Bahlul: Sufi Accused of Murder (Part I)

 

Bahlul: Sufi Accused of Murder

During the hot summer days in Baghdad, nothing happened that caught the attention of the children there. Therefore, children who are resourceful and a little naughty are looking for new entertainment to fill their free time. One is to harass the merchants in the market by stealing their wares – apples over here, little jewels over there. The merchants who were teased by the children also ran down the small alleys in the city while chasing the naughty children.

However, this summer is a little different. These few and resourceful children find new toys for their “entertainment”. There was a strange man stopped in the city of Baghdad who was not like anyone they had ever known, said one of them.

Bahlul, that's the strange person's nickname. And indeed he looked completely different from everyone else. Bahlul did not know the manners and manners of his place and time. His clothes were tattered not even the same as the clothes of the beggars in the city. He only wears a piece of coarse woolen cloth – commonly called shuf (a term which many Sufis then rely on the origin of the name Sufi and Sufism). His thin figure gave off the impression of a skull wearing ghost-like clothes. However, there is nothing scary about this Bahlul. Therefore, the children of the city of Baghdad actually made the Bahlul a new "toy".

Apart from his tattered clothes, Bahlul's face seemed mysterious. His hair was black, dreadlocks and long, which showed that it had not been looked after in years. His beard, which had never been shaved, hung down. Beneath his beard, all he could see were a pair of eyes and a nose. However, the look in his eyes told a lot about everything in him.

It was midnight when Bahlul arrived at the city gate. However, the city gates were already closed. However, the back door of the city was already closed, as the regulations required it to be locked every day at night. Bahlul is hungry, thirsty, and tired. While walking to and fro and trying to decide what he should do, he saw a figure wrapped in a blanket lying near one of the city gates. "I can rest next to this person and take shelter from the cold of the night," thought Bahlul. He lay beside the man and slept, and was satisfied with what God had given him.

At dawn, when Bahlul had just closed his eyes after the Fajr prayer, he felt a sharp object stabbed into his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw a group of soldiers surrounding him. Although half asleep, he began to realize that the body beside him was covered in blood. Bahlul sleeps next to the corpse of someone who seems to have been murdered, and the darkness of the night keeps him from knowing it. Looking down, he saw that his own clothes were covered in blood which of course came from the murder victim.

Long story short, Bahlul was thrown into prison, because his confession of his innocence seemed incomprehensible and completely unreasonable. The prison warden sends a report to the judge or governor of the city, who also serves as chief judge and asks him to try the case.

The judge immediately made a decision. Bahlul is considered guilty and should be hanged in public as a lesson for the wider community. Execution is carried out as quickly as possible. The executioner was ordered to immediately execute Bahlul. However, Bahlul spoke and asked if he was given the opportunity to fulfill his last wish – to pray for his soul. The prison warden agreed, and an atmosphere of silence enveloped the square. Lifting his head up, he looked at the horizon and whispered something very quietly. Then he looked at the crowd around him, smiled at them, and, without even looking at the jailer, signaled to the executioner that he was ready to be executed.

The executioner also put a rope around the neck of the little Bahlul. After a few moments after pulling the rope tightly, suddenly a loud scream was heard in the crowd of people. “Stop it! Please stop, for God's sake! Don't do it in the middle! People stepped aside. A person, who looked genuinely confused and frightened, approached the execution site. “You made a big mistake. This man is innocent,” he shouted.