Imam Abu Hanifah and the atheist

Long ago in the city of Baghdad, there was the seat of a Muslim empire on the Tigris River. On one side of the river was the Royal Palace and on the other was the city. A group of Muslims were gathered in the palace when an atheist approached them. He said to them, “I do not believe in God, there cannot be a God, you cannot hear Him or see Him, you are wasting your time! Bring me your best debater and I will debate this issue with him.”

The best debater at the time was Imam Abu Hanifah (may God be pleased with him). A messenger from amongst the Muslims was sent across the Tigris River to where Abu Hanifah in the city to inform him about the atheist who was awaiting him. The messenger conveyed the message to the Imam, saying, “O Abu Hanifah, an atheist is waiting to debate you, please come!” Abu Hanifah told him that he would be on his way.

The messenger returned to the Royal Palace, where everyone including the atheist awaited the arrival of Abu Hanifah. The sun was setting and one hour passed but the Imam still had not arrived. Another hour passed but still there was no sign of him.

The Muslims started to become tense and worried about his late appearance. They did not want the atheist to think that they were too scared to debate him, yet they did not want to take up the challenge themselves as Imam Abu Hanifah (may God be pleased with him) was the best debater amongst them.

Yet another hour passed and suddenly the atheist started laughing and said, “Your best debater is too scared! He knows that he is wrong and is too frightened to come and debate with me. I am certain he will not turn up today.”

The Muslims became increasingly apprehensive and eventually midnight passed and the atheist had a smile on his face. The clock ticked on and finally Abu Hanifah arrived. The Muslims inquired about his delay, ‘O Abu Hanifah, a messenger sent for you hours ago and you only arrive now, please explain to us why you are late.’

The Imam apologised for his lateness and began to explain, while the atheist listened to his story.

“Once the messenger delivered the message to me, I began to make my way to the Tigris River and on reaching the river bank I realised that there was no boat available to cross the river.

It was getting dark and I looked around but there was no boat anywhere nor was there a boatman to take me across to get to the Royal Palace. I continued my search, as I did not want the atheist to think I was running away and did not want to debate with him.

I was standing on the river bank when something caught my attention in the middle of the river. I looked in front of me and to my amazement I saw planks of wood rising to the surface from the river bed. I was shocked and amazed, as I could not believe what I was seeing. Ready-made planks of wood were rising up to the surface and joining together. They were all of the same width and length. I was astounded.

I continued to look into the middle of the river and then saw nails coming up from the river bed. They positioned themselves into the boat that was forming and fastened the planks together without being struck.

As I stood in amazement, I thought to myself, ‘Oh Allah, how can this happen, planks of wood rising to the surface by themselves and then nails positioning themselves into a boat without being hammered?’ I could not understand what was happening before my very eyes.”

The atheist meanwhile was listening with a smile on his face. Abu Hanifah (may God be pleased with him) continued, “I was still standing on the river bank watching these planks of wood join themselves together with nails. I could see water seeping through the gaps between the planks and suddenly I saw a sealant appear from the river which began sealing these gaps without anyone applying it.

Again I thought, ‘Almighty Allah, how is this possible, how can sealant appear and seal the gaps without someone having applied it, and can nails appear without someone having hammered them.’ As I looked closer and could see a boat forming, all of a sudden a sail appeared and I thought to myself, ‘How is this happening, a boat has appeared before my eyes by itself, planks of wood, nails, sealant and now a sail, but how can I use this boat in order to cross the river?’ I stood staring in wonderment and suddenly the boat began to move.

It came towards me against the current. It stood floating beside me on the river bank, as if telling me to embark. I got in and the boat began to move. There was no boatman, yet it began to travel against the flow of the water in the direction of the Royal Palace, without any person determining where it should go. The boat eventually reached the other side of the river and I disembarked. I turned around but the boat had disappeared and that is why I am late.”

At this, the atheist burst out laughing and remarked, “Oh Abu Hanifah, I heard that you were the best debater amongst the Muslims, I heard that you were the wisest, the most knowledgeable among your people. But from seeing you today, I can say that you show none of these qualities. You speak of a boat appearing from nowhere without someone having built it.

Nails positioning themselves without someone having hammered them in place, sealant being applied without anyone having applied it, and the boat taking you against the current to your destination without a boatman; your talk is childish and ridiculous, I swear I do not believe a word of it!”

Abu Hanifah (may God be pleased with him) turned to him and responded, ‘You do not believe a word of it? You do not believe that nails can appear by themselves? You do not believe sealant can be applied by itself? You do not believe that a boat can move without a boatman? Therefore, you do not believe that a boat can appear without a boat maker?’

The atheist replied in defiance, ‘Yes I do not believe a word of it!’ To which the venerable Imam Abu Hanifah (may God be pleased with him) replied, ‘If you cannot believe that a mere boat came into being without a boat maker, how can you believe that the whole world, the universe, the stars, the oceans and the planets came into being without a creator? Astonished and overwhelmed by this reply, the atheist rose and fled.

Source: Islam.ru