’Uthaimeen and The Russian Pilgrims
February 7, 2014 § Leave a comment
“This incident was mentioned by one of the members of the Da’wah and Guidance Office in Jeddah. During Hajj in the year 1417AH/1996CE he was with Shaikh Ibn ’Uthaimeen at King ’Abdul-’Aziz Airport in Jeddah. The Shaikh would stand amongst the pilgrims arriving for Hajj carrying out his obligation of da’wah and teaching. He was then surprised by the arrival of some pilgrims who had come from one of the Soviet Republics, so the Shaikh wanted to speak to them and asked whether they had a translator. The group guide who was a Russian came forward but he did not know that the Shaikh [standing before him] was Shaikh ’Uthaimeen.
Once he had finished translating, the guide asked, ‘Who is this Shaikh?’ ‘That is Ibn ’Uthaimeen,’ he was told. [Upon hearing that] he hugged the Shaikh, kissing him and crying. And then he took the microphone and told the entire group of pilgrims that this is Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, and so tears started flowing from them all, and the guide kept calling out with the mic at the top of his voice, repeating the name of Shaikh Ibn ’Uthaimeen. And the individuals in the group started to give salaam to the Shaikh and kiss him [on his forehead].
The guide [then] said to the Shaikh, ‘These are your students. They used to read your books in the cellars underground during Communist rule.’”
Al-Jaami’ li-Hayaatil-’Allaamah Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-’Uthaimeen, p. 38.
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