This story is quite popular among the people–

A man had been worshiping an idol for seventy years. He used to pray, chanting, Ya Sanam! Ya Sanam! One day, due to some need, he was chanting, ‘Ya Sanam! Aghithni’ (O idol! Help me), ‘Ya Sanam! Aghithni’ (O idol! Help me). But the idol did not respond. At one point, he mistakenly said, Ya Samad! Aghithni’ in the place of ‘Ya Sanam! Aghithni’, which means ‘O Self-Sufficient being! Help me.’

As he uttered these words, Allah responded immediately. A voice came from the unseen- Labbaika ‘Abdi (My Servant! I am present) and Allah granted him what he had prayed for. The angels questioned Allah, saying that he did not intentionally call upon you, so why did you answer his call? Allah replied, (the idol cannot respond to his call.) If I do not respond to his call, then I also would become like an idol.

Some individuals narrate the story in this way: When he said, 'Ya Samad!' Allah said, 'The servant has called me. I will respond to his call. I will accept his prayer. The angels said, ‘he associates partners with you. Besides, he has called you by the slip of the tongue.’ Allah said, ‘Even if he has called me by mistake, I will answer his call. Because there is no 'Samad' (The Self-Sufficient) other than Me.’

However, this is a baseless story. It is not found in any reliable sources. Abdur Rahman Safuri Rah. (died: after 899 A.H.) mentioned a similar story in his book 'Nuzhatul Majalis' by the title of 'Hikaya' (an incident) without any references. The story is as follows—

There was a very old man in Hindustan who had been worshiping an idol for a long time. Once he was in need. He begged the idol for help, but the idol could not help him.
Then he said, O idol! I have been worshiping you for a long time; please show mercy to me... Even then the idol did not respond to his call. He gave up hope of getting help from the idol. It arose in his mind, (so far I called 'Sanam'), let's call 'Samad'.
He looked at the sky and said, Ya Samad! Immediately a voice came from the unseen - “My servant! I am here for you. What is your need? Just ask me”. Hearing this voice he gave up polytheism and became a believer in monotheism.
The angels said, O our Lord! He has called his idol for a long period, but it did not respond. Then he has called you just once and you have responded to his call!
Allah said, he called the idol; it did not respond. Then he called me. If I do not respond to his call, then what is the difference between the idol and me?' —Nuzhatul Majalis, B. 1, p. 26

The book ‘Nuzhatul Majalis’ is full of baseless and fabricated anecdotes. We have already written about this book and its author Safuri in this section (Shawwal 1441/June 2020) that “it is an unreliable book”. So the story is not supported by a reliable source. Also Shamsuddin Safiri Rah. (died: 956 AH) narrated this story in his commentary book on Sahih Bukhari called 'Almajalisul Wa'iyyah', saying نقل الخبرايون ... (The storytellers narrated that...) without giving any reference. (Almajalisul Wa'ziyyah, V. 1, p. 286)
 

By his opening sentence نقل الخبرايون ... (The storytellers narrated ...) it is understood that this is just a story that is popular among the storytellers. It has no reliable sources. Shaykh Abu Ishaq Al-Huwaini narrated the story in the book 'Is‘aful Labis Bi fatawal Hadith' (Narration No. 255) and then said- لا أصل له مرفوعا، وهو باطل. It is not proven as a hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. This is a baseless description.

However, the story may have been an allegory. Later someone added something to it. But the thing that needs to be remembered is that supplication with the sin of shirk and worship with the sin of shirk are not acceptable to Allah. In this world, Allah might respond to the supplication of a non-Muslim too; but in the Hereafter, all judgment will be based on Iman (faith) and tawheed (monotheism).

Translation: MD. Arif Billah