CHAPTER VIII

The Amazing Gift for  Prognostication

The Prophet is no doubt human. 
But another question, is he an ordinary man? 
No, never.
An extraordinary man.
His transcendental perception,
His talent for prophesy,
It was prodigious, even beyond that,
It was stupendous and extraordinary.  
Of many instances, let one be cited here.  
Adiyyu Bin Hathimuthai was a ruler. According to his decree, he was entitled to one fourth of the earnings of the people of his country. As an irony of fate, he happened to be the son of the illustrious and generous Fathima. It was the time when the campaign of the true religion was spreading far and wide.
Adiyyu who knew that to have anything to do with the True Path centered around love and respect or even to contact with them would jeopardise his selfish and vested interests over which he bestowed meticulous attention, kept amicable relations with the enemies of the true religion.
Adiyyu, who spared no pains to tarnish the celebrity of the Prophet, and employed all machinations to hinder the progress of the true religion was one of the well-known enemies of Islam in those days. Medina was at that time shaping up as a prefect paradigm of an Islamic city. The transformation of that nation into the Islamic pattern serves a glittering testimony in the annals of history. Individuals and families were showing great enthusiasm over embracing the new religious philosophy. Adiyyu who happened to see the circle of power of the Islamic nation centered in Medina as the capital went on widening, gave in to fear and panic. Having realised that the euphoria of the Din of truth would soon spread and cover his own country he decided to flee from there immediately. His destination was the nearby Syria. He started his journey for safety, gathering together all the members of his family. Amidst his panic he forgot to take with him one of his sisters. Even though he thought for a moment of going back to pick her, he felt it a dangerous move. He did not really like to turn back lest he should lose all the valuables and his family and children. In Naiad, his sister was left alone. Nobody was there to accompany or help her in her solitude, so distressing and traumatic. As days passed, some of the disciples of the Prophet chanced to see her. She frankly told them her hard condition of having nobody to help.  The Prophet's disciples took her with them to Medina and brought her to the Prophet.
As she saw the Prophet, she burst into tears and opened her heart to him, "The Messenger of Allah, I have no father.  My only support was my brother, but he has fled the home and the country. So please do me some kindness. I beg you for your mercy". The Prophet asked her, "Who is your brother?"
She replied, "Adiyyu Bin Hathimuthai".
Having looked pensively at her face for a moment, the Prophet said as a soliloquy: "The enemy to Allah and His Prophet who fled for fear of truth". When she heard this from the Prophet, the young woman, inferring she could expect no kindness from him, started weeping. The Prophet who could not bear to see anguish welling up in the human mind, told her, "I do feel mercy on you, what should I do for you?"
The young woman did not mince her words, and said, "My brother and relatives are in Syria.  I must reach them".  
"Right, but don't be in haste. When you come across someone you can rely on for safely taking you there, let me know and until then, I shall take care of your security".
After some days when a merchant caravan that included some of her acquaintances reached Medina, she informed the Prophet. As he found the merchant group trustworthy, the Prophet sent the young woman with them, in fulfillment of his promise. As if her own parent, he provided her with the carriage, food, clothes and also the money for her necessary expenses and saw her off affectionately. All through the journey, her mind was flooded with the recollections of the Prophet's affection and respect for her and his compassionate words. She felt the image of the Prophet's face alight with divine refinement was clinging to her mind, refusing to banish. On reaching Syria, the young woman approached her brother with too much indignation and anguish. 'You are indeed a traitor betraying the family. You did not forget to bring your wife and kids and forsook the blood relative', she exploded.
These words moved him into rethinking and were caught by a deep sense of guilt. Remorseful to the core, Adiyyu tried to convince her of his terrible fear and helplessness in those days. When all outbursts calmed down, she explained to him her experiences. When he heard of the help and relief afforded by the Prophet Muhammed and his companions, Adiyyu was amazed. He watched her eyes shining and her face brightening.
Adiyyu started feeling that he was being influenced by baseless calumny and hearsay until that moment and thereby had lost the reason to understand a great man.
All on a sudden, he shuddered at hearing a thundering command, 'Start immediately, you were in the midst of misgivings. If he is the Messenger of Allah, try to secure the reward for being the first to go to him from among the sinners. Don't tarry, start forthwith.' Without uttering a word, Adiyyu set out and as though under the spell of the irresistible command, he made for Medina fast. On learning that the Prophet was at the masjid, he went there and introduced himself. It was the moments of rejoice for the Prophet. He took Adiyyu affectionately to his residence. Having entered the house, the Prophet brought out a pillow made of strands of the date palm fronds and told him to sit.
After seating the guest on the pillow, the Prophet sat on the floor. It filled surprise in the Adiyyu's mind. He said to himself 'One thing is certain, he is not a king at all.'
After exchanging wishes the Prophet asked him, 'Adiyyu, is it not a religion composed of both Christian and Swabiee Principles that you believed in?'
'Yes', said Adiyyu. 
'You forcefully collected from the people one fourth of their income. Would your religion approve of it in truth?', the Prophet asked. 'No, never', Adiyyu was accepting whatever the Prophet had in his mind. By this exchange, Adiyyu was convinced that all the allegations he had heard about the Prophet were baseless and that Muhammed was the true Messenger of God. Some moments of silence passed, nobody uttered a word to disrupt the silence.
As the Prophet divined that Adiyyu had not completely shaken off his suspicions and his mind was not yet fully ready to accept the true religion, he opened before him the magnificent casket of prophesies, "Adiyyu, it may be the starvation and hardships among Muslims that hinder you from embracing the true religion, but I  swear by Allah, it is not long before the days when food would accumulate in their midst, with none in need. Adiyyu, it may be because the Muslims are fewer than the enemies that you are not yet prepared to accept the true path. But, I swear by Allah, you would certainly hear that a woman could walk alone from the remote Kadhisiyya to visit the Holy Kaa'ba, fearing none but Allah. Adiyyu, it may be that the strength is on the enemy's side that keeps you away from this religion, but by Allah, you would for sure hear that the white forts of Babylonia have fallen into the possession of Muslims. We would indeed take over the coffers of Kisra, the son of Hormose". 
Adiyyu kept the amazement and admiration he felt at each of the prophecies. But when he heard the third prophesy, he could no longer contain himself and asked: 
"Kisra"s fort? The forts and coffers of Kisra, the son of Hormose?"
Without any room for doubt, the Prophet articulated with clarity, 
"Yes, the forts and coffers of Kisra himself".  
The words of the faithful, Muhammed, left no room for suspicion, he was always truthful. The path marked out by that great man leads but to truth and eternal peace. It is the divine path all could bank on. Adiyyu pursued that path. The history bears a glowing testimony to the realisation of the three prophesies before long.
The days of Omer Bin Abdul Aziz - the age when there was none needy enough to receive zakkat - the period of prosperity, riches and all opulence, the time when any woman from the remote Kadhisiyya could at any time reach safely the holy Mecca-- during the period of Umarul Farook, all the great places and white forts came under the power of the believers. All of the prophet's prophecies came true.