An Example of Noble Character

Now there can be no doubt about my being a Muslim. Let us proceed with the debate.” Although I do not favour the method of debates (munāẓara), the way Maulana Sanaullah chose to handle the situation was full of wisdom. Had he tried to justify his beliefs or argue against the content of the flyer, it could have led to a prolonged and fruitless dispute. The opposing debater might have succeeded in diverting attention from the real subject. But with a single wise and composed move, Maulana Sanaullah resolved the matter in less than a minute. A POSITIVE TURNING POINT The famous Arabic grammarian Sibawayh (d. 177 AH) was born in Iran and raised in Basra. As a young man, he was initially a student of hadith and Islamic jurisprudence. One day, while attending a lecture by Hammad ibn Salamah (d. 167 AH), a renowned scholar of hadith, he heard him dictate a hadith. During the dictation, Sibawayh made a grammatical error. Hammad remarked, “You are mistaken.” Realizing his mistake, Sibawayh reflected that his knowledge of grammar was lacking and decided to master it. He began studying under the great grammarians of Basra and Kufa, such as Khalil, Yunus ibn Habib (d. after 183 AH), and Isa ibn Umar ath-Thaqafi (d. 149 AH) (Tabaqaat an-Nahwiyyeen wal-Lughawiyyeen by Abu Bakr Az-Zubaydi, p. 66).