Sh. Ibn ‘Uthaymeen & The Taxi Driver

Ihsaan Ibn Muhammad Al-‘Utaybee narrates:

“After having prayed in Al-Masjid Al-Haraam, the Shaykh left the Haram wanting to go somewhere by car. So he stopped a taxi and sat in it. During the journey, the taxi driver wanted to get to know his passeneger, so he asked, “Who are you, O Shaykh?”

The Shaykh replied, “Muhammad Ibn ‘Uthaymeen.”

Surprised, the taxi driver asked, “Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen?” He thought the shaykh was lying to him, since he could not believe someone like the Shaykh would ever be a passenger in his taxi.

So the Shaykh replied, “Yes, the Shaykh.”

So the taxi driver turned his head towards the Shaykh out of sheer surprise.

The Shaykh then asked him, “Who are you, O brother?”

So the taxi driver replied, “Shaykh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez Bin Baaz!”

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen laughed, enquiring, “You’re Shaykh Bin Baaz?!”

The taxi driver replied, “Yeah! Just like you’re Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen!”

So Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said, “But Shaykh Bin Baaz is blind, and does not drive a car!”

Just then, it dawned upon the taxi driver that the passenger sitting next to him was indeed the Shaykh, Ibn ‘Uthaymeen! And what a fine mess he had got himself into now!”

[Taken from “Safahaat Mushriqah Min Hayaat Al-Imaam Muhammad Ibn Saalih Al-‘Uthaymeen”, p. 79. Also quoted in “Jewels Of Guidance” Pp. 163-164]