The Story of an Incident Between al-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad

The Shaykh : It is mentioned that al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) stayed as a guest with Imam Ahmad. Imam Ahmad used to praise him in the presence of his household; the people of Imam Ahmad's household praised al-Shafi'i greatly, and he was indeed worthy of praise (may Allah have mercy on him). So he stayed with him as a guest. They served him dinner, and he ate the entire dinner, all of it, which was a large amount, meaning he filled his stomach. Then they all went to their beds to sleep. Al-Shafi'i did not get up for the night prayer; he did not get up to pray. When the call for Fajr was made, he went out to pray without performing wudu; he did not ask for water to perform wudu with. So the people of Imam Ahmad's household said to Imam Ahmad, "How is this? You always praise al-Shafi'i, and this man ate the entire dinner. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then the man did not get up for the night; we did not hear that he got up. He remained on his bed and did not get up for the night. Then the man got up for the Fajr prayer and did not perform wudu, meaning this is more serious in their opinion, praying without wudu. So he said, "Let us look into the matter." He asked al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) about this. Al-Shafi'i said, "As for my eating the entire dinner, it is because I do not know food in this land that is more lawful than the food of Imam Ahmad, so I wanted to fill my stomach with it. Meaning, as if he was saying, 'And there is no blame on me for that.' Abu Hurayrah filled his stomach with milk until the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He said: My stomach is full. As for my not getting up for the night, it is because I was contemplating knowledge, and knowledge is better than standing in night prayer. I was contemplating the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): This is a hadith the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to a small boy who was with him. The boy had a bird called al-Naghir that he played with. When the bird died, the boy grieved over it, as is usual for a boy. If he had a cat he played with and it died, it would be as if his mother or his sister had died. If he had a bird he played with, he grieved similarly. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), out of his good character, when he passed by him after the bird died, would say: Meaning, what else can one do? He was joking with him (peace and blessings be upon him). He said, "The narrations differ. He derived a thousand benefits or two hundred benefits from this hadith. Well, who among us can derive two hundred benefits from this hadith? Yes, not even five benefits. But he (may Allah have mercy on him), when he derived a benefit, would seek another evidence for it, and then other benefits would arise from that evidence, so this hadith would become the cause of an encyclopedia of knowledge in hadith. Not just because of this hadith alone, but this hadith and knowledge. And knowledge is with Allah; no one reaches this level no matter who they are. But whenever he used it as evidence for an issue, he would derive these benefits all night. And this is undoubtedly better than standing in night prayer. Knowledge is better than standing in night prayer." Imam Ahmad said: "Nothing is equal to knowledge". Well, the third point: he went out to the mosque and did not perform wudu to pray Fajr because he had not slept. He had not slept, so he did not need wudu. Imam Ahmad returned to his household and informed them of this. They said, "Now it is complete. Allahu Akbar. O Allah, make us among them. O Allah, join us with the righteous."