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Sign of the Prophet Quake

[613 - 622 CE]

by Jefferson Williams









Map of Isamic Syria in the 640s CE
  Map depicting the original junds (approximate boundaries), and the important towns and Arab tribes of Bilad al-Sham in the 640s - from Wikipedia

Introduction & Summary

As two early opponents of Muhammad embarked on a trip to Syria, they met a hermit. The hermit told of a prophet who would be sent to Arabia (?). The sign of the Prophets' arrival would be an earthquake in Syria which would bring "evil and disaster". Later in their trip, the travelers met a horseman who related that an earthquake struck Syria bringing "evil and disaster". This was apparently taken by the author(s) of this story as a sign that the Prophet being sent was Muhammad. Ambraseys (2009) dates the story to between 613 and 622 CE.

It should be mentioned that Syria at this time would have been Bilad al-Sham. Bilad al-Sham (analogous to Greater Syria) was a super province of the Rashudin, Umayyad, Abbassid, and Fatimid caliphates and included the southern Levant. Since the story indicates that the two travelers received their information while still in Arabia, the epicentral location is unknown. Hence, if this describes a real earthquake, the search for evidence should cover a wide area.

Textual Evidence

Text (with hotlink) Original Language Biographical Info Religion Date of Composition Location Composed Notes
as-Suyuti Arabic
Biography

as-Suyuti is presently recognized as the most prolific author in the whole of Islamic literature (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). He was widely read and famous across the Islamic world during his lifetime and was known for extreme self-confidence in his mental abilities (e.g. he had memorized 200,000 hadiths and was a polymath) which mingled with arrogance and created acrimonious relations inside Egypt (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9 (1991:913-916) describes his procedure as scientific in so far as he quotes his sources with precision and presents them in a critical way and states that he cannot be considered as a mere compiler. He may have authored close to a thousand books writing on many subjects (e.g., History, Biography) besides religion and Islamic jurisprudence. as-Suyuti was born in Egypt in 1445 CE and at the age of eighteen taught Shafi'i law at the mosque of Shaykhu and gave juridicial consultations. In 1472 CE, he became a teacher of hadith at the same mosque. In 1486 CE at the age of 40, as-Suyuti retired from public life. By 1501 CE, he had completely isolated himself in his home on Rawda Island in Cairo where he worked on the editing and revision of his literary works. He died there in 1505 CE (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). His book Clearing up the Description of Earthquakes is a valuable reference for historical earthquakes and is one of the earliest extant earthquake catalogs.

Sufi Muslim 15th c. CE Cairo In an apparently theologically motivated passage, two early opponents of Muhammad received news while traveling that there had been an earthquake in Syria - which was supposed to be a sign that a Prophet had been sent. The earthquake report is neither well dated not well located. It specifies the location as Syria - which is presumably Greater Syria (Bild al-Sham). According to Ambraseys (2009) the two early opponents would have made this trip between 613 and 622 CE.
Text (with hotlink) Original Language Biographical Info Religion Date of Composition Location Composed Notes
Al-Khasais-ul-Kubra (4-5) by As-Suyuti

كفاية الطالب اللبيب في خصائص الحبيب by عبد الرحمن بن كمال الدين أبي بكر بن محمد سابق الدين خضر الخضيري الأسيوطي

Aliases

Author
Aliases Arabic
Al-Suyuti
As-Suyuti
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti
Abu 'l-Fadl 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad Djalal al_Din al-Khudayri
Title
Aliases Arabic
Kifayat al-Talib al-Labib fi Khasa'is al-Habib كفاية الطالب اللبيب في خصائص الحبيب
al-Khasa'is al-Kubra الخصائص الكبرى
Background and Biography
Background and Biography

al-Suyuti is presently recognized as the most prolific author in the whole of Islamic literature (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). He was widely read and famous across the Islamic world during his lifetime and was known for extreme self-confidence in his mental abilities (e.g. he had memorized 200,000 hadiths and was a polymath) which mingled with arrogance and created acrimonious relations inside Egypt (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9 (1991:913-916) describes his procedure as scientific in so far as he quotes his sources with precision and presents them in a critical way and states that he cannot be considered as a mere compiler. He may have authored close to a thousand books writing on many subjects (e.g., History, Biography) besides religion and Islamic jurisprudence. as-Suyuti was born in Egypt in 1445 CE and at the age of eighteen taught Shafi'i law at the mosque of Shaykhu and gave juridicial consultations. In 1472 CE, he became a teacher of hadith at the same mosque. In 1486 CE at the age of 40, as-Suyuti retired from public life. By 1501 CE, he had completely isolated himself in his home on Rawda Island in Cairo where he worked on the editing and revision of his literary works. He died there in 1505 CE (E. Geoffroy in Encyclopedia of Islam v. 9, 1991:913-916). His book Clearing up the Description of Earthquakes (Kashf as-Salsalah 'an wasf Az-zalzalak) is a valuable reference for historical earthquakes and is one of the earliest extant earthquake catalogs.

Maps and Plans
  • Map of Greater Syria with original junds from Wikipedia
Synopsis

Ambraseys (2009) reports that As-Suyuti (1445-1505 CE) in his book Al-Khasais-ul-Kubra (4-5) wrote about the beginning of a trip to Syria by Abu Sufyan and Umayya bin al-Salt - two early opponents of Muhammad. During the trip, they heard that there had been an earthquake in Syria.

