Al-Ḥākim’s Account
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Bayhaqī ؒ (d. 458 AH/1066 CE) said:
The account concerning the ulcer of our shaykh, al-Ḥākim Abū ʿAbd Allah an-Naysābūrī (d. 405 AH/1014 CE), ؒ, is that an ulcer developed on his face. He treated it with various remedies, yet it did not heal and persisted for nearly a year. He then requested the eminent Imām, Abū ʿUthmān aṣ-Ṣābūnī (d. 449 AH/1057 CE), to supplicate for him during his Friday gathering. Abū ʿUthmān supplicated for him, and many people responded by saying āmīn.
On the following Friday, a woman threw a note into the gathering, stating that she had returned home and earnestly supplicated for al-Ḥākim Abū ʿAbd Allah that night. In her dream, she saw the Messenger of Allah , as though he were saying to her:
قولوا لأبي عبد الله يوسِّع الماء على المسلمين
“Tell Abū ʿAbd Allah to provide water generously for the Muslims.” [Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab al-Īmān, vol. 3, p. 221.]
The note was delivered to al-Ḥākim Abū ʿAbd Allah, who then arranged for water to be distributed in charity and for supplications to be recited over it. People began drinking from it, and within a week he experienced complete healing. The ulcer disappeared and his face returned to its original state. He then lived for many more years.
Shaykh Muqbil’s Statement
Shaykh Muqbil ibn Hādī al-Wādiʿī ؒ (d. 1422 AH/2001 CE) said:
To begin, this is my letter to the scholars, which I write while in a state of illness, and perhaps, unbeknown to you, it may be a means of my cure by the permission of Allah . It is mentioned in the biography of Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Amīr aṣ-Ṣanʿānī (d. 1182 AH/1768 CE) that he suffered from an illness, perhaps chronic diarrhoea. He came across a book written by the people of innovation and misguidance, which he then burnt and used as tinder to cook some food. He ate the food and, by the permission of Allah , was cured.
Thus, I hope that this tape will be a means of my cure by the permission of Allah . And if Allah takes my life, then it should be regarded as my final testament.
References
al-Bayhaqī, Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī. Shuʿab al-Īmān. Edited by ʿAbd al-ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd Ḥāmid. Riyadh: Maktabat ar-Rushd, 1423–1424 AH/2002–2003 CE, vol. 3, p. 221.
