Some Hadiths indicate their timing by their very wording. If we know of an event or a revelation that specify certain action to be done, and we find the Hadith speaking of a totally different action, then we realize that the Hadith was earlier than that event or revelation. For example, we have a Qur’anic verse addressing the Prophet, requiring him to deliver to mankind whatever is revealed to him by his Lord, and promising him God’s protection against anything people may scheme against him. If we have a Hadith mentioning that the Prophet had some bodyguard on a particular occasion, we are certain that the event to which the Hadith refers took place before the revelation of that verse.
One such Hadith quotes Aishah, the Prophet’s wife as saying: “One night, the Prophet was insomniac. He said to us: ‘I wish that a good man of my companions comes to be my guard tonight.’ Soon we heard the rattling of arms, and he asked, ‘Who is that?’ Someone said: ‘It is Saad.’ Saad said to him: ‘Messenger of God. I have come to be your guard tonight.’ The Prophet slept soundly and we were able to hear his deep breathing.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Tirmithi and Abu Dawood.)
We can be certain that this Hadith took place earlier than the revelation of the verse in Surah 5, which tells the Prophet not to fear any wicked designs by the unbelievers. This does not preclude the possibility that some of the Prophet’s companions kept a watchful eye on him in dangerous situations, as in war. However, this Hadith must have been before the revelation of the Qur’anic verse, because the Prophet was seeking guard. We know that when the Prophet received that verse, he ordered his companions who stood guard for him to go home. He told them that now since God has told him that He will protect him, he no longer needed any guard. It is practically inconceivable that the Prophet could subsequently express a wish that some of his companions keep watch over him. If any of them were worried about him and stood in watch, they did so at their own initiative.
It should be remembered that the Prophet was the most courageous of people. Even before the revelation of this verse in Surah 5, The Repast, the Prophet was the first to rush in order to determine if there was any threatening danger. Anas ibn Malik reports that one day, there was something that caused people in Madinah some fear and worry.
The Prophet borrowed a horse belonging to Abu Talhah, which was named Al-Mandoob. He mounted the horse and went to establish the source of their worry. On his return, he said: “We have found nothing to worry about, and we have found this horse to be like a sea.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood and others.)
This highly authentic Hadith shows how the Prophet was so alert to any danger that threatened his community. Here we see him rushing to the source of danger, not waiting for anyone to join him, borrowing a horse in order to be able to move speedily, and returning to reassure his people once he established that there was nothing to worry about. What local leader would do this today, let alone the top leader of any state. Indeed, what we know of present day leaders goes in the opposite direction. The safety of the leader is considered as far superior to the safety of the community. Even in the most caring systems, the safety of the leader is given paramount importance, although he may take measures to ensure the safety of his people. But the Prophet was the one to move first in order to show his successors that it is their duty to ensure that the people are safe.
When the Prophet reassured his companions that there was no danger, he immediately moved on to divert their attentions from what was felt to be a dangerous situation so as to bring them back to normality. He thus speaks of the horse he had borrowed, describing him as highly useful and likening him to a sea, with all its benefits.
The Prophet was also keen to develop in his companions a proper measure of things and situations. In pre-Islamic days people sought monks and priests to put to them their problems and disputes and to seek their judgment and advice. Some of these used to foretell the future. All this was stopped when the Prophet Muhammad was sent with his message. It is forbidden to seek advice from a monk or a fortune-teller in any situation. If one receives information that a certain person is telling something about future events, he may not believe him, even though there may be indications that what such fortune-teller says might be true.
The Prophet was once asked about such fortune-tellers, and he said: “They have nothing of substance.” What he meant was that they had no real basis for whatever they claimed of knowledge of the future, or knowledge of what other people may not know. All their claims are false, because they have no communication with the source of true knowledge, i.e. God. They do not receive any revelations from God.
When the Prophet said this, someone suggested: “Messenger of God, they sometime say things and they are proved to be true.” The Prophet answered: “This is a word a jinni might have snatched and repeated in his human friend’s ear. He repeats it like a hen produces its sound. They mix it with more than one hundred lies.” (Related by Al-Bukhari.)
The jinn are creatures of God about whom we know only what God has told us in the Qur’an. We know that prior to Islam, they used to climb up in the sky trying to eavesdrop on angels as they communicated with each other concerning their fulfillment of God’s orders. This is no longer possible. It was in such an attempt at eavesdropping that the jinn might have heard something here or there and they might run away with what they heard. It might be only partial information, or it might be taken out of context. They might convey this to their human friends.
If it did not sound coherent because it was snatched in a hurry, they would mix with it some other information in order to make it plausible. In this way, they mix it with falsehood. In fact the falsehood might be much greater than the substance of what they heard. Hence, the Prophet’s description: “They mix it with one hundred lies.”