Excerpts
English from Ambraseys (2009)

‘Al-Bayhaqi [an eleventh-century traditionist] published the following translation in his work called The Proofs of Prophethood, on the authority of Marwan b. al-Hakam ( . . . ), that Abu Sufyan and Umayya b. al-Salt had set off for Syria;
we met a hermit, who told us that a Prophet would be sent, the sign of which is that Syria has been shaken by earthquakes 24 times [alternative readings: 80 or 200 times] since Jesus son of Mary, and one earthquake remains, which will cause evil and disaster in Syria. When we reached Thaniyya [Midran, between Medina and Tabuk], we saw a horseman. We asked him where he came from and he replied, ‘Syria’. We asked him if anything had happened, and he said, ‘Yes, Syria has been affected by an earthquake, which has caused evil and disaster.’.
(al-Suyuti Kashf 4–5).

Chronology

According to Ambraseys (2009), Abu Sufyan and Umayya bin al-Salt are thought to have made this journey some time between 613 and 622 CE.

Seismic Effects
  • Syria has been affected by an earthquake
Locations
  • Syria
Sources
Sources according to as-Suyuti

As-Suyuti (1445-1505 CE), in his book Al-Khasais-ul-Kubra (4-5), states that he copied this passage from the book Dala'il al-Nubuwwah (The Signs of Prophethood) written by Al-Bayhaqi in the 11th century CE. Al-Bayhaqi, states as-Suyuti, relied on the authority of Marwan b. al-Hakam.

Notes and Further Reading
References

al-Bayhaqi, The Proofs of Prophethood (aka The signs of prophethood aka Dala'il al-Nubuwwah)

al-Suyuti, Jalal al-Din (K), Kashf al-salsala ’an wasf al-zalzala, ed. Abd al-Latif Sa’adani, Fez, 1971. Also B: BM MS Or. 5852, 1768; P: BNP MSS Ar. 5929, 1706; C: Cairo NM MS N324; CB: Cambridge Or. 8.172, 1760; L: Lahore BM Opuscula 14521.c.37, 1890; for a recent translation into Russian see Buniyatov (1983). Also Husn al-muhudara fi akhbar Misr wa‘l-Qahira, ed. Cairo, 1882.

Khasais al kubra by Imam Suyuti

al-Da’udi, continuator of al-Suyuti, in Kashf al-salsala, pp. 62–64; also al-Hafiz (1982).

al-Ghuzzi, al-Najm; continuator of al-Suyuti, in al-Hafiz (1982).

al-Hafiz, Muhammad Muti’, Nusus ghayr manshura ’an al-zalazil, BEO 32 and 33 (for 1980–81), Damascus, 1982, pp. 256–264.

Clarke, A. (2008). The History of the Khalifahs who Took the Right Way: A Translation of the Chapters on Al-Khulafa ́ar-Rashidun from Tarikh Al-Khulafa ́, Ta-Ha Publishers.



Sprenger (1843). "As-Soyuti's work on Earthquakes, ." Journal of The Asiatic Society of Bengal 12(141): 741-749.

Nejjar, S. (1973-1974). Traité du tremblement de terre / Jalal ad-Din as-Suyut'i ; trad. annotée [de l'arabe] de Saïd Nejjar. Rabat, Cahiers du centre universitaire de la recherche scientifique.

Al-Sadani, A. (1971). (Jalal-Eddine Al-Suyouti) Kasff Al-Salsala Wa Wasf Al-Zalzalah, in Arabic. Rabat, Morocco.

References from the Encyclopedia of Islam

al-Suyuti's biography, written by his disciple 'Abd al-Kadir al-Shadhili, Bahdjat al-adbidin bitardjamat Djaldl al-Din (mss. in London, Dublin, Kuwayt)

Shams al-Din al-Dawudi, Taradjamat al-Suyuti (ms. Tubingen)

Nadjm al-Din al-Ghazzi, al-Kawakib al-sa'ira bi-a'ydn al-mi'a a al-'ashira, Beirut 1945, i, 226-31.

E.M. Sartain, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti - remains the most complete study in a Western language

eadem, Jalal al-Din as-Suyuti's relations with the people of Takrur, in JSS, xvi (1971), 193-8.

S. Abu Djib mentions several studies in Arabic (op. cit., 331-2).

In his Muhammad's birthday festival (Leiden 1993, 45-70), N.J. Kaptein presents and translates al-Suyuti's fatwa which validates the practice of the mawlid nabawi

Archaeoseismic Evidence

see Sword in the Sky Quake - Archaeoseismic Evidence

Tsunamogenic Evidence

Paleoseismic Evidence

see Sword in the Sky Quake - Paleoseismic Evidence

Notes

Ambraseys (2009)

[AD 613–622 Syria]

A destructive earthquake is said to have occurred in Syria, causing ‘evil and disaster’. No other details are known.

Al-Suyuti (AD 1445–1505) copies this account from al-Bayhaqi. Abu Sufyan and Umayya bin al-Salt are thought to have made this journey some time between AD 613 and 622.

Note

‘Al-Bayhaqi [an eleventh-century traditionist] published the following translation in his work called The Proofs of Prophethood, on the authority of Marwan b. al-Hakam ( . . . ), that Abu Sufyan and Umayya b. al-Salt had set off for Syria; “we met a hermit, who told us that a Prophet would be sent, the sign of which is that Syria has been shaken by earthquakes 24 times [alternative readings: 80 or 200 times] since Jesus son of Mary, and one earthquake remains, which will cause evil and disaster in Syria. When we reached Thaniyya [Midran, between Medina and Tabuk], we saw a horseman. We asked him where he came from and he replied, ‘Syria’. We asked him if anything had happened, and he said, ‘Yes, Syria has been affected by an earthquake, which has caused evil and disaster.’.”’ (al-Suyuti Kashf 4–5).

References

Ambraseys, N. N. (2009). Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: a multidisciplinary study of seismicity up to 1900.

Paleoclimate - Droughts

References