When a group of Salaf found a man upon an Island

worshipping an idol and they gave him Da’wah ―By

Imām Ibn Qudāmah Al-Maqdisi
abukhadeejah.com/when-the-salaf-found-a-man-upon-an-island-worshipping-an-idol-and-they-gave-him-
dawah-ibn-qudamah

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wahid 30 August

2017

Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisī mentioned from Abdul-Wāhid ibn Zayd who said, “We were
upon a ship and we were overtaken by a strong wind towards an island. So we
disembarked and found a man there worshipping an idol.

We came to him, and said, ‘O person! What are you worshipping?’ So he pointed
towards the idol.

They said, ‘There is with us upon the ship who does the same. But this is not a god
to be worshipped.’ So he said, ‘Who do you worship?’ We said, ‘We worship Allah.’

He said, ‘And who is Allah?’ We said, ‘The One whose throne is above the heavens,
and upon the earth is His dominion, and over the living and the dead is His decree.’

He said, ‘And how did you come to know Him? ‘ We said, ‘The Mighty King and
Exalted Creator sent to us an honourable Messenger, and he informed us.’

He asked, ‘And what did the Messenger do?‘ We replied, ‘He fulfilled the message
and then Allah took him to Himself with death.’ He said, ‘So he did not leave you
with a sign?’

We said, ‘Yes, of course.‘ He asked, ‘What did he leave you? ‘ We answered, ‘He left us
with a Book from the King.’

He said, ‘Show me this Book of the King because surely the Books of the kings are
most excellent.’

So we gave him the Mushaf (Qur’an), so he said, ‘I do not know this!’ So we read to him
a Surah of the Qur’an. So, as we recited, he started crying, and as we read more, he cried
more, until we completed the Surah.
1/2
He said, ‘It is obligatory that the One who spoke these words is not to be
disobeyed.’ Then he embraced Islam, and we taught him the laws of Islam and chapters
from the Qur’an. And we took him along with us on the ship.

As we travelled night fell upon us, and each person took to his bed. He said, ‘O people!
This God that you have guided me to ―when night comes, does he sleep?’

We said, ‘No! O servant of Allah. He is Ever-Living, Self-sufficient that the creation

relies upon, the Mighty, who does not sleep.’ So he said, ‘What bad worshippers you
are! You sleep whilst your Guardian Protector does not sleep.’ So he started to
worship and left us alone.

When we reached our land, I said to my companion, ‘This person is new to Islam and a
stranger in this land.’ So we gathered some dirhams (money) and we gave it to him.

He said, ‘What is this?’ We said, ‘Spend it to fulfil your needs.’ He said, ‘There is no
deity worthy of worship besides Allah! I was on islands in the ocean worshipping
an idol besides Allah, and He did not abandon me. So will He abandon me whilst I
now know Him.’

Then he left to earn his own keep. And then after that, he was from the greatest of the
pious ones until he died.”

Ref: At-Tawābeen of Ibn Qudāmah, p. 179.

2/2