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Shahzad Ahmed, London, UK
Among life’s few certainties, death stands as an inescapable reality. Yet, its timing and manner remain forever beyond our knowledge. Despite the great advancement of humanity in every facet of knowledge and its pursuit of sciences, this enigma of life will always remain a hidden knowledge that belongs with none other than Creator Himself, as Allah the Almighty declares in the Holy Qur’an:
‘Verily, with Allah alone is the knowledge of the Hour. And He sends down the rain, and He knows what is in the wombs. And no soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.’ [1]
Indeed, how true and profound are the words of God Almighty that one’s knowledge is so extremely limited that they cannot even predict how their next day will fare, let alone make such an extraordinary prediction of the time and nature of their demise, or even anyone else’s, for that matter. It is for this reason that the incident of Hazrat Fatimah (ra), the beloved daughter of the Holy Prophet (sa) stands as a powerful testimony of how the knowledge of the unseen granted to Holy Prophet’s (sa) was by none other than Almighty Allah Himself.
On one occasion, Hazrat Fatimah (ra) came to visit the Holy Prophet (sa). After warmly welcoming her with great love and affection, he seated her beside him and then whispered something in her ear, which made her weep. He then uttered another secret to her, upon which she started laughing. Hazrat A’ishah (ra), who was witnessing this entire incident, remarked, ‘I had never seen joy and grief as closely as I saw on that day.’ When Hazrat A’ishah (ra) enquired what the Holy Prophet (sa) had said to her, Hazrat Fatimah (ra) refused to reveal the secret of the Holy Prophet [sa]. Sometime later, after the passing away of the Holy Prophet (sa), Hazrat A’ishah (ra) once again asked Hazrat Fatimah (ra) about it and she replied, ‘The Messenger (sa) of Allah said, “Every year Gabriel would revise the Qur’an with me once, but this year he has revised it twice. From this, I understand that my time has arrived.” So I started weeping, but then he said, “And you will be the first amongst my family to follow me,” and this caused me to laugh.
Upon reflection, the Holy Prophet (sa) mentioned two prophecies, one in relation to his own demise and the second that of Hazrat Fatimah (ra). Hazrat Fatimah (ra) was only in her twenties at the time, and many of the wives of the Holy Prophe (sa) were still alive, as were other family members who were older. Yet, just as he had foretold, that same year wherein the Holy Qur’an was revised twice by Gabriel, the Holy Prophet (sa) passed away. And only six months had passed since his demise, Hazrat Fatimah (ra) passed away at the age of just 29, thus becoming the first member amongst the family members of the Holy Prophet (sa) to pass away after him. [3]
Another prophecy of a similar nature was when the wives of the Holy Prophet (sa) once asked who would be the first to join the Holy Prophet (sa) after his demise. The Holy Prophet (sa) replied that it would be the one with the longest hands. Taking this statement to be fulfilled in its literal sense, the wives of the Holy Prophet (sa) would measure the length of their hands and Hazrat Sauda’ (ra) hand measured to be the longest. However, the first among them to pass away and join the Holy Prophet (sa) was in fact Hazrat Zainab (ra). It was then that they realised that by ‘longest hands’ it meant the one who was most charitable. Hazrat A’ishah (ra) narrates that she had not seen any other woman who would strive and toil with such effort and then spend so openly and abundantly in charity from her wealth than Hazrat Zainab (ra).[4] Hazrat Zainab (ra) indeed was the most charitable and generous amongst all the wives of the Holy Prophet (sa) and just as he had said, she was the first to join him after his demise amongst his noble wives.
The Holy Prophet (sa) foretelling both his own demise and that of his daughter, as well as the passing of his wife Hazrat Zainab (ra), are just some of the countless examples from his life which demonstrate that his knowledge was indeed divinely inspired. The prophecies of the Holy Prophet (sa) serve as powerful testimonies of the unseen knowledge of God Almighty granted to the Holy Prophet (sa) and his deep spiritual insight.
ENDNOTES
1. The Holy Qur’an, 31:35.
2. Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Manaqib, Hadith No. 3625, 3626.
3. Lajna Imaillah, Hazrat Fatimah al-Zahra (ra). https://files.alislam.cloud/urdu/pdf/Fatima-tuz-Zahra.pdf
4. Lajna Imaillah, Hazrat Zainab bint-e-Jahsh (ra)(Tilford, Surrey: Islam International Publications Ltd., 2007).
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