Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 21230 — Atikah bint Abd al-Muttalib

Urwah said: Atikah bint Abd al-Muttalib, the paternal aunt of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), lived with her brother Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib. Shortly before Badr she saw a dream and was alarmed, so on the very night she awoke from her sleep in alarm she sent a message to her brother Abbas and said: I have seen a dream, and because of it I fear destruction for your people. Abbas asked: What did you see? She said: I will not tell you until you promise me that you will not mention it to anyone, for if the people hear it, they will harm us and say things to us that we will not like. So Abbas gave her his promise, and she said: I saw a rider coming on his mount from the upper part of Makkah, calling out at the top of his voice: O you treacherous ones, O you people of wickedness! March out within two or three nights. Then he entered the Masjid on his mount and cried out three times in the Masjid, and men, women and children inclined towards him, and the people fell into the severest alarm. Then I saw him on the roof of the Ka'bah on his mount, and he called out three times: O you treacherous ones, O you people of wickedness! March out within two or three nights, until the people of Makkah living between the two mountains heard his voice. Then he went to a huge rock and uprooted it from its base, then hurled it upon the people of Makkah, and the rock came on with a roar, until, when it was at the foot of the mountain, it broke into pieces. To my knowledge there is no house in Makkah left that a piece of that rock did not enter. So I fear that some calamity is about to descend upon your people. Hearing this, Abbas became alarmed and left her, and in the last part of the night he met al-Walid bin Utbah bin Rabi'ah, who was a close friend of Abbas, and he told him Atikah's dream and told him not to mention it to anyone. But al-Walid told his father, and Utbah told his brother Shaybah, and the matter kept spreading until it reached Abu Jahl bin Hisham and became widely known. When morning came, Abbas went out to perform tawaf of the House of Allah, and he found Abu Jahl, Utbah bin Rabi'ah, Shaybah bin Rabi'ah, Umayyah bin Khalaf, Zam'ah bin al-Aswad and Abu al-Bakhtari sitting and talking with some people. When they saw Abbas performing tawaf of the House, Abu Jahl called out to him: O Abu al-Fadl! When you have completed your tawaf, come to us. When Abbas had completed his tawaf, he came and sat down. Abu Jahl said: O Abu al-Fadl! What dream is this that Atikah has seen? Abbas said: She has not seen anything. Abu Jahl said: Indeed she has! O Banu Hashim! Were you not content with the lies of your men, that now you have brought us the lies of your women as well? We and you have been like two racehorses competing for honour and glory for a long time, and when the mounts drew level, you said: There is a prophet among us. Now all that was left was for you to say: There is a prophetess among us too. I know of no man or woman in Quraysh more lying than you. That day they caused Abbas severe hurt. Abu Jahl said: Atikah claims that the rider said: March out within two or three nights. So if these three nights pass and nothing happens, your lie will become clear to Quraysh, and we will write a document and hang it on the Ka'bah stating that you are the most lying household among the Arabs, both men and women. O sons of Qusayy! Were you not content that you have obtained the offices of the Hijabah, the Nadwah, the Siqayah, the Riwa' and the Rifadah, that now you have come to us with this claim that there is a prophet among you? That day they caused Abbas severe hurt. Abbas said to him: Hold on, O you with the yellowed backside! Will you desist? The lying is in you and in your household. Those present said: O Abu al-Fadl! You are neither ignorant nor senile. Abbas also had to face severe displeasure from Atikah because he had spread her account. Then, when it was the evening of the third night after the night in which Atikah had seen the dream, the rider sent by Abu Sufyan, Damdam bin Amr al-Ghifari, came to them and said: O Banu Ghalib! March out, for Muhammad and his companions have set out to attack Abu Sufyan's caravan; save your caravan. So Quraysh fell into the severest alarm, and they became fearful because of Atikah's dream, and they set out on every mount, strong and docile alike.