Family Who Came to Test the Caliph

Date: 2014
Location: Kanaka Nagar – Bangalore – Karnataka

When one day I came back from a preaching journey, I found three young families waiting for me. I greeted them and entered the house. They followed me to salute me by kissing my hand, but I apologized as I was exhausted. At times I leave at dawn, and, at times I walk for two or three days in each preaching journey. I sat on my chair while they sat in a semi-circle.

I had bowed my head, in contemplation of my Shaikh, when I felt the presence of a table fan on my left. It was rotating, pushing air towards me every time it came into my direction. I thought about how there was no fan in this house, and I started wondering who could have put it in here so quickly. I opened my eyes and raised my head slowly towards the left, but I did not see a fan. However, the voice of the Shaikh filled my head with the following words:

On your right there is a man who has come to test you. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. The woman next to him is his mother. She is suffering from an illness in her legs. Her treatment is as follows (he described it). The lady next to the old woman is the man’s wife. She has a pain in her right ear. Her treatment is as follows (he described it). Now start talking to them.

Both women were veiled. I turned towards the man and saluted him; he returned the greeting. I asked him his name; he replied “Wazīr.” I asked him about his job, and he said that he was a wood merchant. I said to him: “Glory be to Allah. Is the woman next to you your mother?” He said: “Yes.” I said: “Is the woman next to her your wife?” He said: “Yes.” I said: “Does your mother suffer from a pain from her knees to her feet? She should use the following treatment (I prescribed what the Shaikh told me). You wife has a problem in her right ear. She should use the following treatment (I prescribed what the Shaikh told me).” At this point, the man started sobbing and threw himself at my feet. I went on to say: “In addition, you have come to test me.” He said: “I swear by Allah the great that you are a Shaikh….etc. Everything is exactly as you said. My intention was to test you in front of my mother and wife.” Wazir became my right-hand man in Bangalore.