Question 533 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 6

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them peace. May Allah grant you success in every good. If you mean who frowned in the words of the Exalted, ‘He frowned and turned away because the blind man came to him. What would make you know? Perhaps he would purify himself or take heed and the reminder would benefit him. As for the one who considers himself self-sufficient, you attend to him, though you are not responsible if he does not purify himself. But as for the one who came to you striving, while he fears, you are distracted from him’ (^[61]), then the one who frowned was Uthman ibn Affan. He was with the Messenger of Allah (s) when the blind Ibn Umm Maktum came. The Messenger of Allah (s) gave Ibn Umm Maktum precedence over Uthman and brought him near to converse with him, so Uthman frowned and turned away from him out of arrogance toward this blind man, as the Exalted relates: ‘He frowned and turned away because the blind man came to him. What would make you know? Perhaps he would purify himself or take heed and the reminder would benefit him.’ Allah then explained to Uthman the evil of his deed and the arrogance his soul contained: previously, when a person of prestige and standing came, Uthman would attend to him, even if that person turned away from the call of the Messenger of Allah and acted arrogantly toward the Messenger of Allah (s), without anyone asking Uthman to do so: ‘As for the one who considers himself self-sufficient, you attend to him, though you are not responsible if he does not purify himself.’ Allah explained to Uthman ibn Affan and to those like him who act as he did that they ought to evaluate a person on the basis of his seeking the truth and fearing Allah, not on the basis of his prestige, standing, and possessions: ‘But as for the one who came to you striving, while he fears, you are distracted from him.’ Despite his blindness, Ibn Umm Maktum came striving to this blessed gathering-the gathering of the Messenger of Allah (s) and of the Muslims. You, O Uthman, were supposed to rejoice in him and give him precedence over yourself because he was blind, not frown in his face and turn away from him because the Messenger of Allah (s) gave him precedence. This is a brief explanation of the meaning of these verses. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. Ahmed Alhasan Muharram al-Haram, 1432 AH