Miraculous Events at the Time of The Holy Prophet's Birth

Numerous miraculous incidences were observed at the time of Prophet Muhammad's birth. Some of the miracles were seen at the precinct of the Holy Prophet's birth, while others were observed in far off areas.

A Severe Earthquake

A series of miraculous events occurred simultaneously in the land of Persia starting with a huge earthquake. The earthquake hit a vast area with a tremendous force at the night of Prophet Muhammad’s birth. The accounts narrate that the aftershocks of this severe earthquake continued for three days and three nights, which effected a large area of the Persian Empire, Arabian Peninsula, Syria and parts of Central Asia. According to many historical and geographical texts (both in Arabic and Persian), this earthquake was so powerful that the Lake of Saveh dried up. The fire temple of Pars extinguished and the columns of the Vault of Khosrow-the major royal palace of Sassanian kings-collapsed. Ali ibn Ibrahim Halabi states:

  وليلة ولادته صلى الله عليه وسلم تزلزلت الكعبة، ولم تسكن ثلاثة أيام ولياليهن وكان ذلك أول علامة رأت قريش من مولد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم. ¹

  On the night of the (Holy) Prophet's birth, there was an earthquake in the Ka'bah and it trembled for three days and three nights. This was the first sign that Quraysh saw of the birth of the (Holy) Prophet's .

Al-Suyuti has also quoted a similar narration in Al-Khasais Al-Kubra. ² This earthquake also caused the destruction of fourteen galleries of Khosrow’s palace. Abu Nua’ym elucidates:

  لما كان لیلة ولد فیھا رسول الله صلی الله علیه وسلم ارتجس ایوان كسرى وسقطت منه اربعة عشر شرافة. ³

  On the night in which the (Holy) Prophet was born, the palace of Kisra began to shake, and fourteen of its galleries fell down.

This earthquake also caused the extinction of Magian's sacred fire in Zoroastrian's fire temples of Persia which was burning for centuries. Beside this, many fire temples around Lake Saveh collapsed after the Holy

arrival into this world. Abu Nua’ym states:

  وخمدت نار فارس ولم تخمد قبل ذلك بالف عام. ⁴

  (On the night in which the (Holy) Prophet was born) the fire of Persia's fire temple got extinguished, though it never ceased to burn for the past thousand years.

Sheikh Yousuf ibn Ismail Nabhani narrates:

  وخمدت نار فارس مع ایقاد خدامھا لھا وكتب صاحبن فارس لكسرى ان بیوت النار خمدت تلك اللیلة ولم تخمد قبل ذلك بالف عام. ⁵

  Fire of Persia remained extinguished even though the servants tried to rekindle it. The governor of Persia wrote about the incident to the Kisra (Emperor of Persia) that: (the night when the Holy Prophet was born) all the fireplaces were extinguished, even though it had never happened in the past thousand years.

According to Halabi, the fall of fourteen galleries of Khosrow’s palace was an indication from

, as a sign of the sacred birth of Last Messenger . ⁶ Other events, such as the extinction of the sacred fire, are also considered as a miracle which signaled the birth of Prophet Muhammad , because such events had never occurred before.

Disappearance of the Lake Saveh

On the night of Prophet Muhammad's birth, Lake Saveh, the famous lake of Persia, dried out. This lake dried up as if it had never had water in it, even though it was very deep and covered a lot of area. ⁷ Since this lake had dried out at that time, finding evidence for its location and the occurrence of the quake was difficult. However, Morteza Djmali elucidates that the etymology of some geographical names in the region of Saveh is fruitful in finding the probable site of the lost Lake of Saveh. According to the native people of Saveh, the name was originally ‘Seh Aabeh’ which referred to three waters. These waters each had formed parts of a very large lake in central Iran. The Lake of Saveh had been one part which disappeared at the time of the birth of Prophet Muhammad . Houz-i-Sultan (SW of Tehran) and Daryacheh-i-Namak (NE of Kashan) are presently two salt lakes believed to be the remains of that quite vast lake. Zarand is a vast plan 30 km north of Saveh. Zarand is translated as the site or place of a lake or sea. No specific town or village exists there, bearing the name of Zarand and the origin of the name is still mysterious. Zarand is a much probable more site for a lake to exist. Morteza Djmali further explains the cause of disappearance of lakes, that lakes are transient features on the Earth surface. They can appear as rapidly as they disappear. Natural phenomena such as landslides (earthquake induced or not) and volcanic eruptions-by damming the river valleys are the major lake forming processes. In ‘the history of Persian earthquakes’, Ambrasseys and Melvile enumerate the catastrophic historical earthquake recorded in the Persian texts. They do not deny the probable occurrence of an earthquake causing the dry out of a lake in Saveh. It reflects from the geographical evidences in Zarand plain that there was a lake in this region, which suddenly disappeared from the surface of earth because of effects of an intensive natural disaster, such as an earthquake which occurred on the night of Prophet Muhammad's birth. ⁸

