A True Story
One day, when Mr. M A Sheikho was a public security officer, he was passing along a particular street wearing his elegant military uniform, displaying his own seemly appearance. He was walking staidly along with his usual firm footsteps, and was surrounded by a peerless halo of reverence, gentleness and dignity that was unmatched in its perfection.
Suddenly, his attention was drawn by a crowd of people who had gathered together around something. He wondered what was in their midst. What was the cause of their fascination? To find out, he walked towards them and stood with them, and asked the man beside him:
“You sir! Tell me what is going on here? What has made these people gather together in a circle?! What is at the centre of this gathering?”
An impression of astonishment could still be seen on the face of the man, who 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! He is holding a big scorpion in the palm of his hand!!”
“Is that so? Okay, I will take a look at this”, said Mr. M A Sheikho, and then left the man and rushed into the crowd of people, shouldering his way to the middle of the group. When people saw him, they recognized that it was the brave and honorable officer himself, Mr. M A Sheikho. They promptly cleared a path for him so that he could pass through as he wished. He proceeded to push forward until he reached the midst of the throng, where he found the performer standing before him.
This man was standing in the middle of the crowd, encircled by people, all of whom were bewildered and astounded by the unusual and extraordinary acts he was performing.
When Mr. M A Sheikho looked at the man, he saw a big scorpion in the palm of his hand. He went closer and stood nearby him, looking closely at his hand. He was absolutely sure that no man could normally 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 that false superman as follows:
“You, man! How can you hold that scorpion without being bitten by it?!”
With confidence and pride, the man answered:
“Oh sir! I am the scion of important ancestors. I am descended from Sheikh Al-Rifaee (his soul has been sanctified by Al’lah).”
At this point, Mr. M A Sheikho opened his palm and stretched out his hand, saying “Put the scorpion in my hand.”
The man was shocked and thunderstruck, and immediately said, “No, no sir! It will surely sting you!”
Mr. M A Sheikho said to him, “I too am descended from a high ancestor,[53] my good man. Come on! Put it in my hand.”
The man unwillingly stretched his hand out to Mr. M A Sheikho, and put the scorpion in the scholar’s hand in spite of himself. Mr. M A Sheikho scrutinized the scorpion which was settled in the palm of his hand. How odd! It failed to bite him, or even to affect him in any way, despite its many attempts to do so.
Then, all doubt and wonder vanished from this case when the reason for the strange phenomenon was unveiled. The scorpion had been deprived of its poisonous stinger, as the performer had extracted it from the end of its tail with some kind of tool. So it was that the scorpion had lost its weapon of deadly poison, so that if it tried to sting its molester, it would fail.
Thus the man’s trickery and cunning was unmasked, and he bowed his head in shame, especially when the throng mocked him after his charlatanism had been unveiled. Our bold and dear officer, along with all the people in the crowd, could see that the secret was in the scorpion. Although they had heard a lot about this man being descended from high ancestry and his ability to do wonders, these were nothing but baseless statements, for Al’lah does not care about our descent. Even Sheikh Al-Rifa’e himself (God had mercy upon him) would never take part in such 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 sound thinking. If descent or lineage was of assistance in helping people to escape from punishment for their wrongdoing, then our master Noah (pth) would surely have delivered his son from the flood, and additionally our master Abraham (pth) would have rescued his father the idolater, and our master Mohammad (cpth) would have interceded for his uncle Abo-Lahab, just as he would not have had to caution his daughter Fatima and his uncle Al-Ab’bas against breaking Al’lah‘s orders!
That is because no intercession is of assistance to those who are disobedient, except their returning to obedience to God. In this way only will they profit from the intercession of intercessors.