“If you have no shame, then do as you please.”

One of the children of Al-Qa’nabi narrated this story:

“A regular drinker of wine, my father used to keep company with disreputable young men. He one day invited them and then sat down in front of his door, waiting for them to arrive. While he was waiting, Shu’bah passed by on his donkey and a number of people were racing behind him in order to keep up with him.

“Who is that?” asked Al-Qa’nabi.

“Shu’bah,” answered someone seated nearby.

“And what is Shu’bah?”

“A scholar of hadith.”

“Recite a hadith to me,” said Al-Qa’nabi, who was wearing an indecent red-colored izar.

“You are not one of the people of hadith so I do not feel obliged to narrate to you,” said Shu’bah.

Al-Qa’nabi took out a knife and pointed it at Shu’bah. “You will report to me a narration or I will injure you,” said Al-Qa’nabi.

“Mansur reported to us,” begain Shu’bah, “From Rib’i from Abu Mas’ud who said, ‘The Messenger of Allah said, “If you have no shame, then do as you please.”‘” [Sahih Bukhari]

Al-Qa’nabi tossed the knife to the ground and returned to the inside of his home. He took all the wine bottles he had and emptied them on the floor. He said to his mother, “My companions will soon arrive. When they come, admit them inside and offer them food. When they are finished eating, tell them what I did with the alcohol so they will then leave.”

Al-Qa’nabi immediately left for Al-Madinah, where he spent the following years of his life as a student of Imam Malik bin Anas, and had the honor of reporting hadith from the imam.

Source : Stories of Repentance – by Muhammad Abduh Mughawiri