The Jewish beggar

In the corner of the marketplace of Madinah, was a blind Jewish beggar, who would cry out daily to all those who came near him,

"O my brothers, don't go near Muhammad He's a lunatic, he's a liar, a sorcerer!
If you are to be close to him, you will be influenced by him!"

The news about the blind Jewish beggar's daily cursing and badmouthing came to the knowledge of Rasöölillah ﷺ. Even then, Rasöölillah ﷺ didn’t get angry, he just carried on ignoring the blind Jewish beggar's insults against himself.

Rasöölillah ﷺ started visiting the blind beggar and would feed him with his own hands; without saying a single word, every morning.

The blind beggar would chew the food being fed to him and eat contentedly. Once he was full, he'd express his gratitude without knowing that the one who had fed him was Rasöölillah ﷺ. Rasöölillah ﷺ continued to feed the blind beggar without fail each day until the day He ﷺ, passed onto the next life. 

Throughout his service to the blind beggar, he never identified himself to the blind Jewish beggar. After Rasöölillah ﷺ  had passed away, no one brought food to the blind beggar anymore!

One day, the closest Companion of Rasöölillah ﷺ, Saiyidina Abu Bakar As Siddiq  رضي الله عنه‎‎ visited the home of his daughter, Sayidina Ayesha رضي الله عنه‎‎.

Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه‎‎ asked Ayesha  رضي الله عنه‎‎ , "O my child, is there any habit of my beloved Rasöölillah ﷺ that I have yet to carry on?"

Ayesha  رضي الله عنه‎‎ replied, "Dear Father, you are verily a follower of the Sunnah of Rasöölillah ﷺ and there is none that you have yet to do except for one deed only!"

"What is that?" asked Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه‎‎.

"Every morning, Rasöölillah ﷺ would go to the end of the marketplace, bringing food to a blind old Jewish beggar who lives there and feed him by his hand," said Aishah  رضي الله عنه‎‎.

The next day, Abu Bakar As Siddiq  رضي الله عنه‎‎ went to the marketplace with food for the blind beggar. Abu Bakar As Siddiq  رضي الله عنه‎‎  approached the beggar and started to feed him.

At the first handfull of food being fed to him, the blind Jewish beggar became angry and shouted out, "Who are you?"

Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه‎‎ answered "I am the one who usually feeds you every morning".

"No!... Don't you lie to me!" objected the blind beggar.

Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه‎‎ was shocked, thus he asked "Why do you say so?"

The blind Jewish beggar answered, "Because when he comes to me, I always feel it’s easy to hold his hand and find it easy to chew the food he feeds me. The man who used to feed me, would make the food fine before feeding it to me!"

Abu Bakar As Siddiq  رضي الله عنه‎‎  could not hold back his tears anymore and burst out crying. He had to disclose who he actually was to the beggar. "Verily, I am not the one who used to come and feed you. I am one of his Companions for the noble one is alive no more! He was none other than Rasöölillah ﷺ.

"Muhammad?" asked the blind old Jewish beggar, totally shocked with what he had just heard. "You mean to tell me that the one who came each morning without fail and fed me by his hand was Muhammad?" asked the beggar.

"Yes! It was Muhammad ﷺ!" answered Abu Bakr  رضي الله عنه‎‎.

Immediately, the blind old Jewish beggar wailed out in despair and cried so pitifully coming to realise that it was none other than Rasöölillah ﷺ who had been feeding him all the while.

"All this time!...all this time, I had been cursing him, I had been slandering him! Not once did he ever scold me! He kept coming every morning to feed me! He was so noble!.." cried the old blind Jewish beggar, wiping away his flowing tears.

The blind beggar reached out to Saiyidina Abu Bakar As Siddiq  رضي الله عنه‎‎ the first Caliph of the Muslims and testified before him the Kalimah Shahadah.

'Ash ha doo Allah ila ha ill lallLah! Wa ash ha doo anna Muhammad darrRasulullah!' declaring that There is No God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

The Life of the Sahaba.
#FootstepsOfTheRighteous