The Imam and the Athiest

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MAY PEACE AND BLESSINGS BE UPON THE FINAL PROPHET MUHAMMAD AND WHOEVER FOLLOWS HIS WAY.

In the era of the great Imam, Abi Hanifa Al- Nu’man, a man (atheist) was famous for heresy, denying the existence of Allah. He agreed to meet the Imam Abi Hanifa at Jum’a prayer (Friday sermon) and this dialogue started between them:

THE MAN: Who was before Allah?
THE IMAM: What comes before three…?
THE MAN: Two.
THE IMAM: What comes before two?
THE MAN: One.
THE IMAM: What comes before one then?
THE MAN: Nothing (zero).
THE IMAM: So, nothing comes before The One, The Originator of the heavens and the earth…….. Allah is The First…. And there is no one before Him.
** ** ** **
THE MAN: Where does the face of Allah turn? If it turned to the east, for instance, and if people in the west disobeyed Him, He does not see them.
The Imam then got up and lit a “lamp” and asked the man:
Where does the light of the lamp turn?
THE MAN: The light of the lamp has enlightened everywhere.
THE IMAM: And the light of the face of Allah has enlightened the entire universe.
“Whichever way you turn, there is the face of Allah” (The Quran, 2: 115)
** ** ** **
The universe belongs to Allah, Exaltation to Him…….No place surrounds Him because He has created “place’’…… and no time affects Him because He is The Creator of time.
At this point, the atheist man gets up (hugging or kissing) the great Imam and declares his submission to the truth and his conviction of Islam.

Translated from “This is Your Aqeedah (conviction), my Son” (63-65) by Mahmud Muhammad Gharib that is written in Arabic.