"Among the people who came before you, there was a king who had a magician*, and when that magician became old, he said to the king: I have become old, so send to me a boy whom I can teach magic. So, the king sent him a boy, who on his way ...

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Sohaib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Among the people who came before you, there was a king who had a magician, and when that magician became old, he said to the king: I have become old, so send to me a boy whom I can teach magic. So, the king sent him a boy, who on his way met a monk, listened to him, and admired his words. Whenever the boy went to the magician, he used to sit with the monk, and then, on reaching the magician, the latter would beat him. So, the boy complained about this to the monk. The monk said to him: Whenever you are afraid of the magician, tell him that your family detained you. And whenever you are afraid of your family, tell them that the magician detained you. So the boy carried on like that (for some time). Then a huge, terrible beast once appeared on the road, and the people were unable to pass. The boy said: Today I shall know whether the magician is better or the monk. So, he took a stone and said: O Allah, if the affair of the monk is better in Your Sight than that of the magician, then kill this beast so that the people can cross (the road). Then he struck it with a stone and killed it, and the people passed the road. The boy came to the monk and informed him about it. The monk said to him: O my son, today you are better than me, and you have achieved what I see! You will be put to trial. And in case you are put to trial, do not inform (them) about me. The boy used to treat the people who suffered from congenital blindness, leprosy, and other diseases. There was a courtier of the king who had become blind and heard about the boy. He came and brought many gifts for the boy and said: All these gifts are for you on the condition that you cure me. The boy said: I do not cure anybody; it is only Allah who cures people. So, if you believe in Allah, I shall supplicate Him and He will cure you. So, he believed in Allah, and Allah cured him. Later, the courtier came to the king and sat in the place where he used to sit before. The king said: Who gave you back your sight? The courtier replied: My Lord. The king then said: Do you have another Lord besides me?! The courtier said: Your Lord and mine is Allah. The king took him and kept on torturing him until he told him about the boy. So, the boy was brought to the king, who said to him: O boy, your magic reached the extent that you cure congenital blindness, leprosy, and other diseases. He said: Indeed, I do not cure anyone. Only Allah can cure. So, he tortured him extensively until he told him about the monk. Then the monk was brought to the king, who said to him: Give up your religion. The monk refused. So, the king ordered a saw to be brought and placed on the middle of his head and he fell, sawn in two halves. Then it was said to the courtier of the king: Give up your religion. He refused to do so, and so a saw was brought and placed on the middle of his head and he fell, sawn in two halves. Then the boy was brought and it was said to him: Give up your religion. He refused, and so the king sent him to the top of such-and-such mountain with some of his followers. He said to them: Ascend the mountain with him till you reach its top, then see if he abandons his religion; otherwise, throw him from the top. They took him and when they ascended to the top, he said: O Allah, save me from them by any means that You wish. So, the mountain shook and they all fell down and the boy came back walking to the king. The king said: What did your companions (the people I sent with you) do? The boy said: Allah saved me from them. So, the king ordered some people to take the boy on a boat to the middle of the sea, saying: If he renounces his religion (well and good), but if he refuses, throw him. So, they took him out to sea, and he said: O Allah, save me from them by any means You wish. So they all drowned in the sea. Then the boy returned to the king, and the king said: What did your companions do? The boy replied: Allah saved me from them. Then he said to the king: You will not be able to kill me until you do as I order you. The king asked: And what is that? The boy said: Gather the people in an elevated place and tie me to the trunk of a tree; then take an arrow from my quiver and say: In the Name of Allah, the Lord of the boy! If you do this, you will kill me. So the king did accordingly, and placing an arrow in the bow, he shot it, saying: In the Name of Allah, the Lord of the boy. The arrow hit the boy in his temple, and the boy placed his hand over the arrow wound and died. The people proclaimed: We believe in the Lord of the boy! We believe in the Lord of the boy! We believe in the Lord of the boy! Then it was said to the king: Do you see what happened? That which you feared has taken place. By Allah, all the people have believed (in the Lord of the boy). So he ordered that ditches be dug at the entrances to the roads, and it was done, and fires were kindled therein. Then the king said: Whoever does not abandon this religion, throw them into the fire or order them to throw themselves. They did. Then, a woman and her little boy came, and it was as if she was being somewhat hesitant of falling into the fire, so her baby said to her: Be patient, mother, for verily, you are following the truth.''
Authentic hadith - Narrated by Muslim

