The Deadly Dancing Plague of 1518

Seems like a legend, rather than reality, reported numerously, the dancing plague of 1518 is one of the most mysterious events ever reported. A woman just danced for days in the city of Strasbourg. She was joined in by a great number of dancers. People were amazed, shocked, and rather worried by this unnecessary behaviour. Medics and priests were called only to see that the dancers were terrified themselves and wanted to stop, but they couldn't. This shocked everyone and made them realise this wasn't about alcohol. Days and weeks passed, and dancers started to die of exhaustion, literally dying of dancing, hard to believe but that happened. Nobody knew the reason why this was happening. The dance was so captivating that individuals couldn't stop themselves from taking part in it. The dance spread among the people of the city like a plague. Frau Troffea (the woman who initiated the dance) was taken far from the city to a mountain, but it was too late. Over 400 people were affected and were continuously dancing in the city. However, after 2 or 3 months, the dance stopped and the dancers were again normal. Around 100 casualties were reported during this period. No one till day could explain, what took over those people which forced them to dance. Some say it was a sort of demonic possession or divine intervention. Some tried explaining it rationally, calling it a result of 'hot blood'. Similar cases were reported around the world from the 11th century to the 16th century.

This King burned 20,000 people alive

This event took place back in the 6^th century AD, even before the advent of Islam in Arabia. Najran, a city situated in the southwest of Saudi Arabia, was home to the first Christian community in Saudi Arabia. Najran at that time was ruled by a Jewish Himyarite King, Dhu Nuwas. Being Jewish, he didn't like Christians living in his kingdom. This particular event of persecution isn't prominently found in Christian sources, however, it has been hinted at in Quran (Chapter of Constellations). A great amount of detail of this account is found in the collected sayings of Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad was born just after 50 years of this event.

In the Holy Quran (85:4-10), God says

Condemned are the makers of the ditch, the fire 'pit' filled with fuel when they sat around it, watching what they had 'ordered to be' done to the believers, who they resented for no reason other than belief in God—the Almighty, the Praiseworthy, 'the one' to Whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and earth. And God is a Witness over all things. Those who persecute the believing men and women and then do not repent will certainly suffer the punishment of Hell and the torment of burning.

In the context of these verses, there is a detail in Sahih Muslim (7511). Companion Suhaib reported that once Prophet Muhammad told him that a boy once worked for the king (Dhu Nuwas) as a magician. The boy was still learning and he daily visited the experienced magician. Every day, the boy met a monk on his way to the other magician. The monk taught the boy about faith in God, God's Mercy and God's rewards in the afterlife. Upon listening to the monk's talk daily, the boy accepted Christianity and restored his faith in God. The young boy started to convey the truth to the people of the city. As he learned the magic, he started to cure the sick with the permission of God. The king on hearing this, demanded the boy be killed. However, God saved the young boy whenever they planned to kill him. The boy told the king that if he wants to kill me, he has to gather all the people of the city and shoot an arrow while saying 'In the name of God, the Lord of this young boy'. The king accepted the boy's demand and did the same. On seeing that the young boy was killed in the name of God, the people of the city realised that the boy was on the true path. All the people that were standing there, accepted Christianity. The king was furious. The king ordered his men to dig big ditches and fill them with fire. Then the king ordered the believers to return to their original religion or else they will be thrown into the fire. The believers refused to leave their religion and all of them were thrown into the fire. A mother, thinking of her child, was reluctant to go into the fire. It happened so, that her child spoke and told her that 'Mother, this is the truth'.

God never forgets His people for God is the most Merciful.