Through the Farm of a Blind Man

The Muslim army marched, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked the Companions, "Can any one of you guide us through a way that will bring us out to the enemy without their realising?" Abū Khaythamah said, "I will." And they travelled through agricultural land rather than the traditional routes that lead out of Madīnah, passing through a farm owned by one of the hypocrites, Mirbaʿ ibn Qayzī. When an army is walking through agricultural land, it is unavoidable that there will be some damage, so Mirbaʿ ibn Qayzī wanted to stop the Muslim army — and he was blind. He said: "If you are the messenger of Allah, then I do not permit you to enter my garden; I do not allow you to come through — you are trespassing. If you come through my farm, I will consider it trespassing; you are destroying my property." But the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ignored him and the army went forward, so he picked up some dirt in his hand and said, "By Allah, if I knew I would strike no one but you, Muḥammad, I would hit you in the face with this." This was very disrespectful, and some of the Companions attacked him, wanting to kill him, because cursing the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is punishable by death according to Islamic sharīʿah. But the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told them, "Leave him, don't kill him — this sightless fellow is blind both in heart and in his eyes." So they left him alone. The lesson: the benefit of the whole supersedes the benefit of the individual in Islam. Here, damage is done to agricultural land, which is damage done to an individual, but it is for the benefit of the whole — so the whole comes before the individual.