The Chishti Nizami Habibi Soofie
Sufi Order
Pietermaritzburg
Kwa Zulu Natal
South Africa
Sheikh Abd al-Qadir Jilani
(Rahmatullah-alai) and the Robbers
The Great Saint of Jilan was eighteen years old when he sought his mother's
permission to go to study in Baghdad. She permitted him and gave him forty gold
coins for his expenses. His mother wept silent tears, when she realized, that
she was an old woman and she may not see her son again. She sewed the 40 coins
into his coat for safety and took a promise from him not to tell a lie under any
condition. He joined a caravan that was going to Baghdad.
Sixty robbers attacked the caravan and robbed it. No one touched Sheikh Abd al-Qadir (Rahmatullah-alai) taking him to be a penniless, religious youth. One robber asked him if he had anything with him. He said he had forty coins sewed into his garment. The robber laughed and went away. Another robber asked him the same question and received the same answer. They reported the incident to the leader of the gang, who ordered that Sheikh Abd al-Qadir Jilani (Rahmatullah-alai) be brought to him.
His coat was cut open and the 40 gold coins were found. The leader asked Sheikh Abd al-Qadir (Rahmatullah-alai) what made him tell the truth. He replied that he had promised his mother that he would not speak a lie under any condition. The robber burst into tears and said," I have been breaking the commands of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) all my life while this young man is carrying out his promise to his mother, at the expense of losing all he possesses". The leader of the robbers and his gang promised to give up robbery and accepted Sheikh Abd al Qadir Jilani (Rahmatullah-alai) as their teacher.