Emergence of Glorious Light

One of the miraculous signs at the time of Holy Prophet’s birth was his mother’s vision. She saw a light emerging from her, which illuminated everything between the East and the West, even the palaces of Syria. Imam Al-Salihi Shami quotes Ibn Saad and states:

  وروى ابن سعد عن محمد بن عمر الأسلمي بأسانيد له متعددة عن آمنة أنها قالت: لما وضعته خرج معه نور أضاء له ما بين المشرق والمغرب... ⁹

  Ibn Saad narrated from Muhammad ibn Umar Al-Aslami through a chain of various narrators who stated that Aaminah said: When I gave birth to him (the Holy Prophet ), a light came out with him, due to which everything between east and west (became) illuminated.

Ahmed ibn Hanbal has narrated a similar account as well. ¹⁰

Emergence of this miraculous light was mentioned by the Holy Prophet’s paternal uncle, Abbas in his poetry ¹¹ as well.

Aaminah’s Citation of Miracles

Describing miraculous events at his birth, Aaminah states that she did not know that she had become pregnant, nor did she feel any burden, which other women feel in these circumstances. She only knew that her periods had ceased. Furthermore, her pregnancy progressed peacefully. When the duration reached its end, the same angel who appeared in the beginning, came to her and said: Say that I seek the protection of

from every evil and envious eye. ¹² Suyuti quotes Aaminah’s description of the event as:

  وتقول لقد اخذني ما يأخذ النساء ولم يعلم بي أحد من القوم فسمعت وجبة شديدة وامرا عظيما فهالني ذلك فرأيت كأن جناح طير أبيض قد مسح على فؤادي فذهب عني كل رعب وكل وجع كنت أجد ثم التفت فإذا انا بشربة بيضاء لبنا وكنت عطشى فتناولتها فشربتها فأضاء مني نور عال ثم رأيت نسوة كالنخل الطوال كأنهن من بنات عبد مناف يحدقن بي فبينا أنا أعجب وإذا بديباج أبيض قد مد بين السماء والأرض وإذا بقائل يقول خذوه من اعين الناس قالت ورأيت رجالا قد وقفوا في الهواء بأيديهم أباريق فضة ورأيت قطعة من الطير قد أقبلت حتى غطت حجري مناقيرها من الزمرد وأجنحتها من اليواقيت فكشف الله عن بصري وأبصرت تلك الساعة مشارق الأرض ومغاربها ورأيت ثلاثة أعلام مضروبات علما في المشرق وعلما في المغرب وعلما على ظهر الكعبة. ¹³

  Aaminah () says: 'What happens to women has taken hold of me, and no one from the people knew about me. Then I heard a great noise and saw something mighty, which terrified me. I saw as if a white bird's wing had touched my heart, and all the fear and pain I had felt disappeared. Then I turned around and saw a white drink, like milk, and I was thirsty, so I took it and drank it, and a radiant light emanated from me. Then I saw women, tall like palm trees, as if they were daughters of Abdul Manaf, surrounding me. While I was in awe, a white silk cloth was spread between the sky and the earth, and I heard a voice saying, "Hide him from the eyes of the people." She said, "I saw men standing in the air with silver vessels in their hands, and I saw a flock of birds approach, covering my lap, with beaks of emerald and wings of rubies. I saw the horizons in east and west where the flags were waving. One flag was in the east and the other in the west and I saw a flag waving on the roof of the Ka'bah.

The Opening of the Chest

Al-Nabhani quotes that Aaminah stated that when Prophet Muhammad's was born, she saw a tall white young man who dissected the chest of the Holy Prophet , took out his heart and then dissected it too. Then, he extracted a black lump out of it and threw that away. Then, he pulled out a red bag, and from it appeared a white pearl-like object with which he filled the Holy Prophet’s heart and placed it back into his chest. Then, that man said that he had filled Prophet Muhammad’s heart with wisdom, intellect, patience, faith and valor and the child was better than all of mankind. ¹⁴

Iblis’ depression and grief

The despicable being, who felt the utmost agony over the birth of Prophet Muhammad was indeed Iblees (Satan) who, with his followers, was extremely worried about this development, as misguiding the humans had become extremely challenging for him after the advent of Prophet Muhammad . Muhammad ibn Yusuf Al-Salihi quotes Ikrama:

  عن عكرمة قال: قال إبليس لما ولد رسول الله صلی الله علیه وسلم: لقد ولد الليلة ولد يفسد علينا أمرنا. ¹⁵

  Ikrama stated that upon the Holy Prophet’s birth, Satan said: tonight, the one has been born who will ruin our system.

