Troubled In Aspects Of Deen: Imam Shafi’ee’s Response
And ath-Thahabee mentions from al-Muzanee that he said:
I knew that if anyone could rid me of a troubling concern about an issue of tawheed, it would be ash-Shaafi’ee. So I went to him while he was in a mosque in Egypt. When I kneeled in front of him, I said, ‘I am troubled about a certain issue of tawheed. I know that no one knows as much as you, so what do you say about this?’
He became angry and said, ‘Do you know where you are?’
I said, ‘Yes.’
He said, ‘This is the place where Allaah drowned Pharoah. Has it reached you that the Messenger of Allaah was ordered to ask about that?’
I said, ‘No.’
He said, ‘Have the Companions spoken about it?’
I said, ‘No.’
He said, ‘Do you know how many stars are in the sky?’
I said, ‘No.’
He said, ‘So you don’t even know about one planet – its type or the time and place of its appearance and disappearance?’
I said, ‘No.’
He said, “So there is something from the creation that you see with your own eyes that you do not even know anything about, yet you speak about the Knowledge of the Creator?’
Then he asked me a question about ablution, and I erred in my response. So he explained it from four different angles (and asked me about them), and I was not correct in any of my responses.
So he said, ‘So you leave alone the knowledge of something which you are in need of five times a day, and instead you burden yourself with the knowledge of the Creator? When this (kind of thing) comes to your mind, then remember the statement of Allaah the Exalted,
“And your God is One God; there is no true god besides Him. He is the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Verily in the creation of the heavens and the earth…” [Surah Al-Baqarah 2:163-164]
So use the creation as a proof for (the Greatness of) the Creator, and do not burden yourself with what is beyond your understanding.’
[Siyar A’laamin-Nubalaa‘ (10/31)]