Tag: Tarikh

Praise be to Allah.Al-Hallaaj was al-Husayn ibn Mansoor al-Hallaaj, who was known as Abu Mugheeth, or Abu ‘Abd-Allaah. He grew up in Waasit, or it was said in Tastar, and he was connected with a group of Sufis including Sahl al-Tastari, al-Junayd, Abu’l-Hasan al-Noori and others. 
He traveled to many places, including Makkah and Khurasaan, and India where he learned sihr (magic, witchcraft). He finally settled in Baghdaad, where he was killed. 
He learned magic in India, and he was a trickster and cheat. He deceived many ignorant people thereby, and they were attracted by him, until they thought that he was one of the greatest awliya’ (close friends or “saints”) of Allaah. 
He is liked by most of the Orientalists, and they think that he was killed wrongfully because, as we shall see below, his beliefs were close to Christian beliefs and he preached a similar message. 
He was executed in Baghdad in 309 AH, because it was proven by his own confession and otherwise that he was a kaafir and a heretic. 
The scholars of his time were agreed that he was to be executed because of the words of kufr and heresy that were narrated from him. 
The following are some of the things that he said: 
1-He claimed to be a prophet, then he went further and said that he was God. He used to say, “I am Allaah,” and he commanded his daughter-in-law to prostrate to him. She said, “Should I prostrate to someone other than Allaah?” He said, “There is a god in the heavens and a god on earth.”
2-He believed in incarnation and union with the Divine, i.e., that Allaah was incarnated in him, and that he and Allaah had become one and the same – exalted be Allaah far above that.
This is what made him acceptable to the Christian Orientalists, because he shared their belief in incarnation, for they believe that God was incarnated in Jesus (‘Eesa, peace be upon him). Hence al-Hallaaj spoke of divine nature and human nature as the Christians do. 
Some of the lines of verse that he composed said: 
“Glory be to the one Whose human form manifested the secret of His divinity
Then He emerged among His creation in the form of one who eats and drinks.” 
When Ibn Haneef heard these lines, he said, “May the curse of Allaah be upon the one who said this.” It was said to him, “This is the poetry of al-Hallaaj.” He said, “If this is what he believes, then he is a kaafir.” 
3-He heard someone reciting a verse from the Qur’aan, and he said, “I am able to compose something like that.”
4-Another of his lines of poetry says:
“People formed different beliefs about God, and I believe in everything that they believed.” 
These words imply that he approved of and believed in all forms of kufr that the misguided sects of humanity believe in, but it is a contradictory notion that no sound mind can accept. How can anyone believe in Tawheed and shirk at the same time? 
5-He said things which denied the pillars and basic principles of Islam, namely prayer, zakaah, fasting and Hajj.
6-He used to say that the souls of the Prophets had been reincarnated in the bodies of his companions and students. So he would say to one of them, “You are Nooh”; and to another, “You are Moosa”; and to another, “You are Muhammad.”
7-When he was taken out to be executed, he said to his companions, “Do not worry about this, for I will return to you after thirty days,” He was executed and he never came back.
Because of these sayings and others, the scholars were agreed that he was a kaafir and a heretic, and for this reason he was executed in Baghdad in 309 AH. Similarly, most of the Sufis denounced him and denied that he was one of them. Among those who denounced him was al-Junayd, and he was not mentioned by Abu’l-Qaasim al-Qushayri in his book in which he mentioned many of the Sufi shaykhs. 
The one who strove to have him executed and who held a council in which he ruled that he deserved to be executed was al-Qaadi Abu ‘Umar Muhammad ibn Yoosuf al-Maaliki (may Allaah have mercy on him). Ibn Katheer praised him for that and said, “One of his greatest and most correct judgements was his ruling that al-Husayn ibn Mansoor al-Hallaaj was to be executed.” (al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah, 11/172) 
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “Whoever believes what al-Hallaaj believed in and agrees with the ideas for which al-Hallaaj was executed, is a kaafir and an apostate, according to the consensus of the Muslims. For the Muslims executed him because of his belief in incarnation, union with the Divine and other heretical beliefs, such as his saying, ‘I am Allaah,’ and, ‘There is a god in the heavens and a god on earth.’ … Al-Hallaaj performed extraordinary feats and various kinds of magic, and there are books of magic which are attributed to him. In conclusion, there is no dispute among the ummah that whoever believes that Allaah can be incarnated in a human being and be as one with him, or that a human being can be a god, is a kaafir whose blood it is permissible to shed. On this basis al-Hallaaj was executed.”
(Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 2/480) 
He also said: “We do not know of anyone among the imams of the Muslims who spoke well of al-Hallaaj, neither among the scholars nor among the shaykhs. But some of the people did not comment on him because they did not know about him.”
(Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 2/483) 
For more information, see Taareekh Baghdaad by al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadi, 8/112-141; al-Muntazam by Ibn al-Jawzi, 13/201-206; Siyar A’laam al-Nubalaa’ by al-Shihaabi, 14/313-354; al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah by Ibn Katheer, 11/132-144 
And Allaah is the Guide to the Straight Path.

