...Bad wares would not be sold."
This English proverb always comes to mind each time I see claims of miracles on TV, posters, newspaper or hear them on the radio. Of course, just like you, I have doubts about such miracle claims and I always take them with a pinch of salt. There have been several reports in the media that deny the veracity of the so-called miracle claims, still there is a huge market of gullible people who still believe in them and earnestly seek them. Indeed "If fools went not to the market, bad wares would not be sold." One curious thing about the I" miracle claims is that the ones that work are usually] far away: so it is so difficult To verify them.
Once, a kafir! (unbeliever) of mine died and his people instantly rushed him to a place, which they believe to be blessed, hoping for the miracle that he would be brought back to life. Imagine Anyway, after they got tired of waiting for a " miracle that wasnt going to happen, they returned him to the mortuary. They always give so many excuses for their failures: "Why did you allow others to touch the body first?"; "Oh no, you didnt bring the body on time"; or the one that takes the cake, "Holy water was not quickly sprinkled on the deceased." Recently, I read a curious story in the papers about a trio of comedians who called themselves pastors (actors would have been more appropriate).
The story was interesting to me, because it is one public proof of the lie being told to an unsuspecting public. As I read along, I couldnt help but wonder in disbelief how people could believe such fiction. The three actors turned up at the home of a comedian who had died a year earlier claiming that they have been sent by God to raise him from the dead. The wife, obviously one of those foolsallowed them to open the grave and their theatrics started. At exactly 2:00pm, so says the report, the three comedians started their drama sketch. They were rolling on the ground and making noises (they called it speaking in tongue).
The drama was so intense that they were soaked (as the reporter said) to their pants and had to pull off their suits. This drama went on for about four hours before the crowd (as you know in Lagos, there is always a crowd at hand)started getting impatient and asking them to end the drama if they couldnt pull it off. Who wouldnt be bored after four hours of boring and meaningless drama. The leader of the gang begged for another forty minutes to invoke life into the body of the dead comedian. The crowd became impatient and they discussed about the time (can you imagine?) to be added.
Eventually, they agreed on thirty minutes and thus began another session of drama (Act I Scene 2). At the end of extra time ,,allowedfor the miracle to ~.have happened, the body still remained stone cold. Some said that the three actors were given a thorough [beaten of their life (guess anybody would be annoyed [for such waste of time) before rthe police came to their rescue. Some others said, i they were not beaten before ﾕ the police took them away .(good riddance to bad Irubbish). The head of the trio !actually claimed that God told him to carry out this drama. He .IS so shameIess , that he was still lying upon Allaah. He still said he would come back to the place.
What lesson is there for us in this whole episode? As Muslims we are not to be swayed by all these bad goods being sold in the market place. These miraclesonly workon television and you are not supposed to be listening to it anyway talk less of being affected by it. When they subject these miracle workers to public scrutiny, they fall fiat on their face. Their matter is as Allaah says, "They do nothing but lie!" (Q43:20)
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited