"Did you sell your Din like the others did?"

[SeekinG-4-JannaH]

Al-Hasan ibn Arafah narrated, "I visited Imâm Ahmad ibn Hanbal after he was whipped and tortured. I said to him, "O Abu Abdillâh, you have reached the station of the Prophets!" He said, "Keep quiet. Verily, I saw nothing more than people selling their Dîn. And I saw scholars that were with me sell their Faith.

So I said to myself, 'Who am I, what am I. What am I going to say to Allâh tomorrow when I stand in front of Him and He asks me, "Did you sell your Dîn like the others did?" So I looked at the whip and the sword and chose them.

And I said, "If I die I shall return to Allâh and say: 'I was told to say that one of Your Characteristics was something created but I did not.' After that, it will be up to Him - either to punish me or forgive me."

Al-Hasan ibn Arafah then asked, "Did you feel pain when they whipped you?" He said "Yes, I felt the pain up to 20 lashes then I lost all feeling (They whipped him over eighty times). After it was over I felt no pain and that day I prayed Dhuhr standing."

[In fact he prayed as the blood soiled his clothes.]

Al-Hasan ibn Arafah started weeping when he heard what had happened. Imâm Ahmad questioned him, "Why are you crying? I did not lose my Îman. After that why should I care if I lose my life."


"Memoirs from the Life of Imâm Ahmad" By Muhammad al-Sharîf