Satan was so displeased on Holy Prophet’s birth that he expressed his anger and hatred by lamenting and crying. Abd Al-Rahman ibn Abdullah Suhaili states:

  ان إبليس لعنة الله رن أربع رنات رنة حين لعن ورنة حين أهبط ورنة حين ولد رسول الله صلی الله علیه وسلم ورنة حين أنزلت فاتحة الكتاب. ¹⁶

  And Iblis (may Allah curse him) strongly lamented and cried four times. First, when he was damned. Second, when he was thrown to earth from the heavens. Third, the time when the Prophet was born. And fourth when Surah Fateha was revealed on the (Holy) Prophet .

Similar accounts have been quoted by the Sulaiman ibn Musa Al-Undlasi, ¹⁷ Taqi Al-Din Ahmed ¹⁸ and Ismail ibn Kathir as well. ¹⁹

 

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• ¹ Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmed Al-Halabi (2013), Al-Seerah Al-Halabiyah, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol.1, Pg. 105.
• ² Jalal Al-Din Al-Suyuti (2008), Al-Khasais Al-Kubra, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 81.
• ³ Abu Nua’ym Ahmed ibn Abdullah Al-Asbahani (2012), Dalail Al-Nabuwwah, Maktabah Asariyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Pg. 78.
• ⁴ Ibid.
• ⁵ Yusuf ibn Ismail Nabhani (2005), Hujjatullah Ala Al-A’lameen fe Maujizat Sayyid Al-Mursalin, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Pg. 174.
• ⁶ Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmed Al-Halabi (2013), Al-Seerah Al-Halabiyah, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol.1, Pg. 105.
• ⁷ Abu Nua’ym Ahmed ibn Abdullah Al-Asbahani (2012), Dalail Al-Nabuwwah, Maktabah Asariyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 75.
• ⁸ Rasoul Okhravi & Morteza Djmali (2003), The Missing Ancient Lake of Saveh, Iranica Antiqua, Peeters Publishers, Leuven, Belgium, Vol. 38, Pg. 328-335.
• ⁹ Muhammad ibn Yusuf Al-Salihi Al-Shami (2013), Subul Al-Huda wal-Rashad fe Seerat Khair Al-Abad, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 342.
• ¹⁰ Abu Abdullah Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (2001), Musnad Al-Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Hadith: 17163, Muassasah Al-Risala, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 28, Pg. 395.
• ¹¹ Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Neshapuri (1991), Al-Mustadrak ‘Ala Al-Sahihain, Hadith: 5417, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 3, Pg. 369.
• ¹² Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr ibn Qayyam Al-Jawzi (2002), Al-Wafa be-Ahwal Al-Mustafa (Translated by Muhammad Ashraf Siyalivi), Hamid & Company, Lahore, Pakistan, Pg. 110-111.
• ¹³ Jalal Al-Din Al-Suyuti (2008), Al-Khasais Al-Kubra, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 81-82.
• ¹⁴ Yusuf ibn Ismail Nabhani (2005), Hujjatullah Ala Al-A’lameen fe Maujizat Sayyid Al-Mursalin, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Pg. 169.
• ¹⁵ Muhammad ibn Yusuf Al-Salihi Al-Shami (2013), Subul Al-Huda wal-Rashad fe Seerat Khair Al-Abad, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 350.
• ¹⁶ Abd Al-Rahman ibn Abdullah Al-Suhaili (2009), Al-Raudh Al-Unf fe-Sharha Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 278.
• ¹⁷ Abu Al-Rabi Sulaiman ibn Musa Al-Undlasi (2000), Al-Iktifa bima Tazammanahu Min Maghazi Rasulullah wa Thalathatil Khulafa, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 109.
• ¹⁸ Abu Al-Abbas Ahmed ibn Ali Al-Hussaini (1999), Imta’ Al-Asma bima lin Nabi Min Al-Ahwal wal-Amwal wal-Hafadah wal-Mata’a, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 4, Pg. 59.
• ¹⁹ Abul Fida Ismael ibn Kathir Al-Damishqi (1976), Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah le-ibn Kathir, Dar Al-Marifat lil Taba’at wal-Nashr wal-Tawzi, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 212.