Praise be to Allah.
The highest number of wives of Sulaymaan (peace be upon him)
that is mentioned in the saheeh ahaadeeth is one hundred, as was narrated by
al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh (5242) from Abu Hurayrah who said:
“Sulaymaan ibn Dawood (peace be upon them both) said: ‘Tonight I will go
around to one hundred women, each of whom will give birth to a boy who will
fight for the sake of Allaah.’ The angel said to him, ‘Say in sha Allaah (if
Allaah wills).’ But he did not say it, as he forgot. He went around to them
but none of them gave birth, apart from one woman who gave birth to half a
child. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
‘If he had said in sha Allaah, he would not have broken his oath and he
would have had more hope of fulfilling his wish.’” (Narrated by Muslim,
1654). According to another report narrated by Muslim, he said ninety women.
According to a mu’allaq report narrated by al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh,
in the Chapter on seeking a son for jihad (Man talaba al-walad
li’l-Jihaad), he said ninety-nine women. 

Perhaps the one who said one hundred was rounding up the figure, and the one
who said ninety was rounding it down, as was suggested by al-Haafiz ibn
Hajar in his commentary on this hadeeth. 

But al-Haafiz ibn Hajar narrated in his story of Sulaymaan
(peace be upon him) in al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah, vol. 2, from many
of the salaf, that the number of Sulaymaan’s wives was one thousand.
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said likewise in Fath al-Baari, in his commentary
on hadeeth no. 3424. 

This number was narrated from the Children of Israel [i.e., the Jews], so we
neither believe it nor disbelieve it. There is nothing in the ahaadeeth
quoted above to either prove or disprove that. 

With regard to the reason for that, Allaah gives to those
whom He wills among His slaves whatever He wills of worldly power and
enjoyment. This is according to His great wisdom and grace. He is not to be
questioned about what He does, may He be glorified and praised. He gave to
Sulaymaan exclusively great power which He did not give to anyone after him.
So it is not far-fetched to suggest that He also gave him this great
strength which enabled him to marry this number of women. It should not
cross the mind of any Muslim that this matter implies any form of
belittlement towards this Prophet, rather it is a reflection of his perfect
power, virtue and manhood, and thus he hoped that Allaah would bless him, in
a single night, with one hundred sons, all of whom would go out as knights,
fighting for the sake of Allaah. But first and last we must believe that
Allaah creates whatever He wills and chooses, and none can overturn His
ruling or ward off His decree.

 And Allaah knows best.

Praise be to Allah.
Shaykh al-Shanqeeti (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

“(It was said to his son): ‘O Yahyaa
(John)! Hold fast the Scripture [the Tawraat (Torah)]’”

[Maryam 19:12 – interpretation of the meaning]

This means, ‘Hold fast the Tawraat’, i.e., by taking
it seriously and striving. That is to done by fist understanding the
texts correctly, then acting upon them in all aspects, believing in
its tenets, regarding as permissible that which it permitted and regarding
as forbidden that which it forbade, adhering to its etiquette, learning
lessons from its stories, and adhering to it in all other ways. Most
of the mufassireen say that what is meant here by al-kitaab (the
Scripture) is the Tawraat (Torah). 

