions promised Paradise during their life. He
said:"I was beside God's Messenger during the Battle of Uhud. He shot
ar-rows at the unbelievers until his bow was broken, after which he beganto
give his arrows to me. Each time he gave me a featherless arrow, heordered me
to shoot it, which I did. And it flew like one with feathers,piercing an
unbeliever's body. In the meantime, Qatada ibn Nu'man washit and one of his
eyeballs protruded. God's Messenger used his hand toreplace the eyeball in its
socket. The eye healed at once, as if nothing hadhappened, and became even
better than the other one."
135
This incident became so well-known that when one of Qatada's
grand-sons met Caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, he presented himself with
thefollowing poetical statement:
134.mutawatir: reported unanimously135.Shifa', 1:322, related
by Ibn Ishaq, Tabarani, and Bayhaqi.
I am the son of the personwhose eye protruded over his
cheek,But was wonderfully restored by the hand of Mustafa;Then it became as it
had been before; it wasThe most beautiful of eyes,and most wonderful was
its restoration.
During the Battle of Yawm Dhiqarad, an arrow hit Abu Qatada's
face.God's Messenger wiped the injured man's face, and Abu Qatada said:
"Inever felt the pain, nor did the wound fester."
136
Second example:
Authentic books of Tradition, primarily
Sahih al-Bukhari
and
Sahih Muslim
, report: 'Ali, who was suffering greatly fromsore
eyes, was appointed standard-bearer during the Battle of
Khaybar.The pain ceased when God's Messenger applied his healing saliva
to'Ali's eyes, and his eyes became much better. The next morning,
'Ali joined the battle and, pulling up the citadel's heavy iron gate and
using itas a shield, conquered the stronghold of Khaybar.
137
In the same
battle,Salama ibn Akwa's leg wound was healed when God's Messenger breathed
upon it.
138
Third example:
The Prophet's biographers, including al-Nasa'i,
relatethat 'Uthman ibn Hunayf said: "Pray for my eyes to open." God's
Mes-senger told him to perform ablution, pray two
rak'ats
, and then say: "OGod, my appeal is to You, and I turn
toward You through ProphetMuhammad, the Prophet of mercy. O Muhammad, I turn
toward Godthrough you, that He uncover my sight. O God, make him my
inter-cessor." He went to do as he was told. When he returned, we saw that
hiseyes had been opened already.
139
Fourth example:
Ibn Wahb, a great Tradition authority, reports:
WhenMu'awwidh ibn 'Afra, one of the martyrs of the Battle of Badr,
foughtwith Abu Jahl, the accursed Abu Jahl cut off one of his hands.Mu'awwidh
took his severed hand to God's Messenger. The Messengerstuck the amputated hand
onto Mu'awwidh's wrist and applied hissaliva to it. It healed at once, and
Mu'awwidh returned to the battle andfought until he was martyred.
140
Ibn Wahb reports that during the
same battle, Hubayb ibn Yasaf received such a sword blow on the shoulderthat
it seemed that his shoulder had been split in two. God's Messenger
136.Shifa', 1:322, related by Tirmidhi and
Bayhaqi.137.Bukhari, 4:58; Ibn Hanbal, 1:85; also related by Muslim and
Tabarani.138.Bukhari, 5:170; Shifa', 1:323.139.Tirmidhi, Da’wat 119 no: 3578;
al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak i, 526; Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa vi, 166; Qadi Iyad,
al-Shifa’ i, 322.140.Shifa', 1:324; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', 1:656.
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held the parts together, breathed on them, and the wounded
shoulderhealed.
141
Although these two Traditions are reported by only one
Companion,their occurrence can be regarded as certain, since they happened
duringa battle that was itself a source of miracles, were verified by such a
greatauthority as Ibn Wahb, and similar incidents also are reported. In
fact,nearly 1,000 examples established through authentic narrations
indicatethat the Messenger healed wounds.
Question:
You qualify many of these Traditions as
mutawatir
, whereaswe are hearing most of them for the first time. How
could a
mutawatir
Tradition remain unknown for so long?
Answer:
Many
mutawatir
facts are obvious to religious scholars andunknown to
others. Many Traditions that are
mutawatir
to Traditionistsmay not be regarded by others as even
individually reported ones. Ax-ioms or theories in any branch of science are
evident only to the authorit-ies of that branch, and others must rely on the
authorities or enter that branch to make their own observations. All incidents we have cited sofar
are regarded as
mutawatir
by Traditionists, scholars of the
Shari'a,methodologists, and scholars of many other branches of knowledge,
ashaving the certainty of
tawatur
either in actual wording or in meaning. If the
uneducated are unaware of them and if those who blind themselvesto the truth do
not know them, it is their own fault.
Fifth example:
Imam Baghawi reports and verifies that during theBattle
of Khandaq (the Ditch), an unbeliever broke 'Ali ibn al-Hakam'sleg. When God's
Messenger stroked it, the leg was healed instantly. Thesoldier continued to
fight without even dismounting from his horse.
Sixth example:
Traditionists, primarily Imam Bayhaqi, relate that
onceImam 'Ali was very sick. As he was alone and groaning out a
prayer forhis cure, God's Messenger came in and asked God to heal him. He
thentold 'Ali to get up, touching him with his foot. 'Ali was healed at onceand
later said: "Since then I have never caught the same illness."
142
Seventh example:
This is the famous story of Shurahbil al-Jufi. A
tumorin his palm made it impossible for him to hold his sword and his
horse'sreins. God's Messenger wiped the tumor and massaged it until no sign
of it remained.
143
141.Shifa', 1:324, related by Bayhaqi, Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Kathir,
and Ibn Hajar.142.Ibn Hanbal, 1:107; Shifa', 1:323; Ibn Hibban, 9:47; Bayhaqi,
6:179.143.Majma' al-Zawa'id, 8:298, related by Tabarani and Bayhaqi.
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Eighth example:
Six children were honored with the Prophet's mir-acles.
They are as follows:• Ibn Abi Shayba, a man of perfect character
and profound researchand a well-known Traditionist, reports: "A woman
came to God'sMessenger with a retarded boy who could not speak. God's
Mes-senger rinsed his mouth with water, washed his hands, gave thewater to
the woman, and told her to have the boy drink it. Afterthe boy had done
so, he was cured completely and became so wiseand intelligent that he
was superior to even the most prudentperson."
144
• Ibn 'Abbas reports that an insane child
was brought to God's Mes-senger. The Messenger put his hand
on the child's chest, whichcaused the child suddenly to vomit a black
object resembling asmall cucumber. The child was cured instantly.
145
• Imam Bayhaqi and Nasa'i relate that a
boiling saucepan fell onMuhammad ibn Khatib's arm and entirely scalded it.
God's Mes-senger healed the boy by stroking the injured hand and
applyinghis saliva.
146
• A mute boy came to God's Messenger.
When God's Messengerasked him who he was, the boy said: "You are
The Messenger,"and began to speak.
147
• Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, the leading scholar
of his age and who washonored with conversation with God's Messenger many
timeswhile awake, related and verified that a newly born baby fromYamama
was brought to God's Messenger. When the Messengerturned his face to him, the
baby began to speak and said: "I bearwitness that you are the
Messenger." God's Messenger replied:"May God bless you." After
that, the baby never spoke during hisinfancy. He had been honored with
this miracle and the prayer of "May God bless you,"
148
and became famous with the titleMubarak al-Yamama (The
Blessed One from Yamama).• An ill-natured boy interrupted God's
Messenger by passing beforehim while he was praying. God's Messenger
said: "O God, let himnot leave any traces." After this, the boy
was punished for his bad behavior by becoming unable to walk.
149
144.Ibn Maja, no. 3532; Hakim, 2:618; Bayhaqi, 6:82.145.Ibn
Hanbal, 4:172; Darimi, 1:11-12; also related by Bayhaqi and Tabarani.146.Hakim,
al-Mustadrak, 4:62-63; also related by Tabarani and Bayhaqi.147.Ibn Kathir,
al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, 6:158, also related by Bayhaqi.148.Shifa', 1:319; Kanz
al-'Ummal, 4:379; Bayhaqi, 6:59.
64
• A shameless woman with the mind of a
child once asked for amorsel of food which God's Messenger was
eating. He gave herone, but she responded: "I want the one
in your mouth." God'sMessenger gave it to her. After eating it,
she became the shyestwoman in Madina.
150
Like these eight, there are perhaps 800 more examples of
similar mir-acles, most of which are recorded in the books of Tradition and his
bio-graphy. Since his hand was like a drugstore of Luqman, his saliva
thelife-giving water (elixir) of Khadr, and his breath the health-giving breath
of Jesus, and since humanity is subject to disease, many people re-sorted to
him. Sick, young, and insane people flocked to him and werecured.Abu 'Abd
al-Rahman al-Yamani (also known as Tawus), one of thegreatest Tabi'un scholars
and one who made pilgrimage times and per-formed the morning prayer with
ablution of the night prayer for yearscontinuously, stated with certainty:
"Whenever an insane person came toGod's Messenger, he or she was cured as
soon as the Messenger put hishand on his or her chest. There were no
exceptions." As such a great au-thority, one who lived during the last
phase of the Time of Happiness(the time of the Prophet and his four
Rightly-Guided Caliphs) had such adefinite conviction, it is unquestionable that
the Prophet cured everyonewho came to him. As this fact became known, we can
assume that thou-sands of people appealed to him.
149.Shifa', 1:328; Bayhaqi, 5:243; also related by Ibn
Hibban. [This incident should not bemisunderstood. The Messenger must have
discerned that the boy would cause greatharm for both himself and the
society and, in order to prevent this for the good of both the boy,
especially with respect to his eternal life in the Hereafter, and the soci-ety,
prayed against him. A similar significant incident is related in the Qur'an
(18:74,8 0-81) (Tr.)]150.Majma 'al-Zawa'id, 8:312; Shifa', 1:325; related by
Tabarani.
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