Masjid Al-Amawi, Damascus, Syria. This is the artwork on the building inside the courtyard which serves as the Musallah.

My friend Inji recently asked for this story, so I’m sharing it here as well. I heard it from Sheikh Hamza Yusuf at the “Reviving the Islamic Spirit” conference in Toronto. Sheikh Hamza said that scholars aren’t sure if it’s exactly true, but the fact that it is in a lot of scholarly books shows that they thought it was a very important story and lesson I’ll try to remember it as accurately as possible. The pictures are from Masjid Al-Amawi in Damascus, because it is a masjid that used to be a church. It’s a beautiful blend of cultures and architecture, with one steeple and one minaret. Muslims believe that the prophecy of Jesus returning to the world “between the two white minarets” refers to this mosque. John the Baptist’s head is entombed there, and Pope John Paul II visited it in 2001.

There was a man named Sheikh Daud Al-Baghdadi, known as a very noble and learned scholar. He had memorized entire tracts of Hadith and was a Hafidh – he had memorized the entire Qur’aan and had even mastered all of the seven different methods of reciting it. Sheikh Daud was famous for his ability to teach people about Islam and for the thousands of people who had converted to Islam after learning from him.

Sheikh Daud and some of his students were traveling to visit villages around the land to teach and convert them to Islam. when they came upon a village they knew to be Christian. They stood on a small hillock overlooking the village, resting for a while before they went in. Soon, they went down to the village and entered the gate and looked for someone to speak to. They saw a young peasant girl, very modestly dressed in plain clothing. She welcomed them in and drew water from the well to give them.

Sheikh Daud began to stare at her, gazing at her intently. His students were horrified that he was so openly and blatantly staring at a woman. “Ya Sheikh!” they cried, “We are taught to lower our gaze! Why are you staring at this woman!” “She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he responded. “Ask her to take me to her father, for I wish to marry her.”

Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: That will make for greater purity for them. And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 24, “The Light,” Verse 30

The girl agreed to take the group to her father, but Sheikh Daud insisted that his students leave without him. At this point, they were incredulous and insisted upon staying until they could all leave together. He demanded that they leave, however, and continue with their work. “I’ll catch up with you in a few days,” he said. They agreed and left.

It became a few days, a week, a month, and there was no sign of Sheikh Daud. His students were very worried, and decided to go back and search for him.

The lines of intricately carved columns in Al-Amawi’s courtyard.

As they made their way back to the village, they saw a man sitting under a tree while pigs roamed in the field in front of him. “Perhaps he has heard of our Sheikh Daud,” they thought.

They were shocked when they arrived at the tree and found that the man was actually Sheikh Daud. He looked aged, the light of happiness had gone from his face, and he was wearing a large cross. Horrified, they asked him “Ya Sheikh! What happened to you? Have you left Islam?” He began to weep profusely.

“You used to know every verse of the Qur’aan,” they cried. “Do you remember any of them now?” Weeping even harder, he answered, “Wallahi, by God, I only remember one.”

Say: “O Allah. Lord of Power (And Rule), Thou givest power to whom Thou pleasest, and Thou strippest off power from whom Thou pleasest: Thou enduest with honour whom Thou pleasest, and Thou bringest low whom Thou pleasest: In Thy hand is all good. Verily, over all things Thou hast power. The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 3, “The Family of Imran,” Verse 26

His students were now weeping from sorrow. “Ya Sheikh, you used to know so many Ahadith. Do you remember any of them now?” Sheikh Daud replied “Wallahi, by God, I only remember one, that the Prophet Muhammad (S) said, ‘Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.’”

“Leave me here,” said Sheikh Daud. Full of sorrow, the men left. As they walked away, they made dua, praying, “Ya Allah, return Sheikh Daud to Islam. Bring the faith back to his heart.”

A few days later, the group heard a man calling them from behind. To their utter joy, Sheikh Daud was running towards them, face full of light and happiness. His cross was gone, and he began to weep with joy at seeing his companions.

“What happened, Ya Sheikh? What has happened to you?” They all wanted to know what had happened after they left him in the Christian village and how he came to be sitting on the hill, himself a Christian, and watching a group of pigs. He began to tell them the story.

The girl had taken Sheikh Daud to her father’s house. Much to the Sheikh Daud’s surprise, the peasant girl’s father was the chief of the town. The Christian chief invited him to sit and welcomed Sheikh Daud as a friend.

Sheikh Daud was very surprised about one thing. “Good sir, you are the ruler, and your daughter is the princess of this village. Why do you dress her so plainly, in course clothing, and make her work like a servant, pulling well water for visitors?”

“Because I want her to learn humility,” said the chief. “She is no better than the rest of my people for being the daughter of the chief. All are equal in the sight of God.”

I love the mix of curves and straight edges in the architecture

Sheikh Daud was now even more moved by the girl’s character as he had been by her beauty, and he asked her father for the girl’s hand in marriage.

“I can see that you are a good man,” said the chief, “but I have a few conditions. Before you marry my daughter, you must become Christian and you must care for my herd of pigs.” Sheikh Daud agreed to the chief’s conditions.

“How did you agree to this?” cried Sheikh Daud’s students. “How could you leave your faith, watch pigs, lose everything you once were?” Sheikh Daud patiently explained.

“Do you remember when we were standing on that hillock, looking at the village before we entered? At that time, I thought to myself, ‘Look at these people. They are Christian. We are so much better than them, because we have Islam.’ At that time, I felt my faith fly out of my heart like a bird. My experience at the village was Allah’s way of punishing me, teaching me how to be humble like the Christians in that village were. Allah was removing my arrogance of thinking that I was better because I was Muslim. And if it were not for your fervent dua, I would still be there.”

The minarets at Al-Amawi glow in the night after Maghrib prayer.

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