“And We gave him wisdom while yet a child”

[Maryam 19:12 – interpretation of the meaning]

The scholars have a number of opinions as to what is
meant by wisdom, all of which are close in meaning and refer to one
thing, which is that Allaah gave him understanding of the Scripture,
so that he understood it and acted upon it whilst he was still a child. 

“And (made him) sympathetic to men”

[Maryam 19:13 – interpretation of the meaning]

This is mentioned in conjunction with wisdom, i.e., We
gave him sympathy (or compassion) from Us. Hanaan (sympathy,
compassion) means the mercy, compassion and empathy that was instilled
in him. The word hanaan is widely used among the Arabs to refer
to mercy and compassion, for example, they say, “Hanaanak wa hanaaneeka
yaa Rabb”, meaning, I ask for Your mercy O Lord. 

“and pure from sins”

[Maryam 19:13 – interpretation of the meaning]

This is mentioned in conjunction with the above, and
means, ‘We gave him purity’ i.e., he was free from sin and disobedience
because he obeyed Allaah and drew close to Him by means of that which
pleases Him. 

“and he was righteous”

[Maryam 19:13 – interpretation of the meaning]

This means, he obeyed the commands of his Lord and avoided
that which He forbade. So he never committed any sin and was never blamed
for any such action. 

“And dutiful towards his parents”

[Maryam 19:14 – interpretation of the meaning]

The word barr (dutiful) refers to one who does
acts of kindness, i.e., We made him honour his parents a great deal,
i.e., he was very kind towards them and treated them in a gentle manner. 

“and he was neither arrogant nor disobedient”

[Maryam 19:14 – interpretation of the meaning]

This means that he was not too arrogant to obey Allaah
or to obey his parents. Rather he was obedient towards Allaah and humble
towards his parents. This is the view of Ibn Jareer. Jabbaar
(arrogant) means one who is very oppressive towards people and mistreats
them. Everyone who is arrogant towards people and does them wrong is
described as jabbaar. 

“And Salaam (peace) be on him the day he was born,
and the day he dies, and the day he will be raised up to life (again)!”

[Maryam 19:15 – interpretation of the meaning]

Ibn Jareer said: “Salaam (peace) be upon him means”,
may he be safe and secure. The apparent meaning is that “And Salaam
(peace) be on him the day he was born” is a greeting from Allaah
to Yahyaa, and the meaning is safety and security. 

In Soorat Aal ‘Imraan Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning): 

“… noble, keeping away from sexual relations with
women, a Prophet, from among the righteous”[Aal ‘Imraan 3:39]

The word sayyid (translated here as “noble”)
means one who is obeyed and followed by a large number of people. 

The word husoor (translated here as “keeping
away from sexual relations with women”) means that he kept himself
away from women even though he was able to have relations with them,
as an act of devotion to Allaah. That was permissible according to his
law, but the Sunnah of the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is to marry, not to remain
celibate… 

In the phrase “a Prophet, from among the righteous”,
the word Nabi (Prophet) is derived from the word naba’, meaning
important news, because the Revelation is important news from Allaah.
The righteous are those whose belief, actions, words and intentions
are correct. Righteousness is the opposite of immorality or corruption.
Allaah described Yahyaa as righteous and He described the Prophets in
a similar manner in Soorat al-An’aam, where He says (interpretation
of the meaning): 

“And Zakariyya (Zachariya), and Yahya (John) and ‘Eesa
(Jesus) and Ilyaas (Elias), each one of them was of the righteous”

[al-An’aam 6:85]

Praise be to Allah.
Shaykh
al-Shanqeeti said, commenting on the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do
you think that the people of the Cave and the Inscription (the news
or the names of the people of the Cave) were a wonder among Our Signs?”
[al-Kahf 18:9]

