The Atheist & the Egg
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from al-Kafi ; Book 3. ‘Abdullah ad-Disani, an atheist had a dialogue with Shaykh Abu al-Hakam Hisham ibn Hakam ( r.a. ). ‘Abdullah asked Shaykh Hisham ( r.a. ), “Do you believe in God?” Shaykh Hisham ( r.a. ) replied in the affirmative. ad-Disani asked, “Is He Almighty?” Shaykh Hisham ( r.a. ) said, “Yes, He is Almighty and All-Powerful.” ad-Disani asked, “Can He Put the whole world inside an egg without enlarging the size of the egg or diminishing the volume of the world?” Shaykh Hisham ( r.a. ) could not give an answer and replied, “Give me some time to think over it.” ad-Disani said, “I give you one whole year”, and left. Shaykh Hisham ( r.a. ) went to see Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad asw-Swadiq ( q.s. ) in a hurry and said, “O Son of the Prophet, ad-Disani has put a challenging question to me and as regards its answer, I cannot rely on anyon...