“Have you seen the one who forbids 9
– a servant when he prays? 10
Have you considered: if he is upon guidance, 11
or bids others to be God-fearing? 12
Have you considered: if he belies and turns away, 13
does he not know that Allah sees? 14
No indeed! If he does not desist, We shall drag him by the forelock, 15 – a lying, sinful forelock. 16
Let him, then, summon his council; 17
We shall summon the wardens of Hell. 18
No indeed! Do not obey him; rather, prostrate and draw near. 19
Both Ṣaḥīḥ collections record, in the narration of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib describing the Prophet’s migration—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—together with Abū Bakr from Mecca to Medina, that he said:
“Suraqa ibn Mālik ibn Juʿshum set out after us while we were traversing open desert. I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, we have been overtaken!’ He replied, ‘Do not grieve; Allah is with us.’ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then prayed against him, whereupon his horse sank into the ground up to its belly. He cried, ‘I know that it is your supplication that has done this; pray to Allah to rescue me from my plight, and, by Allah, I pledge to you that…’”