One day, when M. A. Sheikho was a public security officer, he was walking along a particular street wearing his impressive military uniform, in his own inimitable way and displaying his usual seemly appearance. He was walking earnestly with his customary firmness of step, and such was his demeanour that he appeared to be surrounded by an incomparable halo of reverence, gentleness and dignity.
Suddenly, his attention was drawn by a crowd of people who had gathered together to look at something. He wondered what it could be. What could possibly be holding their attention? To find out, he approached them and asked the man closest to him, ‘You…! Tell me what’s going on here? Why are these people gathered together in a circle? What’s going on?’
There was a look of utter amazement on the man’s face as he replied, ‘Oh Sir! There is a man here performing wonders! Can you believe, Sir, that he holds snakes and scorpions in his hands without being stung or bitten by them?! Take a look for yourself! Look he’s holding a big scorpion in the palm of his hand!’
‘Is that so? Okay, I’ll take a look,’ said Officer Sheikho, who then pushed into the crowd of people, and shouldered his way to the middle of the group. When people saw him, they recognized that it was the brave and honourable officer himself, M. A. Sheikho. They promptly cleared a path for him to pass through and he reached the middle of the throng, where he found the performer in front of him.
The performer was standing in a small space and surrounded by a great number of people, all of whom were jostling for space, and amazed by the unusual and extraordinary acts he was performing.
When Officer Sheikho looked at the man, he saw a large scorpion on the palm of his hand. He went closer and stood near him, examining the man’s hand closely. He was certain that it was impossible for anyone to hold a scorpion in this way without being stung by it. He deduced that there must be some secret to the scorpion itself, rather than the man who was holding it. He addressed the fake superman, saying, ‘Hey you, man! How can you hold that scorpion without being stung by it?’
With confidence and pride, the man answered, ‘Oh Sir! I am the descendant of important ancestors. I am descended from Sheikh al-Rifa’i (his soul has been sanctified by Al’lah).’
At this point Amin opened his palm and stretched out his hand, saying, ‘Put the scorpion on my hand.’
The man was shocked and clearly horrified! He replied immediately, ‘No, no Sir! It will surely sting you!’
Officer Sheikho said to him, ‘I’m also descended from a high ancestor, [59]my good man. I’m sure that I’ll have the same protection as you. Come on! Put it in my hand.’
The man unwillingly stretched his hand towards our officer, and put the scorpion in the palm of his hand despite his better judgement. Officer Sheikho looked carefully at the scorpion. How odd! It failed to sting him, or even to affect him in any way, even though it appeared to be trying to do so.
However, the mystery was soon solved! Mohammad Amin quickly realised that the poisonous stinger had been removed from the scorpion: clearly the street performer had removed it from the end of the insect’s tail. So it was that the scorpion had lost its weapon of deadly poison and could no longer harm anyone however hard it might try.
Thus the man’s deception and guile were soon unmasked and he bowed his head in shame, especially when the crowd mocked him after his quackery had been exposed. Our bold and esteemed officer, along with all the people in the crowd, could see that the secret lay with the scorpion.
Although they had heard a lot about this man being descended from high ancestry and his ability to work wonders, these statements were of no consequence, for
Al’lah does not care about our line of descent. Even Sheikh al-Rifa’I [60]-himself (God had mercy upon him) would never have taken part in such misleading deeds, and he is absolutely innocent of any such things that may have been ascribed to him. These ideas are unacceptable according to logic and the process of sound thought. If descent or lineage could help people to escape punishment for their wrongdoing, then our master Noah (pth) would surely have delivered his son from the flood. So, too, our master Abraham (pth) would have rescued his father the idolater, and our master Mohammad (cpth) would have interceded for his uncle Abu-Lahab,[61] just as he would not have had to caution his daughter Fatima and his uncle al-Ab’bas against breaking Al’lah’s Orders!
It is clear that no amount of intercession will help those who are disobedient, except their returning to obedience to God. Only in this way will they profit from the intercession of others.