False Prophet Mahmud bin al-Faraj

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدى يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

In the year 850 CE, or 235 H, a false prophet, Mahmud bin al-Faraj of Nishapur, appeared in Samarra claiming to be a prophet and claiming to be Dhu ul-Qarnayn. The historian and scholar Ibn Jarir al-Tabari gave a concise account of his affair:

‌‌ظهور ‌محمود ‌بن ‌الفرج ‌النيسابورى

وفي هذه السنة ظهر بسامرا رجل يقال له ‌محمود ‌بن ‌الفرج ‌النيسابوري فزعم أنه ذو القرنين ومعه سبعة وعشرون رجلا عند خشبة بابك وخرج من أصحابه بباب العامة رجلان وببغداد في مسجد مدينتها آخران وزعما أنه نبي وأنه ذو القرنين فأتي به وبأصحابه المتوكل فأمر بضربه بالسياط فضرب ضربا شديدا فمات من بعد من ضربه ذلك وحبس أصحابه وكانوا قدموا من نيسابور ومعهم شيء يقرءونه وكان معهم عيالاتهم وفيهم شيخ يشهد له بالنبوة ويزعم أنه يوحى إليه وأن جبريل يأتيه بالوحي فضرب محمود مائة سوط فلم ينكر نبوته حين ضرب وضرب الشيخ الذي كان يشهد له أربعين سوطا فأنكر نبوته حين ضرب وحمل محمود إلى باب العامة فأكذب نفسه وقال الشيخ قد اختدعني وأمر أصحاب محمود أن يصفعوه فصفعوه كل واحد منهم عشر صفعات وأخذ له مصحف فيه كلام قد جمعه ذكر أنه قرآنه وان جبريل ع كان يأتيه به ثم مات يوم الأربعاء لثلاث خلون من ذي الحجة في هذه السنه ودفن في الجزيرة

In this year, a man named Mahmud b. al-Faraj al-Naysaburi appeared in Samarra. He claimed to be Dhu al-Qarnayn. He had with him twenty-seven men in vicinity of Khashabat Babak. Two of his companions appeared at the Public Gate [Bab al-Ammah]. And in Baghdad, in the mosque of its administrative center, there were two others who claimed that Mahmud was a prophet and that he was Dhu al-Qarnayn. He and his companions were remanded to al-Mutawakkil, who ordered that Mahmud be beaten with scourges. He was flogged severely and died thereafter from this beating. Mahmud’s companions were imprisoned. They had come from Naysabur and had with them some [text] that they recited. They brought their families with them. Among them was a shaykh who bore witness to Mahmud’s prophecy, claiming that the latter had received a revelation from Gabriel. Mahmud was flogged one hundred strokes, but did not disclaim his prophecy under the beating. The shaykh who had vouched for him was flogged forty times, whereupon he disavowed Mahmud’s prophecy under the whipping. Mahmud was brought to the Public Gate [Bab al-Ammah], where he recanted. The shaykh declared that Mahmud had duped him, and ordered Mahmud’s companions to slap him, which each of them did ten times. A text was taken from Mahmud containing words that he composed. He stated that it was his Quran, and that Gabriel—peace upon him—had revealed it to him. He died thereafter on Wednesday, 3 Dhu al-Hijjah of this year [June 18, 850], and was buried in the Jazirah (Tarikh al-Tabari, v.9, p.175)

Mahmud’s prophetic claim is interesting as he identified himself as Dhu ul-Qarnayn. In making such an odd claim he preceded another false prophet who appeared closer to our time, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. Mirza of Qadian likewise claimed he was Dhu ul-Qarnayn, for the meaning of that name is “one of two centuries” or “one of two generations” and since Mirza had lived to see two centuries in both the Hijri and Gregorian calendars he used that as a basis to identify himself with the Dhu ul-Qarnayn figure mentioned in the Holy Quran. Mahmud bin al-Faraj was an obvious false prophet, for he claimed the Angel Gabriel had revealed a new scripture to him, a parallel Quran, whereas my master the Holy Prophet Muhammad, sall Allahu alayhi wasallam, said that nearly thirty false prophets would arise from his Ummah, but that he alone is the Seal of Prophets after whom there is no other. It is also significant that Mahmud recanted and belied himself after severe flogging, although of course we have little reason to believe such a recantation was sincere. Nonetheless, that evil man died immediately after and an end was put to his devilish mischief. Punishing and executing such false prophets is a necessary duty of the Islamic government to ensure that the heresy doesn’t spread in society. This is why when two emissaries of the false prophet Musaylimah came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, sall Allahu alayhi wasallam, to deliver an epistle of the former to him, he, sall Allahu alayhi wasallam, said

أَمَا وَاللهِ لَوْلاَ أَنَّ الرُّسُلَ لاَ تُقْتَلُ لَضَرَبْتُ أَعْنَاقَكُمَا

By Allah! Were it not that emissaries are not to be killed I would have struck both of your necks (Sunan Abi Dawud)

Hence, the mischief of many false prophets was promptly ended due to their executions, such as al-Harith bin Said of Damascus. The fitnah of Mirza of Qadian persists as per the decree of Allah and His mysterious wisdom. When the Antichrist Mirza of Qadian wrote an epistle to the righteous and zealous King of Afghanistan, Emir Abd ul-Rahman Khan, the glorious conqueror of Hazarajat and Kafirstan, inviting him to believe in him as the Promised Messiah, the Emir reportedly replied simply, “come here!” Due to the protection of being a subject of the British Empire, Mirza of Qadian dodged the rightful penalty that is to be meted out to false prophets.

Now a word about the Abbasid ruler, al-Mutawakkil, who had ordered Mahmud’s flogging that resulted in the latter’s death. Al-Mutawakkil is to be appreciated for having ended the Mihnah instituted by his predecessors, the inquisition of the orthodox Sunnis under pressure from the heretical Mutazilites, particularly their chief judge Ibn Abi Duad. Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, rahimahullah, had particularly suffered under this Inquisition, for refusing to assent to the heresy that the Quran is created. But al-Mutawakkil ordered an end to the inquisition and the release of Imam Ahmad. Furthermore, he imposed restrictions on the Dhimmis, Christians and Jews, requiring them to wear distinctive yellow clothing, demolishing their renovated places of worship and affixing wooden figures of devils to the doors of their homes, prohibited that they be hired to official positions where they would have authority over the Muslims, their displaying of crosses on Palm Sunday and holding of religious processions so that they be humiliated and properly differentiated from Muslims. Al-Mutawakkil ordered the Cypress of Kashmar, a tree sacred to the Zoroastrians, cut down, despite desperate pleas to not do so from the latter. Perhaps his most controversial act was the destruction of the tomb of Imam al-Husayn, radi Allahu anhu, at Karbala. This was done because the tomb had become a shrine and a site of pilgrimage, rivalling the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina and hence the possible foundation and symbol of a new Millah. All of this shows that unlike most other Muslim rulers in history, al-Mutawakkil had zeal for Islam, quite reminiscent of Kings Hezekiah and Josiah. So it is no surprise he had the false prophet Mahmud bin al-Faraj punished severely.