The apparent meaning is that the People of the Cave and
of the Inscription were all one group, mentioned in conjunction with
two things. This is in contrast to those who say that the people of
the Cave were one group and the people of the Inscription were another
group. Allaah told this story to His Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon them) in this soorah, and He
did not mention anything about the people of the Inscription. This is
unlike those who claim that the people of the Cave were three persons
behind whom the rock fell and blocked the entrance of the cave in which
they were, so they prayed to Allaah by virtue of their righteous deeds;
they were one who honoured his parents, one who was chaste, and one
who was a hired labourer. Their story is well known and is proven in
al-Saheeh, but interpreting this aayah as meaning that these
were the people referred to therein is far-fetched as you can see. It
should be noted there is nothing about the story of the people of the
cave, their names and which part of the earth they were in that has
been narrated in any sound report from the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), in addition to what is
mentioned in the Qur’aan. The Mufassireen quoted many of those details
from the Israa’eeliyyaat (reports from Jewish sources) which we will
not quote here because they cannot be relied upon.

Praise be to Allah.His name was Yazeed ibn Mu’aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan ibn Harb ibn Umayaah al-Umawi al-Dimashqi.
Al-Dhahabi said: he was the commander of that army during the campaign against Constantinople, among which were people such as Abu Ayyoob al-Ansaari. Yazeed was appointed by his father as his heir, so he took power after his father died in Rajab 60 AH at the age of thirty-three, but his reign lasted for less than four years.
Yazeed is one of those whom we neither curse nor love. There are others like him among the khaleefahs of the two states (Umawi/Umayyad and ‘Abbaasi/Abbasid) and the governors of various regions, indeed there were some among them who were worse than him. But the issue in the case of Yazeed is that he was came to power forty-nine years after the death of the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); it was still close to the time of the Prophet and some of the Sahaabah were still alive such as Ibn ‘Umar who was more entitled to the position than him or his father or his grandfather.
His reign began with the killing of the martyr al-Husayn and it ended with the battle of al-Harrah, so the people hated him and he was not blessed with a long life. There were many revolts against him after al-Husayn, such as the people of Madeenah who revolted for the sake of Allaah, and Ibn al-Zubayr.
(Siyar A’laam al-Nubalaa’, part 4, p. 38)
Shaykh al-Islam described people’s attitudes towards Yazeed ibn Mu’aawiyah, and said:
The people differed concerning Yazeed ibn Mu’aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan, splitting into three groups, two extreme and one moderate.
One of the two extremes said that he was a kaafir and a munaafiq, that he strove to kill the grandson of the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to spite the Messenger of Allaah and to take revenge on him, and to avenge his grandfather ‘Utbah, his grandfather’s brother Shaybah and his maternal uncle al-Waleed ibn ‘Utbah and others who were killed by the companions of the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), by ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib and others on the day of Badr and in other battles – and things of that nature. To have such a view is easy for the Raafidis who regard Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthmaan as kaafirs, so it is much easier for them to regard Yazeed as a kaafir.
The second extreme group think that he was a righteous man and a just leader, that he was one of the Sahaabah who were born during the time of the Prophet and were carried and blessed by him. Some of them give him a higher status than Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, and some of them regard him as a prophet. Both views are obviously false to one who has the least common sense and who has any knowledge of the lives and times of the earliest Muslims. This view is not attributable to any of the scholars who are known for following the Sunnah or to any intelligent person who has reason and experience.
The third view is that he was one of the kings of the Muslims, who did good deeds and bad deeds. He was not born until the caliphate of ‘Uthmaan. He was not a kaafir but it was because of him that the killing of al-Husayn happened, and he did what he did to the people of al-Harrah. He was not a Sahaabi, nor was he one of the righteous friends of Allaah. This is the view of most of the people of reason and knowledge and of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah.
Then they divided into three groups, one which cursed him, one which loved him and one which neither cursed him nor loved him. This is what was reported from Imaam Ahmad, and this is the view of the fair-minded among his companions and others among the Muslims. Saalih ibn Ahmad said: I said to my father, some people say that they love Yazeed. He said, O my son, does anyone love Yazeed who believes in Allaah and the Last Day? I said, O my father, why do you not curse him? He said, O my son, when did you ever see your father curse anybody?
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi said, when he was asked about Yazeed: according to what I have heard he is neither to be cursed nor to be loved. He said, I also heard that our grandfather Abu ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Taymiyah was asked about Yazeed and he said: we do not deny his good qualities or exaggerate about them. This is the fairest opinion. 
Majmoo’ Fataawa Shaykh al-Islam, part 4, p. 481-484

Praise be to Allah.
The historians and some of the mufassireen
have stated that her name was Rahmah bint Meesha ibn Yoosuf ibn Ya’qoob. 

