In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Al-Khateeb Al-Bagdaadee [may Allaah have mercy upon him] reported that Al-Hallaaj instructed one of his close companions to go to one of the mountainous lands and said to him, “Manifest to the people your devotion in worship, righteousness and abstinence from the worldly life. After they incline towards you, love you and believe in you, tell them that you have been afflicted with blindness and then after some time make known to them that you are crippled. If they hasten to give you medical treatment, say to them, ‘O good people! I will not be benefited by anything you do’. Then after some time, you should tell them that you have seen Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] in a dream saying to you, ‘Indeed, you cannot be cured except at the hands of a Qutb (see footnote a), and he will come to you on such and such day, on such and such month, and his description is such and such’, and then I (i.e. Al-Hallaaj) will come to you at that appointed time'”.

So, the man (i.e. Al-Hallaaj’s accomplice) went to that land and resided there, performed acts of worship, manifested righteousness and engaged in recitation of the Qur’an. After staying there for some time, the people believed in him and loved him, so he made known to them that he is afflicted with blindness. Then after some time, he made known to them that he has been suffering from inveterate sickness, so they hastened to do whatever they could to find a cure for him, but could not find a solution. He said to them, “O good people! What you are doing has not resulted in anything and indeed I have seen Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] in a dream and he said to me, ‘Indeed, your wellbeing and cure is only in the hands of a Qutb and he will be coming to you on such and such day, and in such and such month”. The people began taking him to the Masjid and honouring him because of the appointed time he has spoken about regarding the arrival of the Qutb. After sometime, Al-Hallaaj entered the land discreetly with a white woollen garment, then he went to the Masjid and stayed in a specific place, engaged in worship and did not pay attention to anyone. The people recognized him based on the description given to them by the person (i.e. the one who was feigning ill health – Al-Hallaaj accomplice), so they approached him, greeted him and started stroking him (i.e. gently as a sign of admiration, respect etc). Then when the appointed time arrived [i.e. the time mentioned to them about the arrival of the Qutb (Al-Hallaaj the fraudster)], the people informed the one (feigning illness) about the man in the Masjid, so he said to them, “Describe the person”, and after they described the man (i.e. Al-Hallaaj), he said to them, “That was the person about whom I was informed – in my dream – that my cure is in his hands. Take me to him”. They took him and placed him in front of Al-Hallaaj, so he said to al-Al-Hallaaj, “O Abu Abdillaah! I saw Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] in a dream…and then he narrated his dream. Al-Hallaaj raised his hands and supplicated, spittle on his palms and rubbed them on the man’s face and thus both eyes opened as if they were never blind. Then he took some of the spittle and rubbed it on the man’s legs and thus the man stood up and walked – in the presence of the people, the rulers and nobles of that land – as if nothing happened to him. The people exclaimed: “Allaah is the Greatest! Glorified be Allaah!” They exalted Al-Hallaaj with an exaltation that increased the falsehood he manifested to them.

Al-Hallaaj stayed with them for some and they honoured and exalted him; then when he decided to depart, he wanted them to gather a lot of wealth for him, so he said, “As for me, I have no need of the worldly things; rather we have reached this level of piety through abandoning the worldly things, but it may be that this companion of yours (i.e. his accomplice) has brothers and companions amongst the Abdaal (see footnote b), who are striving in the path of Allaah at Tartus, performing pilgrimage and giving in charity, and they are in need of what aids them to traverse this path”. Then the man who was in a state of chronic illness and was now cured (i.e. Al-Hallaaj’s accomplice) said to the people, “The Shaikh has spoken the truth. Indeed, Allaah gave me back my eyesight and blessed me with wellbeing so that I can spend the rest of my life to exert myself in the path of Allaah and perform hajj together with our righteous Abdaal brothers”. Then he urged the people to give wealth. Al-Hallaaj departed and the man stayed with the people until they gathered a lot of wealth, including gold and silver. After they gathered the wealth, he gave them a farewell speech and departed; then he went to Al-Hallaaj and they shared the wealth. (1)

[Footnote a: What is a Qutb according to the heretical Soofees? A Qutb is the so called saint or sufi leader who has a divine relationship with Allaah. He transmits knowledge which makes him the axis of the sufi path and he is not known].

[Footnote b: Who are the Abdaal according to the heretical Soofees? They are the so called seven Awliya and each of them control one of the seven continents of the world].

[Ref 1: An Excerpt from Al-Bidaayah Wan-Nihaayah. Vol 11. Pages 135-136. Slightly paraphrased]