The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 182
PREFACE FOOTNOTE 181 that an unusually magnificent man is born at the time when shoot- ing stars fall in abundance. In particular, their soothsayers who had established some connection with the evil spirits and who foretold the unseen, had a strong and firm belief that an extraordinary falling of the stars connoted the impending appearance of a Prophet. And it so happened that the time of the advent of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was marked by an excessive falling of stars, as Almighty God testifies in Surah al-Jinn, where the Jinn are quoted as saying: وانَّا لَمَسْنَا السَّمَاءَ فَوَجَدْنَهَا مُلِئَتْ حَرَسًا شَدِيدًا وَشُهَبًا وَأَنَّا كُنَّا نَقْعُدُ مِنْهَا مَقَاعِدَ لِلسَّبْع فَمَنْ يَسْتَمِع الْآنَ يَجِدُ لَهُ شِهَابًا تَصَدَّاه Surah al-Jinn, Part Number 29- Meaning that, on searching through the heavens, we found them filled with guards; that is, the angels and flames. Before this, we used to sit in ambush in the heavens to pirate upon the news about the unseen. But if we wish to do so now, we find a flame striking us. There are copious aḥādīth supporting this verse-[Ṣaḥiḥ al-] Bukhārī, [Ṣaḥiḥ] Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, etc. All have reported aḥadīth to the effect that the falling of stars is meant to drive away satans. AUTHOR'S MARGIN NOTE Stars fell in abundance dur- ing the year of the advent of the Holy Prophetsas Imam Ahmad reports on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that stars used to fall in the Age of Ignorance [before Islam] as well, but it was at the advent [of the Holy Prophet $as] that they fell in abundance and profusion. Accordingly, it is recorded in Tafsir ibn Kathir [The (Quranic) Commentary of Ibn Kathir] that when the stars fell in abundance at the time of the Holy Prophet, peace 1. Surah al-Jinn, 72:9-10 [Publisher]