The Story of Imam Bukhari and the Theif

It was narrated that Imam Bukhari was on a commercial voyage and had 10,000 gold coins on him. While on board the ship, the Imam met a co-traveller who, unknown to the Imam, was also a thief. The two got talking and the other man got to know Imam Bukhari had 10,000 gold coins on him.

The thief, in order to stealthily steal the Imam’s money, went to the captain of the ship and reported that his 10,000 gold coins had been stolen, and wanted the captain to order a thorough search. The captain obliged him and announced that a man’s 10,000 gold coins had been stolen and he was ordering a search on everyone on board.

On hearing this, Imam Bukhari realised this man was trying to rob him of his money by humiliating him through such a dubious way. Before the search came to his turn, Imam then wrapped the whole gold coins and threw them into the sea. The search was done and nothing was found. The thief was surprised as he knew Imam Bukhari had those gold coins; but how come they weren’t found?

When they arrived their destination, the thief came up to the Imam and asked him what happened to that money? Where did he hide them that the search party couldn’t get them?

The Imam said, “When I heard that announcement, I realised you are a thief and you were trying to steal my money. So I wrapped them all and threw them into the sea.

The thief screamed, “What! You threw all that money into the sea? Why?”

The Imam said, “I spent my whole life gathering the authentic Hadiths of the Prophet, and I fear my reputation might be tarnished if you had succeeded. Had those coins been found on me, people might at least be confused and then that could lead into doubts about my life’s work. Because of that I threw the whole money overboard to protect my reputation.”

May the blessings of Allah be with Imam Bukhari.

**Note : This story has been reported and assumed to be true. Whether it did actually happen or not, nevertheless there is a great moral lesson behind it we can all learn from.