Islamic stories

Thabit Bin Numan

Thabit Bin Numan (rahimahullah) was on a journey and he was so hungry and tired . He passed by a garden along the river that had trees with juicy fruits and without thinking twice, he reached for the nearest apple from one of the trees and ate it then drank some water from the river. He started felling guilty for himself and said:" Woe onto me! how can I eat someone's fruits without permission? I shall not leave this place until I find the owner of this garden and ask him to forgive me for eating one of his apple."

After asking around, he found the owner and went to his house and knocked on the door. The owner of the garden opened the door and Thabit bin Numan told him that he came to apologize for eating an apple from his garden.

The man replied:" I will forgive you on one condition."

Thabit bin Numan asked:" and what condition is that?"

The man said:" That you marry my daughter."

Thabit bin Numan agreed to it. The man then said," But heed to this, my daughter is blind, she doesn't see; mute, she does not speak; deaf, she does not hear."

Thabit bin Numan thought over it, having been given a dilemma for just eating one apple. He realized that to be given such a woman is better than to eat from hellfire as a reward for the apple he ate. and so he accepted the condition of the man. He felt so miserable that he wished the earth to swallow him up before the day reaches, but he still placed his trust to Allah.

When the day of his marriage reached , he saw her for the first time. He was surprised by what he saw. How beautiful and graceful the woman was. She was an image of his imagination of the hurul-ain( maidens of paradise) and She could hear, see and speak!. When the girl saw that she told him about his fathers words.

She said:" My father has spoken the truth. He said I was mute because I do not speech any forbidden words and I have not spoken to any an who is unlawful to me. And I an indeed deaf in the sense that I have never sat in a gathering in which there is backbiting, rumor, slander or false and vain speech. And I am blind ,, in the sense that I look upon a man who is not permissible to me!."

They lived happily together and it was from this family that a baby was born who grew up to be famously known in Islam as Imam Abu Hanifah.

Subhana Allah!.

Kilaany, A.(1992). Kana Ya Makaan. Dhar Kalam.