Wild dogs defend the Shaykh from Communists – The story of Shaykh Muhammad Sultan Al Masoomi
Narrated by Shaykh Abdur-Rahman Muhiyyuddeen
The following is a summary translation:
It has been narrated by Abu Bakr رَضِيَ
اللَّهُ عَنْهُ he said: I said to the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ while I was in the cave: ‘If one of them looks beneath his
feet he will surely see us’. He replied: ‘What do you think—O Abu
Bakr—about two who have Allah as the third One with them?’
This is clear. When the entered the
cave—correct—the cave ofThawr while the disbelievers of the Quraish were
following their traces. When the Messenger صلوات الله وسلامه عليه left
from his home—when Allah permitted him to migrate— they (theQuraish)
were surrounding the house. They were surrounding his house desiring to
kill him. There were close to one hundred youths, each youth carrying a
sword. These were well armed soldiers; is this not the case?! Plotting
to kill him صلوات الله وسلامه عليه; by Allah, until the world was
quieted. The Messengerصلى الله عليه وسلّم exited and found them doing
what? Sleeping or were they not sleeping? Allahu Akbar. He exited while
he was reciting Soorah Yaseen.
فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ
And We have covered them up, so that they cannot see. (SoorahYaseen 36:9)
The Messenger صلوات الله عليه والسلام
exited in front of them, in front of them. There is no deity worthy of
worship except for Allah alone without partners.
This incident reminded me of an incident
mentioned by ShaykhMasoomi. Have you heard of Shaykh Muhammad Sultan
AlMusoomi or have you not heard of him? MashaAllah, he was from the
major Salafis from the old-timers. He used to teach in Masjid Al Haram.
May Allah the Blessed and Exalted have mercy upon him. This noble
righteous man was in the lands ofBukhara and Samarkand (two cities in
Uzbekistan) spreading the Salafi creed. When he performed Hajj—and he
was wealthy, he had a lot of money—when he performed Hajj he heard about
the Salafi Dawah during this time, during the era of Abdul Aziz may
Allah have mercy upon him. He purchased the books of IbnTaymiyyah and
Abdul Wahab. He spent all of his money, buying books of Fatwa and this
and that, and he took this to Bukhara and began to spread the Dawah
there in Khujand (a city inTajikistan). He has a very beautiful treatise
called ‘is the Muslim obliged to follow a particular Madhab? It is
entitled: The gift of Sultan to the Muslims of Japan. This is because
during the 20thcentury when the Muslims of Japan entered into Islam they
were puzzled, because there were travelers from Pakistan and travelers
from Indonesia. The Pakistanis were Hanafi and the Indonesians were
Shafi’i. Thus when they wanted to entered into Islam, they said do you
want to be upon the Madhab of AbuHaneefah or the Madhab of Shafi’i?
(They replied) By Allah we do not know! Islam is one, why the Madhab of
Abu Haneefah orShafi’i? So they sent the question to the Shaykh; ‘Is the
Muslim obliged to follow a particular Madhab? Or should he follow the
Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger? An extremely beautiful
treatise entitled: The gift of Sultan to the Muslims of Japan; is the
Muslim obliged to follow a particular Madhab? You will find it in the
ibn Rajab bookstore, inshaAllah.
This individual—Sultan Al Masoomi may
Allah have mercy upon him—said; when he was spreading the correct
religion inTurkestan the communist government became agitated with
him.The government was upon Stalinism, are you familiar withStalinism?
Have you heard of Stalinism? They are communistatheist and criminals.
When they became agitated with him theyapprehended him and placed him in
prison. What was the judgment upon him? Do you know? They sentenced him
to hanging; they were going to kill him.
وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ
And (remember) when the disbelievers plotted against you (O Muhammad) to imprison you, or to kill you. (Soorah Al Anfal8:30)
His in-law mentioned to me that he was
in the dungeon and in the morning they were going to kill him. What did
they intend to do in the morning? They were going to kill him. He said: I
was remembering Allah; I was reciting the Quran in the dungeon. Do you
know what the dungeon is? It is a prison cell. The jailer is at the door
looking in the window to see if he is in the cell or not; if he is in
the cell the jailer moves on. He comes by to check twice, three times,
ten times, while he (the Shaykh) is sitting remembering Allah. What is
he waiting for? He is waiting for his fate. Allahu Akbar, he was not
afraid.
He said one time the jailer did not come
to check on him. He sat waiting for him. So he looked and found the
jailer sleeping. He was overcome with sleep. The door opened so he
exited. He exited and he was not noticed. There is no deity worthy of
worship except for Allah alone without partners. Just as the Prophet
صلوات الله وسلامه عليه exited. He left the town walking, fleeing; he
left the town fearing what? Fearing they would search for him. He said: O
my Lord save me from the oppressive people. Allahu Akbar. When he left
the town, the jailer awaken and didn’t find him, the prisoner had
escaped. So they chased him and they brought police dogs. Police dogs
sniff out the trace, is this not the case? So they followed him.
He said: ‘When they followed me, I found
a cemetery outside the city, and I found in it an open grave so I
entered it.’ And around the grave were wild dogs and these dogs were
sleeping when he entered the grave yard, they did not notice him. When
the police dogs came the wild dogs awaken and began to chase them,
defending those who believe; AllahuAkbar. They defended him, Allah
defended him, until they pushed them away and the dogs went to sleep at
night and he left. The story of his exit and migration is a long one.
And then he came here and Al Malik Abdul Aziz—may Allah have mercy upon
him—honored him. He recognized his truthfulness and trustworthiness.
Translated by Rasheed ibn Estes Barbee