The Messenger’s Conversation with the Ansar about Shooting Stars

Ibn Ishaq said: Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri related, from ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali, from Abdullah ibn al-‘Abbas, from a group of the Ansar, that the Messenger of Allah asked them, “What did you used to say about this star that is shot?” They replied, “O Prophet of Allah, when we saw them being shot, we used to say: a king has died, a kingdom has been granted, a child has been born, or a child has died.” The Messenger said, “That is not so. When Allah decrees a matter concerning His creation, the bearers of the Throne hear it and glorify Him. Those beneath them glorify Him, and the glorification descends from one heaven to another until it reaches the lowest heaven. They ask one another, ‘Why did you glorify?’ They answer, ‘Those above us glorified, so we glorified as they did.’ This continues until the bearers of the Throne are asked. They say that Allah has decreed such-and-such concerning His creation. The report descends from heaven to heaven until it reaches the lowest heaven, where it is discussed. The devils steal fragments of it by listening, with uncertainty and variation, and bring them to soothsayers on earth. The soothsayers tell people; sometimes they are right and sometimes wrong.” Then Allah, mighty and majestic, barred the devils with these shooting stars, and soothsaying of this kind was cut off… The report continues beyond the printed page.

Ibn Ishaq says this particular access to heavenly news was cut off from that time until the Day of Resurrection. Claims made by jinn through the mouths of the possessed concern things they see on earth, such as a theft or a hidden object; predictions are conjecture, right only rarely and wrong often. See al-Rawd al-Unuf.