But this is something which is not proven
in any clear sound text, rather it was transmitted from the books of
the People of the Book, or by some Muslims from them. We shall list
those who were of this view and transmitted it: 

1 – Al-Suyooti said: Ibn ‘Asaakir narrated that Wahb
ibn Munabbih (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The wife of Ayyoob
(peace be upon him) was Rahmah (may Allaah be pleased with her) bint
Meeshaa ibn Yoosuf ibn Ya’qoob ibn Ishaaq ibn Ibraaheem (peace be upon
them).

(al-Durr al-Manthoor, 7/197. Also
in Tafseer al-Baydaawi, 3/310; Tafseer al-Qurtubi,
9/265; Tafseer al-Baghawi, 2/451) 

2 – Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said:

But these Israa’eeli (i.e., Jewish) reports
to be mentioned for the purpose of proving a point, they are not to
be believed. They are of three types:

(i)Those which we know are
sound because of evidence which we have which proves them to be true.
These are saheeh.

(ii)Those which we know are
false because of evidence which we have which contradicts them.

(iii)Those which we do not know
whether they are true or false. So we do not believe in them and we
do not disbelieve in them, but it is permissible to narrate them for
the reasons given above. 

Most of them are things which serve no
religious purpose, hence the scholars of the People of the Book differ
greatly concerning such things. The mufassireen also differed concerning
them as a result of that, as they mentioned, for example, the names
of the People of the Cave, the colour of their dog and their number,
or what kind of tree the staff of Moosa came from, and other matters
which Allaah did not mention in detail in the Qur’aan because knowing
the specific details does not serve any worldly or religious purpose. 

(Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 13/366-367). 

Al-Shanqeeti (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said:

 What the mufassireen have said
concerning the name of their dog – some said that its name was Qitmeer,
and some said that its name was Hamdaan, etc. – we need not dwell on
at length, because it serves no purpose. There are many things in the
Qur’aan which neither Allaah nor His Messenger has explained to us in
detail, and there are no proven reports concerning them; there is no
benefit to be gained by researching such matters. 

(Adwaa’ al-Bayaan, 4/48) 

And Allaah knows best.

Praise be to Allah.Where did Prophet Adam land on earth?
What is proven definitively in the Noble Quran is that Adam and Hawwa’ (peace be upon them) came down from Paradise to earth after they ate from the tree. 
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Then the Shaytan (Satan) made them slip therefrom (the Paradise), and got them out from that in which they were. We said: `Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time.’” [Al-Baqarah 2:36]
With regard to the place where they came down on earth, the Quran does not say anything about it, and there is no authentic, marfu` hadith in the Sunnah of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) which explains that, although there are some weak hadiths, such as the hadith that says: “Adam came down in India and felt lonely…”. This was narrated by Ibn `Asakir in Tarikh Dimashq (7/437) and classed as weak by Shaykh Al-Albani in As-Silsilah Ad-Da`ifah, no. 403. There are also other hadiths which speak of this matter, but their isnads are very weak. 
The only sahih reports about this matter are the words of some of the Salaf, most of which are taken from the knowledge of the people of the Book which were transmitted during their time. Such reports cannot be relied upon or trusted, and it is not permissible to believe in what they mention of things concerning which our religion is silent. Rather they may be narrated for the purpose of story-telling only. 
Scholarly opinions concerning where Prophet Adam landed on earth
Despite that, the scholarly opinions concerning this matter differ. 

Some of them said: Adam came down in India and Hawwa’ came down in Jeddah. 
Some of them said that they both came down in India. 
Some of them said that Adam came down in a land between Makkah and At-Ta’if called Dahna. 
Some of them said that Adam came down on As-Safa and Hawwa’ came down on Al-Marwah. 

Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:  
“As-Suddi said: Allah said (interpretation of the meaning): “Get you down, all” [Al-Baqarah 2:36]. So they came down; Adam came down in India and the Black Stone and a handful of leaves from Paradise came down with him, and he scattered them in India, and a perfume tree grew, which is the origin of what comes from India of perfume from the handful of leaves that Adam brought down. Adam only took them because of his sorrow at leaving Paradise when he was expelled from it. 
`Imran ibn `Uyaynah said, (narrating) from `Ata’ ibn As-Sa`ib, from Sa`id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn `Abbas, who said: Adam came down from Paradise in Dahna, in the land of India.  
Ibn Abi Hatim said: Abu Zar`ah told us: Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah told us: Jarir told us: from `Ata’, from Sa`id, from Ibn `Abbas who said: Adam (peace be upon him) came down in a land called Dahna, between Makkah and At-Ta’if. 
It was narrated that al-Hasan Al-Basri said: Adam came down in India and Hawwa’ in Jeddah, and Iblis in Dastumisan a few miles from Basrah, and the serpent came down in Asbahan. This was narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim.  
Ibn Abi Hatim said: Muhamamd ibn `Ammar ibn Al-Harith told us: Muhammad ibn Sa`id ibn Sabiq told us: `Amr ibn Abi Qays told us, from Ibn `Adiyy, from Ibn `Umar, who said: Adam came down on As-Safa and Hawwa’ on Al-Marwah.” (Tafsir Al-Quran Al-`Azim, 1/237) 
But all of these are words for which there is no evidence. 
And Allah knows best.

Praise be to Allah.The meaning of the hadeeth is clear and apparent,
and was borne out by  real events. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was stating that none of
the people who were alive at that time would live for more than a hundred
years, and this is what in fact happened. The last of the Sahaabah to
die passed away in 110 AH, i.e., he died one hundred years after the
Messenger (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) died. His name was Abu’l-Tufayl ibn Waathilah.
Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd
This hadeeth was narrated
by Imaam al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) in his Saheeh,
from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar, who said: “The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) led us in praying ‘Ishaa
towards the end of his life. When he had said the salaam, he
stood up and said: ‘Do you see this night of yours? One hundred years
from now, there will not be anyone left of those who are on the face
of the earth.’”
There follow some comments
made by Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) on this hadeeth:
“Led us in prayer” means as
an imaam.
“Towards the end of his life”. A corroborating
report narrated by Jaabir states that this was one month before he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died.
“Do you see” means, “Think about (this
night).”
“One hundred years from now” means, when
one hundred years have passed.
“There will not be anyone left of those
who are on the face of the earth” means, anyone who was alive at that
time.
Ibn Battaal said: What the
Messenger (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) meant was that during this time-span their generation
would pass away. He was pointing out to them how short their lives were
and that their lives were not like those of the nations who came before
them, so that they would strive hard in worship.
Al-Nawawi said: What is meant
is that everyone who was on the face of the earth on that night would
not live for more than one hundred years after that night, whether he
was young on that occasion or not. It does not mean that anyone who
was born after that night would not live for a hundred years. And Allaah
knows best.
This hadeeth is one of the
signs of the Prophethood of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He was speaking of future
events which came to pass as he described them. The trustworthy scholars
use this as evidence in refuting some of the Sufis who say that al-Khidr
is still alive until now.

Praise be to Allah.
There is no proof in the books of Sunnah and reports with
an uninterrupted, saheeh isnaad, to suggest that there was any earthquake
in Madeenah at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him). The only reports that speak of that have da‘eef, mursal isnaads
(i.e., they are weak). There follows further explanation: 

Firstly: 

It was narrated that Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwaan
said: The ground shook at the time of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) and he put his hand on it then he said: “Be
still, for it is not yet time for that.” Then he turned to face his
Companions and said: “Your Lord is asking you to seek forgiveness, so seek
forgiveness.” Narrated by Ibn Abi’l-Dunya in al-‘Uqoobaat (no. 18). :
‘Abd-Allaah told us, ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem told me, Abu Maryam
informed us, al-‘Attaar ibn Khaalid al-Harami informed us, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd
al-Malik ibn Marwaan told me. 

