There was once a learned man named Sufyan bin Ainiya. He lived in Makkah. Whenever people came for Hajj, he would ensure that they benefitted from his knowledge. One year, a man, who had arrived for Hajj, came to Sufyan bin Ainiya.
“Please, tell me a few Ahadeeth,” he requested.
Sufyan narrated some Ahadeeth (sayings of Prophet Muhammad (saw)) to him. He asked for more. Sufyan quoted a few more Ahadeeth for him. Finally, Sufyan had had enough. In his irritation, he struck the man’s chest. The man was sitting on an elevated piece of land. He fell backwards into the valley and lay very still.
In a few minutes, people gathered around. They saw the man was lying motionless on the ground and foam was coming out of his mouth. The news spread like wildfire: Sufyan has killed a Haaji (a man, who had come to perform Hajj).
Sufyan, regretting his burst of anger, went down into the valley and examined the man. He discovered that he was very much alive.
“Woe to you! Can’t you see the way people are blaming me for killing you? Stand up and tell them you are fine,” Sufyan demanded.
The man whispered to Sufyan: “I will do that only if you narrate a hundred Ahadeeth to me right now.”
Defeated, Sufyan quoted a hundred Ahadeeth to him. Satisfied, the man got up and left.
Lesson: This story tells us, how eager the early Muslims were to acquire knowledge. The man did not ask Sufyan for money in exchange for proclaiming his innocence; he only wanted to learn what the Prophet (saw) had said.
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