Isa Ibn Moosa Haashimi was a close friend of the Khaliph Abu Jafar al-Mansoor. One moonlit night he was sitting with his wife, who he loved very dearly. Lovingly, he said to her: “You are divorced three times, if you are not more beautiful than the moon!”

She immediately got up and separated herself from him by drawing her Hijaab, saying: “You have divorced me!”

It was a statement that he had made lightly, but divorce is a serious matter. Even if the divorce is uttered jokingly it is valid.

Isa Ibn Moosa spent the remainder of the night in worry and anxiety. The next morning he went to the court of Jafar al-Mansoor and narrated to him what had happened the night before, displaying his deep distress. Khaliph Mansoor gathered the religious scholars of the area and asked for their verdict on the matter. Every single one of those present said that his wife was divorced from him because no person could possibly excel the moon in beauty. However, there was one who remained silent. He was from amongst the students of Imam Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah.

Khaliph Mansoor asked him: “Why have you not spoken?”

He replied: “Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem. By the Fig and the Olive. And by the Mount of Sinai, and this city of security. We have indeed created man in the best of forms.” (Surah Teen)

He continued: “O Khaliph, man is the best of of all things. Nothing is better than the human being.” All the scholars were amazed at the answer and were rendered speechless. Thus, the Khaliph said to Isa Ibn Moosa: “The matter is as this man has explained. You may return to your wife.”

The Khaliph also sent a message to his wife saying: “He is your husband, as he has not divorced you.”

Lesson: The human being is the best and most beautiful of all of Allah’s creation.