This isnaad is da‘eef (weak) and has a number of faults,
including: 

1.

It is a mu‘dal mursal report. Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ibn
Marwaan died in 266 AH, so how he could tell of something that happened at
the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) which no
one else narrated? 

2.

al-‘Attaar ibn Khaalid al-Harami – I did not find any
biography of him. 

Secondly: 

It was narrated that Shahr ibn Hawshab said: “There was an
earthquake in Madeenah at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) and he said: “Your Lord is asking you to seek
forgiveness, so seek forgiveness.”

Narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah in al-Musannaf (2/357). He
said: Hafs told us, from Layth, from Shahr. 

This isnaad is da‘eef and has a number of faults: 

1.

It is mursal. Shahr ibn Hawshab died in 112 AH, and did not
witness the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). 

2.

Moreover he (Shahr ibn Hawshab) is da‘eef (weak) in and of
himself, according to some scholars. Shu‘bah said: I do not pay any
attention to his reports. Al-Nasaa’i said: He is not strong. Ibn Hibbaan
said: He is one of those who narrated from trustworthy narrators problematic
reports. al-Bayhaqi said: He is da‘eef. Others regarded him as trustworthy.
Hence al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said concerning him: He is sadooq but he narrates
many mursal reports and is confused. See Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb, 4/371 

3.

Layth ibn Abi Sulaym – he is confused a great deal and we
cannot be certain about his hadeeth, so he was rejected. See Tahdheeb
al-Tahdheeb, 8/468 

Hence al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said in al-Talkhees al-Habeer
(2/222): This is mursal da‘eef. End quote. 

This report was also narrated from Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be
pleased with him), as reported in Tafseer al-Tabari (17/478): Bishr
narrated to us, Yazeed narrated to us, Sa‘eed narrated to us, from Qataadah,
that he said: “And We sent not the signs except to warn, and to make them
afraid (of destruction)” [al-Isra’17:59]. Allah causes people to fear Him by
whatever signs He wills, so that they might learn a lesson or be reminded or
come back (to Him). It was said to us that the ground shook in Kufah at the
time of Ibn Mas‘ood, and he said: O people, your Lord is asking you to seek
forgiveness, so seek forgiveness.  

To sum up, there is no proof that an earthquake took place at
the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him); rather
it happened after his time, at the time of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah
be pleased with him). That was narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah in al-Musannaf
(2/358) and by others from Naafi‘ from Safiyyah who said: The earth shook at
the time of ‘Umar, and he addressed the people and said: “If it happens
again, I shall definitely abandon you and leave.” That was mentioned by Ibn
al-Jawzi in al-Muntazam, among the events of the year 20 AH. 

And Allah knows best.

Praise be to Allah.You should note that Arabian societies before Islam were not atheistic societies that denied the existence of Allah, or societies that were unaware that there is a Lord, Creator and Provider. They knew that, and they still retained some traces of the religion of Ibraaheem, and they had contact with Jews and Christians. But their problem was that they did not worship Allah Alone in exclusion to others; they had other gods whom they associated in worship with Him, and which they worshipped not on the basis that they were the Lord, the Creator the Provider, but because they claimed that these were intermediaries who would intercede between them and Allah and bring them closer to Allah. Hence Allah said concerning them (interpretation of the meaning):
“And if you (O Muhammad) ask them: ‘Who has created the heavens and the earth,’ they will certainly say: ‘Allah’” [Luqmaan 31:25]
 This indicates that they acknowledged that Allah is the Creator. Another aayah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And verily, if you ask them: ‘Who created the heavens and the earth?’ Surely, they will say: ‘Allah (has created them)’”
[al-Zumar 39:38]  
Many aayaat indicated that they believed in the Unity of Lordship (Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah); their shirk was with regard to divinity (uloohiyyah), as Allah says concerning them (interpretation of the meaning):
“And those who take Awliyaa’ (protectors, helpers, lords, gods) besides Him (say): ‘We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah’” [al-Zumar 39:3] 
i.e., they said, we only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah.