On Events Contrary to the Ordinary Course (Khawāriq al-ʿĀda)

باب فی خوارق العادۃ

بَابٌ فِيْ خَوَارِقِ الْعَادَةِ — Concerning Events Contrary to Custom (Extraordinary Occurrences)

قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: فَضَرَبْنَا عَلٰٓى اٰذَانِهِمْ فِي الْكَهْفِ سِنِيْنَ عَدَدًا ۝ ثُمَّ بَعَثْنٰهُمْ لِنَعْلَمَ أَيُّ الْحِزْبَيْنِ أَحْصٰى لِمَا لَبِثُوْٓا أَمَدًا

(al-Kahf 18:11–12)

Vocabulary: fa-ḍarabnā ʿalā ādhānihim — then We patted their ears and put them to sleep; fi'l-kahf — in the cave; sinīna ʿadadā — for years on end, for many years, for a counted number of years; thumma baʿathnāhum — then We raised them, made them get up and stand; li-naʿlama — so that it may become known to all of us; ayyu'l-ḥizbayn — which of these two groups; aḥṣā — the better reckoner, the one who remembers more; li-mā labithū amadā — how long a period they stayed.

Translation: Allah Most High says: Then We patted their ears in the cave and put them to sleep for many years. Then We raised them (from sleep) so that it might be known which of these two parties correctly counts the period that they remained (in the cave).

وَقَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى (حَاكِيًا عَنْ مَرْيَمَ): قَالَتْ أَنّٰى يَكُوْنُ لِيْ غُلٰمٌ وَّلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِيْ بَشَرٌ وَّلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيًّا ۝ قَالَ كَذٰلِكِ قَالَ رَبُّكِ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ وَّلِنَجْعَلَهٗٓ اٰيَةً لِّلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِّنَّا

(Maryam 19:20–21)

Vocabulary: qālat — Maryam said; annā — how, in what way, how so, from where?; yakūnu lī ghulām — I shall have a boy; wa-lam yamsasnī basharun — and no man has laid a hand on me — this is an allusion to marriage and intercourse; wa-lam aku baghiyyā — and I am not an adulteress or unchaste either; baghī — without the feminine tā', it is said of an unchaste woman; qāla — Jibrīl said; kadhāliki — it is just so; this is God's promise; He can give a son without a husband; qāla rabbuki — your Lord has said, your God has declared; huwa — this, i.e. giving a son without a husband;

ʿalayya hayyin — is easy for Me; wa-li-najʿalahu — and so that We may make him; āyatan li'l-nās — a sign for people, a miracle, a wonder of power; wa-raḥmatan minnā — and a mercy from Us; wa-kāna amran maqḍiyyā — and this matter is already decided; it will come to pass. Decree and destiny (qaḍāʾ wa-qadar) have been issued upon it.

Translation: And Allah Most High (relating the story of Maryam, peace be upon her) says: She said: How can I have a son, when no man has so much as touched me, nor am I an unchaste woman? (Jibrīl said:) Just so; your Lord has said that this is easy for Me, and that We may make him for people a wonder of power and Our mercy.

Gentlemen! Those people who do not accept miracles, and want to confine God's power within their own futile imaginings, and say that Bībī Maryam's husband was Yūsuf the carpenter — this is nowhere at all in the Qurʾān. He who created Ādam without mother and father — could He not create ʿĪsā (peace be upon him) without a father? We have no need to get into these absurdities. We regard God as absolutely All-Powerful (qādir-i muṭlaq). We regard His power as being beyond the circle of our imagination. Anyway!

وَقَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى: وَهُزِّيْٓ إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ تُسٰقِطْ عَلَيْكِ رُطَبًا جَنِيًّا

(Maryam 19:25)

Vocabulary: wa-huzzī — and shake; hazza – yahuzzu – hazzan — to shake; ilayki — towards yourself; bi-jidhʿi'l-nakhla — jidhʿ: trunk, tree, stem; al-nakhla: the date tree, the date-palm bush; i.e. shake the trunk of the date-palm forcefully; tusāqiṭ ʿalayki — they will fall upon you, will drop down; ruṭaban janiyyā — fresh dates; janā – yajnī – janyan — to pick fruit; ruṭab — fresh date.

Translation: And Allah Most High says: And shake the trunk of the date-palm towards yourself, forcefully; fresh dates will drop upon you (will fall).

عَنْ أَبِيْ هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ دَخَلَ رَجُلٌ عَلٰى أَهْلِهِ فَلَمَّا رَأٰى مَا بِهِمْ مِنَ الْحَاجَةِ خَرَجَ إِلَى الْبَرِّيَّةِ فَلَمَّا رَأَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ قَامَتْ إِلَى الرَّحٰى فَوَضَعَتْهَا وَإِلَى التَّنُّوْرِ فَسَجَرَتْهُ ثُمَّ قَالَتْ "اَللّٰهُمَّ ارْزُقْنَا" فَنَظَرَتْ فَإِذَا الْجَفْنَةُ قَدِ امْتَلَأَتْ قَالَ وَذَهَبَتْ إِلَى التَّنُّوْرِ فَوَجَدَتْهُ مُمْتَلِئًا قَالَ فَرَجَعَ الزَّوْجُ قَالَ أَصَبْتُمْ بَعْدِيْ شَيْئًا قَالَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ نَعَمْ مِنْ رَبِّنَا وَقَامَ إِلَى الرَّحٰى فَذَكَرَ ذٰلِكَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ أَمَا إِنَّهُ لَوْ لَمْ يَرْفَعْهَا لَمْ تَزَلْ تَدُوْرُ إِلٰى يَوْمِ الْقِيٰمَةِ.

(Reported by Aḥmad; Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

Vocabulary: al-raḥā — hand-mill; al-tannūr — oven; fa-sajarathu — then she lit it; qadi'mtalaʾat — it has become full.

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): A man went to his household. Then, when he saw the neediness that had befallen them, he went out towards the wilderness. Then, when his wife saw [this], she stood up and went to the hand-mill and set the mill [in place], and went to the oven and lit it. Then she said: "O Allah, give us something to eat." Then she looked, and the bowl (vessel) had become full. The narrator said: she went to the oven and found that it too was full. The narrator said: then her husband returned and said: "Did you get anything after I left?" His wife said: "Yes, from our Lord." And he went and stood by the hand-mill. Then he mentioned it to the Prophet ﷺ, and he said:

"Listen! If he had not lifted it, it would have kept turning until the Day of Resurrection." (Aḥmad reported it; Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

عَنْ أَنَسٍ أَنَّ أُسَيْدَ بْنَ حُضَيْرٍ وَعَبَّادَ بْنَ بِشْرٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا تَحَدَّثَا عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِيْ حَاجَةٍ لَهُمَا حَتّٰى ذَهَبَ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ سَاعَةٌ فِيْ لَيْلَةٍ شَدِيْدَةِ الظُّلْمَةِ ثُمَّ خَرَجَا مِنْ عِنْدِ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَنْقَلِبَانِ وَبِيَدِ كُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا عُصَيَّةٌ فَأَضَاءَتْ عَصَا أَحَدِهِمَا لَهُمَا حَتّٰى مَشَيَا فِيْ ضَوْئِهَا حَتّٰى إِذَا افْتَرَقَتْ بِهِمَا الطَّرِيْقُ أَضَاءَتْ لِلْآخَرِ عَصَاهُ فَمَشٰى كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا فِيْ ضَوْءِ عَصَاهُ حَتّٰى بَلَغَ أَهْلَهُ.

(Reported by al-Bukhārī; Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

Vocabulary: shadīdati'l-ẓulma — pitch dark; yanqalibān — the two returning; ʿuṣayya — a little stick; aḍāʾat — it lit up.

Translation: Ḥaḍrat Anas [narrates that] Usayd and ʿAbbād ibn Bishr were both with the Prophet ﷺ, talking about some need of theirs, until an hour of a pitch-dark night had passed. Then they came away from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and in the hand of each was a small stick. Then the stick of one of them lit up for both of them, so that they kept walking in its light, until, when the path of the two separated, the stick of the other also lit up. So each of the two kept walking in the light of his own stick and reached his home. [reading uncertain] ibn Ḥuḍayr"; rendered from the Arabic | حضرت انس ابن اُسید اور عباد بن بشر]

عَنْ جَابِرٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ لَمَّا حَضَرَ أُحُدٌ دَعَانِيْ أَبِيْ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَقَالَ مَا أُرَانِيْ إِلَّا مَقْتُوْلًا فِيْ أَوَّلِ مَنْ يُقْتَلُ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَإِنِّيْ لَا أَتْرُكُ بَعْدِيْ أَعَزَّ عَلَيَّ مِنْكَ غَيْرَ نَفْسِ رَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَإِنَّ عَلَيَّ دَيْنًا فَاقْضِ وَاسْتَوْصِ بِأَخَوَاتِكَ خَيْرًا فَأَصْبَحْنَا فَكَانَ أَوَّلَ قَتِيْلٍ وَدَفَنْتُهُ مَعَ آخَرَ فِيْ قَبْرٍ.

(Reported by al-Bukhārī; Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

Vocabulary: wa-inna ʿalayya daynan — and I have the burden of a debt on me; wa-stawṣi bi-akhawātik — take to heart the instruction to live in kindness with your brothers [sic]. [reading uncertain]

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him): When the battle of Uḥud drew near, my father called me in the night and said: "I think that of the Prophet's ﷺ Companions the first person to be killed will be me; and after me I am not leaving behind anyone dearer to me than you, except the person of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And there is a debt on me — pay it off; and remember the instruction to live in kindness with your sisters." Then, when morning came, he was the first martyr, and I buried him in a grave together with another person.

عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمٰنِ بْنِ أَبِيْ بَكْرٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ إِنَّ أَصْحَابَ الصُّفَّةِ كَانُوْا أُنَاسًا فُقَرَاءَ وَإِنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ مَنْ كَانَ عِنْدَهُ طَعَامُ اثْنَيْنِ فَلْيَذْهَبْ بِثَالِثٍ وَمَنْ كَانَ عِنْدَهُ طَعَامُ أَرْبَعَةٍ فَلْيَذْهَبْ بِخَامِسٍ أَوْ سَادِسٍ وَإِنَّ أَبَا بَكْرٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ جَاءَ بِثَلَاثَةٍ وَانْطَلَقَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِعَشَرَةٍ وَإِنَّ أَبَا بَكْرٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ تَعَشّٰى عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ثُمَّ لَبِثَ حَتّٰى صُلِّيَتِ الْعِشَاءُ ثُمَّ رَجَعَ فَلَبِثَ حَتّٰى تَعَشَّى النَّبِيُّ

صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَجَاءَ بَعْدَ مَا مَضٰى مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا شَاءَ اللّٰهُ قَالَتْ لَهُ امْرَأَتُهُ مَا حَبَسَكَ عَنْ أَضْيَافِكَ قَالَ أَوَمَا عَشَّيْتِيْهِمْ قَالَتْ أَبَوْا حَتّٰى تَجِيْءَ فَغَضِبَ وَقَالَ وَاللّٰهِ لَا أَطْعَمُهُ أَبَدًا فَحَلَفَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ أَنْ لَا تَطْعَمَهُ وَحَلَفَ الْأَضْيَافُ أَنْ لَا يَطْعَمُوْهُ قَالَ أَبُوْ بَكْرٍ هٰذَا مِنَ الشَّيْطٰنِ فَدَعَا بِالطَّعَامِ فَأَكَلَ وَأَكَلُوْا فَجَعَلُوْا لَا يَرْفَعُوْنَ لُقْمَةً إِلَّا رَبَتْ مِنْ أَسْفَلِهَا أَكْثَرَ مِنْهَا فَقَالَ لِامْرَأَتِهِ يَا أُخْتَ بَنِيْ فِرَاسٍ مَا هٰذَا قَالَتْ وَقُرَّةِ عَيْنِيْ إِنَّهَا الْآنَ لَأَكْثَرُ مِنْهَا قَبْلَ ذٰلِكَ بِثَلَاثِ مِرَارٍ فَأَكَلُوْا وَبَعَثَ بِهَا إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَذَكَرَ أَنَّهُ أَكَلَ مِنْهَا.

(Agreed upon [al-Bukhārī and Muslim]; Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.)

Vocabulary: taʿashshā — he ate the evening meal; thumma labitha — then he stayed on; abaw — they refused.

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: The Companions of the Ṣuffa were a few needy people, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever has food for two people, let him take a third along; and whoever has food for four people, let him take a fifth or a sixth." And Abū Bakr brought three people, and the Prophet ﷺ ten people. And Abū Bakr ate the evening meal with the Prophet ﷺ, then stayed on until ʿishāʾ had been prayed; then he came back from the prayer and stayed on until the Prophet ﷺ had eaten his evening meal; and (Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him) came (home) after as much of the night had passed as Allah willed. Then his wife said to him: "Who kept you from your guests?" He said: "Have you not given them their evening meal?" She said: "They refused until you should come." Then he became angry and said: "By God, I shall never eat (this food)." Then his wife too swore that she would not eat it, and the guests too swore that they would not eat it. Then Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "All this was from Satan." Then he had the food brought, and he ate, and they ate too. And they would not lift a single morsel but that more than it would grow up from beneath it. Then he said to his wife: "O woman of Banū Firās, what is this?" She said: "And (by) the coolness of my eyes! Now it is three times more than before." Then they ate, and he sent it to the Prophet ﷺ, and it is mentioned that he too partook of it.

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهَا قَالَتْ لَمَّا مَاتَ النَّجَاشِيُّ كُنَّا نَتَحَدَّثُ أَنَّهُ لَا يَزَالُ يُرٰى عَلٰى قَبْرِهِ نُوْرٌ.

(Reported by Abū Dāwūd.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: When the Najāshī passed away, we used to say that indeed light would always be seen over his grave.

عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُمَا بَعَثَ جَيْشًا وَأَمَّرَ عَلَيْهِمْ رَجُلًا يُدْعٰى سَارِيَةَ فَبَيْنَمَا عُمَرُ

يَخْطُبُ فَجَعَلَ يَصِيْحُ يَا سَارِيَ! الْجَبَلَ فَأَسْنَدْنَا ظُهُوْرَنَا إِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَهَزَمَهُمُ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى.

[reading uncertain]

(Reported by al-Bayhaqī in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwa.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿUmar that Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent an army and made a man who was known by the name of Sāriya its commander. Then, while Ḥaḍrat ʿUmar was delivering the sermon, he began to cry out: "O Sāriya, the mountain!" (hold fast to the mountain). [Then a messenger came from the army and said: O Commander of the Faithful, we came face to face with the enemy and they defeated us; then suddenly a crier cried out: "O Sāriya, hold fast to the mountain!"] So we set our backs against the mountain, and Allah Most High defeated them (the enemy).

عَنْ أَبِيْ هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ هَلْ سَمِعْتُمْ بِمَدِيْنَةٍ جَانِبٌ مِنْهَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَجَانِبٌ مِنْهَا فِي الْبَحْرِ قَالُوْا نَعَمْ فَقَالَ لَا تَقُوْمُ السَّاعَةُ حَتّٰى يَغْزُوَهَا سَبْعُوْنَ أَلْفًا مِنْ بَنِيْ إِسْحٰقَ فَإِذَا جَاءُوْهَا نَزَلُوْا فَلَمْ يُقَاتِلُوْا بِسِلَاحٍ وَلَمْ يَرْمُوْا بِسَهْمٍ قَالُوْا لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰهُ وَاللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ فَيَسْقُطُ أَحَدُ جَانِبَيْهَا فِي الْبَحْرِ ثُمَّ يَقُوْلُوْنَ الثَّانِيَةَ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰهُ وَاللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ فَيَسْقُطُ جَانِبُهَا الْآخَرُ.

(Part of a longer hadith; Muslim.)

Translation: It is narrated from Ḥaḍrat Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Have you heard anything about a city one side of which is on land and one side of which is in its sea?" They said: "Yes indeed (we have heard)." Then he said: "The Hour will not be established until seventy (70) thousand of the Banū Isḥāq wage war on this city. Then, when they come to it and alight, they will neither fight with any weapon nor shoot a single arrow. They will say 'Lā ilāha illa'llāhu wa'llāhu akbar', and one part of it will fall into the sea; then they will say a second time 'Lā ilāha illa'llāhu wa'llāhu akbar', and its other part will fall."