TRUTH LIVES IN STRANGE PLACES
TALES OF BAHLOOL
I. The Three Principles A man was once teaching Islamic beliefs to his students in the local mosque. A non-Shia, he opposed many of the statements and theological arguments presented by the Shia Imams.
Bahlool happened to pass by and stopped to listen to the lecture. The man was protesting against three principles in particular:
a) The inability to see God. According to the man, anything that existed had to be visible so to say that one cannot see Allah was a fallacy.
b) It is stated in the Qur'an and traditions that Satan will go to hell. The man argued that according to Islam, Satan was made from fire and hell was also fire. So it was impossible for hell-fire to harm the devil or hurt him.
c) The stand of the Shi'ite regarding destiny and freewill is a place between the two, with some things submitting to the Will of God and other things having been left to man to choose. The man argued that this was impossible as all things were dependent on God and therefore He was the one who controlled all actions and decisions.
The man then challenged those gathered around him to defend these principles. When Bahlool saw that all the students were silent, he stood up, picked a pellet of hardened clay and threw it at the man. The pellet found its mark and hit the man on the forehead.
Bahlool was immediately caught and taken before the caliph for punishment. In his defence, he pleaded that he had done nothing except reply to the three criticisms the man had made against the Imam.
Haroon was intrigued and asked him to explain how hitting a man constituted answering his question. Bahlool then replied: "This man claims that if God exists, He must be visible. He is now standing here complaining that I have hurt him. If his argument is true then let him show me the pain, otherwise the pain does not exist.
"Secondly, he says that Satan cannot burn in hell because fire cannot burn fire. We all believe that man was created out of clay and the pellet I hit him with was also made of clay. According to his statement, the clay should not have hurt him at all.
"Finally, he has claimed that man is not responsible for his own actions and that Allah does all things. If this is so, then why does he want justice from
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