The Man Who Steals The Rooster

One day, a man came to Imam Azam, who established the sect of Hanafi, and said:

“Sir, a man stole my rooster from the cook in my garden. I request you to find the man”

Imam Azam started to think. It wasn’t a religious problem, so he couldn’t answer it by looking at the verses of the Quran and hadiths (the sayings that were said by Prophet Muhammed according to Muslims). He said:

“I don’t know the answer to this problem. Tell the Caliph Mansur’s police forces. They can find a way.”

But the man didn’t admit the solution to this problem and said:

“You know the solution to this problem better than the police. You will find the man who stole my rooster.”

Imam Azam struggled a lot but the man wasn’t giving up his claim. He insisted on saying:

“You are a great scholar, so you can find solutions not only for religious problems but also for finding the thief of my rooster.”

Imam Azam understood that he wouldn’t give up his insisting and said:

“If so, when you come to the mosque to pray, call the men whom you have a suspicion and tell them I want to speak to them.”

The man went and he said to the suspect people:

“For noon prayers come to the mosque. Imam Azam wants to see you.”

All the suspect people came to the mosque. After the prayer, Imam Azam sat at his pulpit. For a while he looked around and with a serious voice he said:

“You’re the man who stole his neighbour’s rooster! Aren’t you bold for coming with the quill of the rooster on your head to the mosque?”

After these words, all the people in the mosque became quiet. Nobody said anything. But a man sitting with the others held his head with his hand and started to search whether there was a quill or not.

When Imam Azam went out from the mosque, he called the man who was covering his head and said:

“Give your neighbour’s rooster to him or pay its money to him. OK?”

The man realised he couldn’t deny his fault and said:

“OK. Sir, I want to thank you for not saying anything in the mosque in front of other people.”  And he left.