The First: On the night of the Prophet’s (UWBP) birth, both his mother, and the mothers of ‘Uthman b. al-‘As and ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Awf, who were with her, saw a brilliant, widely scattered light, about which they said: “At the time of his birth we saw a light so bright it lit up the east and the west for us.”[378]

The Second: That night most of the idols in the Ka‘ba toppled over and fell to the ground.[379]

The Third: That night the famous aywan of Chosroes’ palace shook and cracked apart, and its fourteen pinnacles collapsed.[380]

The Fourth: That night the small lake of Saveh, which was considered  to be holy, sank into the ground,[381] and at Istakhrabad the fire which, burning continuously for a thousand years, the Zoroastrians had worshipped, was extinguished.[382]

These four events indicated that the person who had just been born would abolish fire-worship, destroy the palace of the Persian kings, and prevent those things being sanctified that God did not permit.

The  Fifth:  Although  they  did  not  coincide  with  the  night  of  Muhammad’s (UWBP) birth, certain events that took place not long before it are also included in the irhasat. One is the War of the Elephant, which is mentioned in the Qur’an in Sura al- Fil. Abraha, the king of Abyssinia, came to destroy the Ka‘ba, driving a huge elephant called Mahmudi before his forces. When they came close to Mecca, the elephant was unable to move. They could not make it move forward, and had to retreat. While retreating, a flock of birds attacked and routed them, and they fled. This extraordinary story is recorded in detail in the history books. The event was one of the proofs of Muhammad’s  (UWBP)  prophethood,  for it occurred  close in time to his birth and saved   the  Holy  Ka‘ba,  his  qibla,  birthplace,   and  native  land,  from  Abraha’s destruction. [383]

The Sixth: According to the testimony of Halima al-Sa‘diya and her husband, when God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was with them in his childhood, they frequently saw a cloud above him shielding  him  from  the  sun.  They  told  everyone  this,  and  it  was  well-known  and authenticated. [384]

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[378] Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 466; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 750; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’ iii, 311; al-Sa’ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani xx, 2030.

[379] Suyuti, al-Khasa’is al-Kubra i, 119-31; ii, 272; Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa i, 19.

[380] ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 750; Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa i, 126; Suyuti, al-Khasa’is al- Kubra i, 128; ii, 272.

[381] Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 366; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 751; Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa i, 127; Suyuti, al-Khasa’is al-Kubra i, 128.

[382] Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’ i, 367; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’ i, 751; ‘Ali al-Qari al-Makki, al-Masnu’ fi Ma’rifat al-Hadith al-Mawdu’ al-Mawdu’at al-Sughra’ (Tahqiq: Abu Ghudda), 18.

[383] Ibn Hisham, al-Sirat al-Nabawiyya, i, 44-54; Ibn Sa’d, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, i, 90-2; Abu Nu’aym, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa, i, 144-51; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, ii, 157-60.

[384] Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 368; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’, iii, 318; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 753.