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informed that there was once a king among the nations before us, and he had a magician. When the magician grew old, he said to the king: I have become old, so send me a young man whom I can teach magic. So, the king sent him a young man, who, on his way to the magician, met a monk. He sat with him once, listened to his words and admired him. Whenever he went to the magician, he used to sit with the monk, then on reaching the magician, the latter would beat him for being late. So, the boy complained this to the monk, who said to him: Whenever you are afraid of the magician, tell him that your family detained you. And whenever you are afraid of your family, tell them that the magician detained you. So the boy carried on like that (for some time). Then a huge, terrible beast once appeared on the road, and the people were unable to pass. The boy said: Today I shall know whether the magician is better or the monk. So, he took a stone and said: O Allah, if the affair of the monk is better in Your Sight than that of the magician, then kill this beast so that the people can cross (the road). Then he struck it with a stone and killed it, and the people passed the road. The boy came to the monk and informed him about it. The monk said to him: O my son, today you are better than me, and you have achieved what I see! You will be put on trial. And in case you are put to trial, do not inform (them) about me. The boy used to treat the people who suffered from congenital blindness, leprosy, and other diseases with the permission of Allah. There was a courtier of the king who had become blind. He came and brought many gifts to the boy and said: All these gifts are for you on the condition that you cure me. He said: I do not cure anybody; it is only Allah who cures people. So, if you believe in Allah, I shall supplicate Allah, and He will cure you. So, he believed in Allah, and Allah cured him. Later, the courtier came to the king and sat in the place where he used to sit before. The king said: Who gave you back your sight? He said: My Lord. He said: Do you have another Lord besides me?! He said: My Lord and your Lord is Allah. The king took him and kept on torturing him until he told him about the boy. So, the boy was brought to the king, who said to him: O boy, your magic reached the extent that you cure congenital blindness, leprosy, and other diseases. He said: Indeed, I do not cure anyone. Only Allah can cure. So, he tortured him extensively until he told him about the monk. Then the monk was brought to the king, who said to him: Renounce your religion. The monk refused. So, the king ordered a saw to be brought and placed on the middle of his head, and he fell, sawn in two halves. Then the courtier of the king was brought, and it was said to him: Renounce your religion. He refused to do so, and so a saw was brought and placed on the middle of his head, and he fell, sawn in two halves. Then the boy was brought, and it was said to him: Renounce your religion. He refused, and so the king sent him to some of his followers, between three and ten in number. He said to them: Ascend the mountain with him till you reach its top, then see if he abandons his religion; otherwise, throw him from the top. They took him and ascended the mountain. The boy said: O Allah, save me from them by any means You wish. So, the mountain shook and quaked violently, and they all fell down, and the boy came back walking to the king. The king said: What did your companions do? He said: Allah saved me from them. So he handed him over to another group of his men and said: Take him away, load him onto a small boat until you reach the middle of the sea. If he renounces his faith, then good. Otherwise, throw him into the sea. So they took him away. He said: O Allah, save me from them by any means You wish. Suddenly, their boat capsized, drowning them all, and he walked back to the king. The king said to him: What did your companions do? The boy replied: Allah saved me from them. Then he said to the king: You will not be able to kill me until you do as I order you. He said: And what is that? The boy said: Gather the people in an open space. Crucify me on a tree trunk. Then take an arrow from my quiver, place it in the bow’s grip, and say: In the Name of Allah, Lord of the boy. Then shoot me—for if you do so, you will kill me. So he assembled the people in one place, crucified him on a trunk, took an arrow from his quiver, placed it in the bow’s center, and said: In the Name of Allah, Lord of the boy. Then he shot him—the arrow struck his temple between his eye and ear. The boy placed his hand on the wound and died. The people said: We believe in the Lord of the boy, we believe in the Lord of the boy, we believe in the Lord of the boy. Then it was said to the king: Do you see what you feared? By Allah, what you feared has indeed come to pass. The people followed the boy and all believed in his Lord. So the king ordered great, elongated trenches to be dug at the crossroads, lit with raging fires, and commanded: Whoever does not renounce his religion—throw him in it. They carried out his orders until a woman came with her child. She hesitated, frozen in place, reluctant to enter the fire. Then her child said to her: O mother, be patient! For indeed, you are upon the truth.

Benefits from the Hadith

  1. Affirmation of the miracles of the pious—among them: the slaying of the great beast by the boy’s arrow, the answering of the boy’s supplication twice, and the speech of the infant child.
  2. Those who rely upon Allah Almighty are granted victory.
  3. Clarifying the honor of patience and steadfastness in the religion.
  4. The wisdom behind seeking knowledge early in life is that youth generally retain and memorize faster than adults.
  5. The strength of this boy’s faith, that he never wavered or faltered in his belief.
  6. Allah Almighty responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him.
  7. It is permissible for a person to endanger himself for the greater good of the Muslims. This boy directed the king to the method that would kill him and cause his own destruction—by taking an arrow from his quiver, placing it at the center of the bow, and saying: In the Name of Allah, Lord of the boy.
  8. The permissibility of lying in war and similar situations, and saving oneself from destruction.
  9. The believer is tested in the sincerity of his faith and steadfastness in speaking the truth, even if it leads to his death.
  10. Sacrifice in the path of calling to Allah and manifesting the truth.
  11. The hearts of the servants are in Allah's Hand—He guides whom He wills and leads astray whom He wills. For indeed, the boy was guided while in the care of the magician and under the watch of the doomed king.
  12. It is permissible to ask Allah Almighty to show a sign by which one may recognize the truth and attain certainty.
  13. The people of faith utilize everything Allah has bestowed upon them and favored them with to serve His religion and call others to His path.
  14. The means of destruction are in Allah's Hand; if He wills, He executes them, and if He wills, He prevents them.
  15. The disbelievers are not lacking in proofs and evidence to believe; rather, the cause of their disbelief is stubbornness and arrogance.
  16. Tyrants and oppressors are willing to kill all people to preserve their worldly luxuries and power.
  17. Allah punishes the wrongdoers from where they least expect. For indeed, the people came to believe in the Lord of the boy when they witnessed his steadfastness, the truth of his call, and his fearless devotion to Allah and heedlessness of any blame.
  18. There are others besides Jesus (peace be upon him) who spoke in infancy. This Hadīth explains the Prophet's statement: "None spoke in the cradle except three..." naming them and restricting this miracle to the Children of Israel exclusively.

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