An Amazing Boy [History]

There was once a man who was an enemy to Islam. No Islamic scholar in Baghdad could answer his three famous questions; thus he made fun of Islam in public. He constantly ridiculed Islam and the Muslims.

One day a small boy, whose age was 10, came along and heard the man yelling at Muslims in the street. He was challenging people openly to answer the three questions. The boy stood quietly and watched. After a while, he walked up and said, "I will accept your challenge". The man laughed at the boy and ridiculed the Muslims even more by saying, "A 10 year old boy challenges me. Is this all you people have to offer!" But the boy patiently reiterated his stance. The man finally accepted.

The entire city gathered around a small hill where open addresses were usually made. The man climbed to the top, and in a loud voice asked his first question. "What is your God doing right now?"
The small boy thought for a little while and then told the man to climb down the hill and to allow him to go up in order to address the question. The man says "What? You want me to come down?" The boy said, "Yes. I need to reply, right?" The man made his way down and the small boy with his little feet made his way up. This small child's reply was "Oh Allah Almighty! You be my witness in front of all these people. You have just willed that this man be brought down to a low level, and that a Muslim be brought to a high level!". The crowd cheered.

The man felt humiliated, but he boldly asked his Second question. "What existed before your God?"
The small child thought and thought. Then he said, "Count from 10 backwards." The man counted, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0". The boy asked, ´Why did you stop?” The man said, "There's nothing before 0" The boy said: "Exactly. Nothing was before Allah, for He is Eternal and Absolute." SubhanAllah, the crowd cheered again.

The man, now completely frustrated asked his final question. "In which direction is your Allah facing?"
The boy, after a long thought asked for a candle. The blessed child handed it to the man and asked him to light it. The man did so. Now the young boy asked, "To which direction is the light from the candle spreading?" The man responded, "In all directions." The boy said, "You have answered your own question. Allah's noor spreads in all directions. He is everywhere. There is no where that He cannot be found." Allahu Akbar!

Quite moved by the boy's intelligence, the man embraced Islam and became the student of the young boy. So ended the debate. Wondering who was the young boy? He was the leading scholar of Islamic jurisprudence, a Faqeeh, who is known to posterity by the name Imam Abu Haneefa [Imam e Azam]. May Allah bless him and sanctify his secrets, Ameen.