The story of the privilege of Imam Syafi'i

 

 THE STORY OF IMAM SYAFI'I AND THE PRINCESS OF IMAM AHMAD BIN HANBAL

            Imam Ahmad is a great scholar, expert on hadith and jurisprudence in the city of Baghdad. He has a teacher who he respects very much. Imam Ahmad's respect for Imam Shafi'i is the best respect for a student to his teacher. Every time he prays he never forgets to mention Imam Shafi'i's name. Imam Ahmad even asked his children and students to pray for Imam Shafi'i after praying.

            Imam Ahmad has a daughter who is very pious. Imam Ahmad often tells about zuhudan, piety, intelligence, and kindness of Imam Shafi'i. This made Imam Ahmad's daughter want to meet the cleric who was greatly admired by her father.

            Once Imam Ahmad invited Imam Shafi'i to his house. Imam Ahmad had prepared a special meal and room for Imam Shafi'i. Imam Shafi'i arrived at Imam Ahmad's house after the evening prayer. dinner. the teacher ate very quietly and voraciously. After eating Imam Ahmad invited him the teacher to talk for a while then entered the room that had been prepared for Imam Shafi'i and he lay down on the bed.

            When it was dawn, Imam Shafi'i got up and went straight to the mosque without taking ablution first. When at the mosque Imam Ahmad invited his teacher to be the Imam of the prayer but he refused. Imam Shafi'i said: The congregation here is more familiar with you. they are more stable and calmer if you lead them.

            After the morning prayer, they did 'tikaf in the mosque until the time of dhuha arrived. After the dhuha prayer they returned to Imam Ahmad's house. When they got home, Imam Syafi'i went back into his room. While Imam Ahmad was immediately met by his daughter.

            Imam Ahmad's daughter immediately asked, "Father, is it true that the guest you invite is Imam Shafi'i who you often talk about?"

            Imam Ahmad replied "Yes, that's right. What's wrong, my daughter?"

            Imam Ahmad's daughter said, "If it is true that Imam Shafi'i, O father, then I have three corrections and criticisms for him. These three things are not good in my opinion. First, when he eats he eats a lot. Second, after eating he enters the room and immediately lay down on the bed and sleep. I watched all night. It turns out he did not pray at night. Even though the night prayer is a habit of pious people. And third, when he wakes up he goes straight to the mosque for the dawn prayer and does not take ablution first. And that means he prayed the morning prayer without ablution.

            Imam Ahmad became confused and curious to hear what his daughter was saying. But he did not want to be prejudiced against his teacher. At that time Imam Ahmad immediately went to Imam Syafi'i and asked about what his daughter had said and asked for an explanation of what his daughter had said. what his daughter observed.

            Hearing this Imam Shafi'i smiled and explained it to Imam Ahmad

            "O Ahmad my son, it is true that that night I ate a lot and there was a reason. I know the food you serve is halal. I also know that you are a generous and generous person. Therefore I eat as much as possible. Halal is a lot of blessings and eating the food of a generous person is medicine. It's different from eating the food of a stingy person. Eating the food of a stingy person brings illness. I eat a lot because I hope to get a lot of blessings and also hope to get medicine.

            Then I did not perform the night prayer, that's because as soon as I put my head on the pillow as if the book of Allah SWT and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah were in front of my eyes. Then I studied it carefully throughout the night. And as a result, I solved seventy-two problems. fiqh which is very beneficial for the Muslims. That's why I didn't have time to pray at night.

            Then I prayed at dawn without taking ablution. That's because I was still pure and didn't close my eyes at all. Because I still had ablution since Isha prayer. So I prayed in congregation in the mosque without repeating ablution again.