Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Abbaas and his Eyesight

27 May 2010 402 views No Comment

Nowadays we find only 10 people in the masjid when it comes for the jama’ah of Salah. In the time of the Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, it was the opposite. The Masjid was packed, to the extent that even the Munafiqs (hypocrites) would attend the congregational Salah. A person with imaan (faith) would come with much happiness and excitement to offer the Salah in congregation. A weak and ill person would come to the Masjid whilst leaning on two men,one on each side. The Munafiqs would attend the Masjid so that people would not know that they were munafiqs.

Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas radhiyallahu ‘anhu was the cousin of the Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He is known as the Mufassir e Qur’an (commentator of the Qur’an) because till today, no one has beat him in his commentary (due to the du’a that Nabi sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam made for him). During his last years, he turned blind, hence he kept a ghulam (servant) for one reason only: to take him to the Masjid for Salah and bring him back, nothing else. One day Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas radhiyallahu ‘anhu was waiting for his servant to take him to the Masjid. The Adhan was called, but he was still nowhere to be found. Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas radhiyallahu ‘anhu rushed back and forth in order to locate his servant so that he could be taken to the congregational prayer. He called out his name many times, still no answer. Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas radhiyallahu ‘anhu began to panick. He thought to himself, Adhan has been called, jama’ah is about to commence, the ghulam is nowhere to be found, what am I to do? Thereupon, Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas radhiyallahu ‘anhu made du’a to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala saying: O Allah! For a long time I have been blind. I accepted your command [which was for me to be blind] and was satisfied with it. O Allah! Please accept this one request of mine. Adhan has been done and my ghulam is no where to be found. I will be missing the Jama’ah. Please grant me my eyesight back so that I can walk to the masjid, offer my Salah in Jama’ah and then come back home. As soon as I return, you can take my eyesight away.

Upon completion of this du’a, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala cured the eyes of Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas radhiyallahu ‘anh, so that he could walk to the Masjid, offer Salah in Jama’ah, and then return home. As soon as he returned, his eyesight would be taken away again. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala did not accept his du’a for this occasion only. From then on, whenever it was time for Salah, Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas radhiyallahu ‘anhu’s eyesight would come back, enough for him to walk to the Masjid, offer his Salah, and arrive home. Thereafter he would return to being blind again. If he was to go to the market or to someone’s house, his eyesight would not be returned to him. However, if he was to go to the Masjid to offer Salah in Jama’ah, his blindness would be cured. Hadhrat ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbaas radhiyallahu ‘anhu then let his servant free as he was no longer in need of him, telling him that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has managed it. This was the showq of a great Sahabi, and verily for the believers is there a lesson from their blessed lives.

Source: Hadhrat Bilal Bawa bayan summaries