The Story of Sa`d al-Din (May Allah be well pleased with him)

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate.



One of the great theologians of Islam, Imam Adud al-Din al-Iji ,author of al-Mawaqif had a student in his class called Sa`d al-Din . This student was so stupid that people would start laughing whenever he raised his hand to ask a question. He would ask the stupidest questions and the most bizarre things. This student was so feeble of understanding that whenever Imam Adud al-Din al-Iji used to refer to someone who did not understand he would say “like our friend Sa`d al-Din ”.

This was not even an insult since Sa`d al-Din himself acknowledged that he did not understand.

However Sa`d al-Din was sincere in his desire for knowledge. He was consistent. He would always come to class, without failure. He took the right means. He prepared, reviewed and asked his questions. One day he had a dream that someone came to his little room , knocked on his door and said “Sa`d al-Din come quickly to the woods with me”. Sa`d al-Din refused saying that he was a student of Imam Adud al-Din al-Iji , that he had to prepare for his class and did not have any time to waste. The person who had knocked on the door went away. The second night the same thing happened.

On the third night the person knocked and said “Sa`d al-Din come quickly to the woods_ the Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) has been waiting for you for three days”. Sa`d al-Din came out of his room and went to the woods. There he saw Prophet Muhammed (may peace and blessings be upon him) with a number of his senior companions (may Allah be well pleased with them).The Prophet said “Sa`d al-Din I`ve been waiting for you”. Sa`d al-Din spoke out his heart to the Prophet saying “O Prophet of Allah , I`m trying to learn but I`m not getting my knowledge.” The Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) placed his hand on Sa`d al-Din`s chest or shoulder, and the dream ended.

The next day when Sa`d al-Din raised his hand in the class to ask a question ,people were about to laugh but the question turned out to be quite brilliant. He later also answered a question by Imam Adud al-Din al-Iji.

After the class Imam Adud al-Din al-Iji said to him “ Sa`d al-Din you`re not the same Sa`d al-Din that you were yesterday”.

By the barakah of his consistency Allah swt opened the gates of knowledge,Divine facilitation and success for Sa`d al-Din . Sa`d al-Din became Sa`d al-Din al-Taftazani. ,one of the greatest theologians of Islam. His work in Islamic belief ,to this day forms the central part of the curriculum of the study of aqeeda across the Islamic world.


This story was narrated by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani in a Live Session for LAW110 2H [the Hanafi Fiqh Course at SunniPath] in Feb 07.

May Allah help us learn from the lives of the Scholars.Insh`Allah.