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BAHLOOL,THE WISE - 2
Wahab ibn Amr,
was one of
the followers
and companions
of the
Infallible Imam
Musa Al-Kazim
(a.s.). He
was
well-educated
and financially
well-off.
There is one report that the despotic Abbassayad king, Harun had appointed him as the Chief Justice, but he did not want to accept it because of his tyranny, but knew the consequences of rejection. He sought advice from the Infallible Imam (a.s.) who advised him to become insane. He complied with the Imam (a.s.)’s directive and was saved from any punishment! Hence he was called “Bahlool”
DEBATE WITH A
JURIST: A
jurist came from
Khorasan (Iran)
to see Harun,
who accorded him
respectable
welcome.
Incidentally,
Bahlool was also
present there.
The jurist made some ulterior remarks about Bahlool and he also made some counter remarks. At last, the jurist offered to debate with him on the condition that if Bahlool failed to give the answer to his question, he will have to pay one thousand Dinars in gold coins. The jurist asked the following question to Bahlool:
Suppose a
woman was
sitting in a
house with her
husband. And a
man was busy in
prayers and
another person
was in a state
of fasting.
During that
period another
man entered that
house, the
marriage of the
wife and husband
became mutually
null and void,
while the prayer
of the one who
was praying and
fasting of the
one who was
fasting also
became
unacceptable.
Who was the
person who
entered the
house?
In reply to the
above question,
Bahlool promptly
answered by
explaining that
the person
who entered the
house was
the previous
husband of that
woman. He
had gone on a
journey and did
not return for
quite some time.
The woman was informed that he had died, so after securing the consent of “Hakim-e-Shariah” (the Executer of Islamic Laws), she married again with the man with whom she was sitting. Besides, she had arranged for other two men on behalf of the husband who was reckoned to be dead.
Now, as soon
as her first
husband, who was
alive, entered
the house, the
first marriage
revived and the
second marriage
became
automatically
null and void.
And that prayer and fasting on his behalf also became unnecessary, since prayer and fast on behalf of one who is alive is not acceptable in Islamic Sharia. Harun and his courtier were much impressed by this logical answer.
Bahlool then
took his turn
and posed the
following
question to the
jurist:
Suppose one bowl
is full with
sugar syrup
while another is
full with
vinegar. If for
the purpose of
preparing
Sikanjabin (a
kind of vinegar
syrup), we put
them in third
bowl and we find
a small rat in
it.
How can we determine that rat originally was in the ball of vinegar or that of sugar syrup?
The jurist had
no answer to it.
Harun noticing
his silence,
called for the
answer from
Bahlool. Bahlool
answered:
We should first
remove the rat
from sugar syrup
and wash it with
water then tear
open its body to
see what was
there in its
tummy. If we
find vinegar, we
conclude the rat
had got into the
bowl of vinegar.
If, however, we find sugar syrup in its tummy, we conclude that the rat was originally in the bowl of syrup.
On hearing this
answer to the
question, all
those present in
the court were
awe struck with
the remarkable
intelligence of
Bahlool.
Finally, the
jurist had to
part with a
thousand Dinar
of gold to
Bahlool, who
distributed it
to the poor.
The Noble
Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
said: “He whose
knowledge is
higher is
considered more
in value than
others.”
A QUESTION
FROM HARUN:
Once, Harun was
enjoying the
scenery from his
palace. Bahlool
happened to be
there. Haurn
told him: “I
will ask a
question to
which if you
reply correctly,
then I will gift
you a thousand
Dinars of gold,
otherwise I will
throw you in the
river Tigress.”
Bahlool
replied: “I am
not in greed of
wealth. If I
reply correctly,
you should agree
release a
hundred of my
friends from
your prison.
Otherwise you
may throw me
into the river.
Harun then put
forward this
question:
Suppose there
is a wolf, a
sheep and a heap
of grass. How
could these be
transferred from
this bank to the
other bank of
the river so
that neither the
sheep eats the
grass nor the
wolf is able to
consume the
sheep?
Bahlool replied:
The sheep should
be taken across
the opposite
bank of the
river. Then take
the grass heap
there, and
return the sheep
to this side of
the river and
leaving it here,
take the wolf
across to that
side.
Finally returning to this side take the sheep back to that side of the water. In this way, neither the sheep would have an opportunity to eat the heap of neither grass nor the wolf to consume the sheep.
Harun was
touched by
Bahlool’s
intelligence and
admired this
answer. Bahlool
then presented
the list of a
hundred
prisoners, who
were the
followers and
lovers of the
Commander of the
Faithful, Ali
Ibn Abi Talib
(a.s.).
Breaking his promise, Harun refused to release them. However, finally on persuasion, Harun agreed to release ten of them!
What a profound
sense of
intelligence as
well as a deep
concern for the
innocent
prisoners held
by Harun on
accusation of
professing love
of Ali ibn Abi
Talib (a.s.) and
belief in him as
the rightful
divinely
appointed
Caliph!
Bahlool always
looked down upon
the worldly
wealth and never
compromised
against the
principles of
righteousness
and justice.
This fact made
him feared by
one and all and
he proved to be
one among the
few pious
personalities of
his time.
Source: Bahlool
Dana
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