A very special Dream

A very special dream

History books contain the mention of an amazing incident that took place in the year 557. At the time, the ' Abbasid dyna sty was experiencing a sharp decline. As the lands of the muslims became plagued by weakness and even chaos, some Christians got together and plotted the prophet's body from his grave and to transport it back to their own lands, in what would obviously be a serious blow to the morale of the muslims. For this diabolical plot, they sent two men to Medinah, both of whom disguised themselves in Moroccan garments and claimed to be travelers who came to visit the holy city.

The two men stayed in a well known house that was adjacent to the prophets masjid. In order to blend in with their milieu, they performed acts of worship in a conspicuous manner, always hoping to be seen by others in order to gain their trust. But on the inside, they were plotting to achieve the task for which they had been sent.

Having come up with a plan that, at least in their minds,was sure to work, they began to execute it.The secretly began to dig a tunnel from inside the house, and by continuing to dig, they hoped to eventually reach the prophet's grave. Every day, they would dig a little bit, placing the extra dirt in bags. They of course did not want to be seen by anyone when they would dispose of the extra dirt, and so would get rid of it while they would take their daily walk in Al-Baqi, the famous graveyard of Medinah. As they would walk through the graveyard,they would slowly pour out the dirt from underneath their cloaks.And all the while, they would be giving others the impression that they were visiting the graveyard in order to remember d eath and the hereafter.At times, they would also spill excess dirt into a well that was near their home. After many days of secret toil, the two men were finally near the grave of the prophet peace be upon him.Feeling sure now that they would succeed in their mission, they began to concentrate their thoughts on concocting a plan to actually transport the prophet's body to their homeland.But they could plot and plan as much as they wanted, for Allah had other plans for them, and what he wills, he does.

Far away from Medinah, the ruler during that era, Nuruddin Muhammad Bin Zangi, saw a troubling dream. In that dream, he saw the prophet (peace be upon him) pointing to two men of red complexion, and instructing Nuruddin Muhammad to protect him from them. Nuruddin Muhammad was frightened and agitated at witnessing this dream. In order to calm his nerves, he stood up to pray, after which he went back to sleep. But during that night, he saw the same dream three times. When he woke up the third time, he summoned one of his ministers to come to him. That minister was Jamaluddin Al-musili, a wise minister who was a practising, righteous muslim. When the ruler finished telling him about his dream, Jamaluddin said, ' This is concerning something that is happening in Medinah.go now to the prophets city and keep secret what you have seen.'

For the remainder of that night, Nuruddin Muhammad made preparations to leave. 20 men, one of them being Jamaluddin, made preparations to go with their leader. They made the journey from Ash-Shaam to Medinah in 16 days. When they reached their destination, the leader went to the the Ar-Raudha ( a special place in the prophet's masjid) and prayed, but as of yet, he had no idea what he should do about his dream.
His minister Jamaluddin, asked him if he remembered what the two people in his dream looked like. Nuruddin Muhammad said that he remembered them clearly, and that if he saw them, he would certainly recognise them. Jamamluddin had a plan to apprehend the two men, and he immediately put it into action.When the inhabitants of Medinah were gathered in the prophet's masjid, Jamaluddin made the following announcement, ' Indeed the ruler has bought with him a great deal of wealth that has been ear marked for charity. Have the poor ones amongst you register their names, and then bring them, so that each can take his fair share. '
While each person came to take a share of the handout, Nuruddin Muhammad was standing right there, looking at each person, in the hope of seeing one or both of the mn he saw in his dream. He saw no man that resembled any of the two he had seen in his dream.

He then asked, ' Is there anyone left who has still not taken his share? ' Someone said, ' There remain two men from Morocco; they refuse to take their share, and indeed, they are both very righteous. '
'Bring them to me. ' said Nuruddin Muhammad immediately. When the two men were bought before him, Nuruddin Muhammad immediately recognised them; they were the two men that the prophet pointed to in his dream. The leader asked them, ' Where are you from?' They said, ' We are from the West, and we have come here in order to perform Hajj. After we arrived, we decided to stay here this year. '

Perhaps their plot was not exactly clear to Nuruddin at that moment, but he knew they were guilty of something, and so he continued to interrogate them, hoping that they would confess their crime, whatever it was. But they kept to their story, and with no proof against them, Nuruddin couldn't justly take steps against them. The leader them ordered for their home to be searched. After a thorough search, they found nothing peculiar save a large amount of money that the two men had stored in their home. Through the will of Allah, as they began to leave the house, Nuruddin stopped to look at the wooden floor. One of its boards was loose, and Nuruddin stooped to take a closer look.He realised that the board was not solidly attached to the floor, and so he picked it up. The people of Medinah were shocked to see the entrance of a tunnel and even more shocked to see where it led to, for they had been certain that the two men were righteous muslims.

After\being arrested by the irate ruler, the two men confessed that they weren't really from the west, but were instead christians who had been sent by their leaders with a great deal of wealth that was paid to them upfront for the job of removing the prophet from his grave, and transporting the body back to their lands. Nuruddin ordered for the two men to be executed and for the tunnel to be blocked and filled up again. When these two orders were completed, he returned to Ash-Shaam.
And Allah knows best.

( Lu'Lu'Il Manthoor)