Converting a Thief into a Saint

Righteousness fills others, too, with awe and the Almighty God does not waste those who are pious.

Syed ‘Abdul-Qadir Jilani (rta), may Allah have mercy on him, was an illustrious saint who had a very pure soul. I read in a book that on one occasion he told his mother that his heart was greatly dismayed by the world. ‘It is my desire to search for a leader who can show me the ways of attaining tranquillity and comfort’, he said.

When his mother observed that her son was not interested in worldly matters, she agreed and said: ‘Alright, I relieve you.’ After saying this, she went inside and returned with eighty coins that she had saved. Then she said, ‘Of these coins, in accordance with the Islamic shariah, forty belong to you and forty to your elder brother. And so I give you your share of forty coins.’

Then, she sewed the forty coins into the underarm of his shirt and advised him to take out the coins upon reaching a safe destination and to use them as he so required. Syed ‘Abdul-Qadir (rta) requested his mother to give him some advice. ‘Do not ever lie my son’, she said, ‘This will bring with it immense blessing.’

With this advice, he embarked on his quest. It so happened that there were some robbers and pillagers who lived in the jungle that he passed through, who would loot travellers. These robbers spotted ‘Abdul-Qadir Jilani (rta) from afar and when they came close, they found a simple ascetic.

One of them mockingly inquired: ‘Do you have anything in your possession?’ A short time ago, ‘Abdul-Qadir had heard the advice to not speak falsehood, and so he immediately said: ‘Yes, there are forty coins in my underarm, which my mother has sewn to my shirt as a pouch.’ The first robber thought that he was only retorting sarcastically. But when the second robber inquired the same, he gave the same response. Hence, ‘Abdul-Qadir Jilani (rta) responded to every robber in the same manner, who were astonished that we have never seen such a truthful person. They, then, took him to their leader and narrated all the account.

When the leader questioned him, he got the same response. Upon this, he ordered to search his clothes. When they searched him, the robbers found forty coins. They were astonished that this was some strange person, and that they had never seen such an individual before. The leader inquired: ‘What is the reason behind you revealing the whereabouts of your wealth?’

‘I have set out to seek religious knowledge,’ said ‘Abdul-Qadir Jilani (rta), ‘and my mother advised me to never speak falsehood; this was my first test, so why would I lie? I would have achieve nothing if I had lied at my first stop, and therefore, I did not leave the truthfulness.’

Upon hearing this, the leader of the robbers began to weep and said: ‘Alas! I did not obey God even once.’ The leader addressed the other thieves and said: ‘These words and the steadfastness of this person have transformed me. I cannot be a part of you. I repent.’ At this, the other robbers repented as well.

I believe that the legendary ‘making saints out of thieves’ refers to this very incident. Hence, Syed ‘Abdul-Qadir Jilani (rta) states that the first people who repented on his hand were thieves.

(Malfuzat, Vol. 1, p. 79–80; see also Malfuzat p. 369–370)1