Superstition, Legend, and Miracle Surrounding Ahmed Bin Ojayl [Archives:2000/17/Culture]

Saleh Abdulbaqi
Yemen Times
Before we proceed with the essence of the subject, we would like to present you some of the important aspects of his characteristic features. There are three distinctive features of Bin Ojayl; superstition, miracle, and legend. I would highlight some of the tales concerning some miracles about sheik Bin Ojayl. These legends and miracles were well known amongst people at that time. Some authors and historians have talked about this person in their writings (as Al-Shariqi, Al-Yaf’ei, and others).
Difference between Superstition and Miracle:
Superstition: What God sends down to Prophets and Messengers on the strength of which they can challenge those people who do not have faith in them.
Miracle: the appearance of supernatural aspects of God to some people who do not claim that they have miracles. These supernatural aspects are accompanied by faith in God. The person who has supernatural inspiration has to obey God’s instructions. The explainers of ‘Tahawia Dogma’ says that miracle in Standard Arabic is an extraordinary thing. But some others say that miracle is for Prophets and superstition is for people as magicians.
Legend and Superstition:
The meaning of these two terms is a bit mysterious. There are some people who say that they have the same meaning, but others differentiate between them.
According to Ibn Mansour’s version contained in his book titled “Lisan Al-Arab”, legend is aspect without any system.
Legend is a distortion of historical events because it narrates false facts about religion, nationalism, and philosophy. Legend aims at arousing excitement in the public. It takes common aspect of traditional tales and add new events and riddles to them.
Author Abdullah Al-Baradoni differentiates between legend and myth. He says that there are differences between opinions concerning legend and myth. Some people believe that legend relates to goddesses as legends of Greece, but superstition is one of the supernatural things which refer to Jinn, human beings, and animals. So according to him the appropriate terms would be superstition because it carries strange pictures about human beings.
However, the late sheik Ahmed Bin Ojayl was a real legendary personality of that time. No doubt, he is the most honest jurist in the record history. He was a legendary individual in the tales and narrations circulated in Tihama. Ahmed Bin Ojayl was known as Ahmed Bin Alwan in Youfras city, Yahya Al-Hamza in Dhamar city, Arwa Bint Ahmed in Jiblah town, and Al-Jibri in Zabeed town. In the books of history, Ahmed Bin Ojayl is the jurist and the scientist who was distinguished by his sciences and worship. He devoted his life to science in order to help people and stand by them. According to sources circulated amongst people in Tihama, Bin Ojayl was not different from Ahmed Bin Alwan because he was the one who helped people and stood by them. His grave is still a sacred monument.
It is worth mentioning that there are a lot of tales and miracles surrounding Bin Ojayl, in the books of history. A researcher found manuscripts in the house of the jurist ‘Saimona’. It has been noticed that some chapters of that writings related to the books which was called “Tuba’at Al-Khawas”. The chapters of that book, I found, were related to Al-Yaf’ei edition, “Naher Al-Mamas”. The author narrates a number of miracles about Bin Ojayl, and so there must be many other such tales are yet to come to light.
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