Is Khalid Muhammad Ali?
Khalid is a famous magician in Arabian Nights. He can be compared to the traditional ghoul in the stories of L’Harmattan. Khalid can cast both illusions and levitation magic. The illustrations of him are of a snake or scorpion with various other animals with him.
Al-Hussain said that Khalid “has given the greatest knowledge of the force.” And he goes on to say: “that this knowledge is bestowed by Allah, and none but Allah can give this knowledge.” It is in the last chapter of the Arabian Nights that Khalid is called the wisest of all the magicians. When asked what makes him different from others, the answer Khalid gave was: “I am a fanatic of humanity.”
Al-Hussain says that the human and devil are one. He says that the “infidels” in Arabia could not bring harm on the king. Thus, the devil and the human are similar.
The Muslim book ‘Quraysh’ refers to the prophet Muhammad as “Mohammed of Hawa”, since he was asked by Khalid to provide knowledge for “Muslims”. Khalid also says in the text: “Moses was the wisest amongst men and was born with knowledge. You have to learn from Moses.”
Another saying attributed to Khalid, said “Moses could never have read the Book of God, but he found a book, and so Allah brought it down to Moses.” It is interesting to note that Moses would read the book that Allah had prepared for him, while Khalid was making it fall. Thus, the statement of Khalid is true in its present context.
In the Miracle of the Moneychangers, the failure of the miracle is attributed to Khalid. Khalid did not perform his magic so that the merchants would get the money. Instead, he gave the merchant’s brother a gold coin as a gift and thereby stopped the fortune teller from predicting that the fortune teller would succeed in predicting the future. As a result, the miraculous being that the Sheikh gave, was not able to do anything.
Talak was also his name and he was a magician like Khalid. He too had the ability to produce illusions and levitation, but unlike Khalid, he did not use these abilities for evil purposes.
However, the Arabic “Talak” means “roof” and this attribute of Khalid gives an idea of how he operated his magic. He could produce objects that have no roof over them.
