From a Robber and a Lover of a Young Woman to a Wali ullah – The Story of Al-Fuḍayl ibn ‘Iyāḍ (رحمه الله).
1. Hāfiẓ al-Mizzī mentioned it with certainty:
كان الفضيل بن عياض شاطرا يقطع الطريق بين أبيورد وسرخس،
وكان سبب توبته أنه عشق جارية فبينا هو يرتقي الجدران إليها إذ سمع تاليا يتلو (ألم يأن للذين آمنوا أن تخشع قلوبهم لذكر الله) (1) فلما سمعها قال: بلى يا رب، قد آن، فرجع فآواه الليل إلى خربه فإذا فيها سابلة فقال بعضهم: نرتحل وقال بعضهم: حتى نصبح، فإن فضيلا على الطريق يقطع علينا قال: ففكرت وقلت:
أنا أسعى بالليل في المعاصي وقوم من المسلمين هاهنا يخافونني، وما أرى الله ساقني إليهم (2) إلا لأرتدع، اللهم إني قد تبت إليك، وجعلت توبتي مجاورة البيت الحرام.
“Al-Fuḍayl ibn ‘Iyāḍ was a highway robber between Abiward and Sarakhs. The reason for his repentance was that he fell in love with a woman. One night, while climbing her wall, he heard someone reciting the verse:
‘Has not the time come for those who believe that their hearts should humble themselves to the remembrance of Allah?’ (Surah al-Ḥadīd, 57:16)
When he heard it, he said: ‘Indeed, my Lord, it is time.’
So he turned back. That night he sought shelter in a ruin where a group of travelers were resting. Some said, ‘Let’s leave before morning, for al-Fuḍayl is on this road and he robs travelers.’
He reflected and said to himself:
‘I commit sins at night, and here are Muslims who fear me. Surely, Allah has brought me here to make me stop.’
He then prayed: ‘O Allah, I repent to You, and my repentance is to live near Your Sacred House (Ka‘bah).’”
📚 Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (vol. 23, p. 286)
2. Dhahabi also accepted this narration, saying:
: وقال إبراهيم بن الليث : حدثنا المحدث علي بن خشرم قال : أخبرني رجل من جيران الفضيل من أبيورد ، قال : كان الفضيل يقطع الطريق وحده ، فبينا هو ذات ليلة ، وقد انتهت إليه القافلة ، فقال بعضهم : اعدلوا بنا إلى هذه القرية ، فإن الفضيل يقطع الطريق . فسمع ذلك ، فأرعد ، فقال : يا قوم جوزوا ، والله لأجتهدن أن لا أعصي الله . وروي نحوها من وجه آخر ، لكنه في الإسناد ابن جهضم ، وهو هالك . وبكل حال : فالشرك أعظم من قطع الطريق ، وقد تاب من الشرك خلق صاروا أفضل الأمة . فنواصي العباد بيد الله -تعالى-
.
Ibrāhīm ibn al-Layth narrated: Al-Muḥaddith ʿAlī ibn Khushram told us, saying a man from among al-Fuḍayl’s neighbors in Abiward informed me that:
“Al-Fuḍayl used to rob travelers alone. One night, as a caravan approached the area where he was, some of them said, ‘Let us turn aside to that nearby village, for al-Fuḍayl is on this road, and he robs travelers.’
When al-Fuḍayl heard this, he trembled and said, ‘O people, pass safely by! By Allah, I will strive never to disobey Allah again.’”
A similar narration is reported through another chain, but in its isnād (chain of transmission) is Ibn Jahḍam, who is weak (considered destroyed in reliability).
(Dhahabi commented) In any case, shirk (associating partners with Allah) is a far greater sin than highway robbery, yet many who once committed shirk have repented and became among the best of this ummah.
Indeed, the forelocks of all servants are in the Hand of Allah, the Exalted.
📚 Siyar A‘lām an-Nubalāʾ – al-Dhahabī 8/434
Historians and Scholars throughout accepted this narration and mentioned it with certainty.