A wise Young Man (Jesus, Creator, Earth, soul, mission)

[Peace]

Inspirational Short Story

Many years ago, during the time of the Tâbi'în (the generation of Muslims after the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him), Baghdâd was a great city of Islam. In fact, it was the capital of the Islamic Empire and, because of the great number of scholars who lived there, it was the center of Islamic knowledge.

One day, the ruler of Rome at the time sent an envoy to Baghdad with three challenges for the Muslims. When the messenger reached the city, he informed the khalîfah (The Ruler of the Islamic Empire) that he had three questions which he challenged the Muslims to answer.

The khalîfah gathered together all the scholars of the city and the Roman messenger climbed upon a high platform and said, "I have come with three questions. If you answer them, then I will leave with you a great amount of wealth which I have brought from the king of Rome." As for the questions, they were:
"What was there before Allâh?" "In which direction does Allâh face?" "What is Allâh engaged in at this moment?"
The great assembly of people were silent. (Can you think of answers to these questions?) In the midst of these brilliant scholars and students of Islam was a man looking on with his young son. "O my dear father! I will answer him and silence him!" said the youth. So the boy sought the permission of the khalîfah to give the answers and he was given the permission to do so.
The Roman addressed the young Muslim and repeated his first question, "What was there before Allâh?" The boy asked, "Do you know how to count?" "Yes," said the man. "Then count down from ten!" So the Roman counted down, "ten, nine, eight, ..." until he reached "one" and he stopped counting "But what comes before 'one'?" asked the boy. "There is nothing before one- that is it!" said the man. "Well then, if there obviously is nothing before the arithmetic 'one', then how do you expect that there should be anything before the 'One' who is Absolute Truth, All-Eternal, Everlasting the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden?"

Now the man was surprised by this direct answer which he could not dispute. So he asked, "Then tell me, in which direction is Allâh facing?" "Bring a candle and light it," said the boy, "and tell me in which direction the flame is facing." "But the flame is just light- it spreads in each of the four directions, North, South, East and West. It does not face any one direction only," said the man in wonderment. The boy cried, "Then if this physical light spreads in all four directions such that you cannot tell me which way it faces, then what do you expect of the Nûr-us-Samâwâti-wal-'Ard: Allâh - the Light of the Heavens and the Earth!? Light upon Light, Allâh faces all directions at all times."

The Roman was stupefied and astounded that here was a young child answering his challenges in such a way that he could not argue against the proofs. So, he desperately wanted to try his final question. But before doing so, the boy said, "Wait! You are the one who is asking the questions and I am the one who is giving the answer to these challenges. It is only fair that you should come down to where I am standing and that I should go up where you are right now, in order that the answers may be heard as clearly as the questions."

This seemed reasonable to the Roman, so he came down from where he was standing and the boy ascended the platform. Then the man repeated his final challenge, "Tell me, what is Allâh doing at this moment?" The boy proudly answered, "At this moment, when Allâh found upon this high platform a liar and mocker of Islam, He caused him to descend and brought him low. And as for the one who believed in the Oneness of Allâh, He raised him up and established the Truth. Every day He exercises (universal) power."

The Roman had nothing to say except to leave and return back to his country, defeated. Meanwhile, this young boy grew up to become one of the most famous scholars of Islam. Allâh, the Exalted, blessed him with special wisdom and knowledge of religion . His name was Abu Hanîfah (May Allah have mercy on him) and he is known today as the Great Imâm and scholar of Islam.

[martha]

Thank you for that wonderful story, of truth. I am a Catholic but I truly respect all Religions that believe in the Almighty Creator of us all. I also pray for those who don't have any belief, who are lost in this world. I came up with the first two answers but the third eluded me. Thank you for the enlightenment. Quite frankly I love God so very much and my soul longs to be with Him. Although I am most unworthy to be in the presence of God, I know that His essence is LOVE, pure unconditional love. I would very much like to share the reasons for my understanding of God with you and others but I will wait for a reply and an invitation to speak of such things. I don't want to be so presumptuous to think that everyone will want to hear from me. I await a reply.

Joyfully in Jesus
Martha

[Peace]

Peace be with you Martha,

I am happy you enjoyed reading the Story. You know ...me too I love our dear Creator SO MUCH, I can't describe to you how great my love for Him is. Actually, I can't imagine my life without Him. Life would be really meaningless without the presence of God in it. I thank Him the Merciful day and night and every second for being our God, the God of all humanity and the Creator of the whole universe. I thank Him every second for being so close to us fulfilling our needs and giving us without limit!!
I long for meeting with Him the Almighty, though I will be ashamed of myself, for what I have in store I consider it nothing comparing it with His endless bounties He has bestowed on me and on all His creatures. However I am longing for His Mercy, for His Mercy is thorough, praise be to Him the Merciful!!
Well my dear Martha I will be glad to share toghether our thoughts and with everyone who is interested

Salam,
(Peace)

[Peace]

By the way, welcome to the forums Martha

Peace