Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
On one occasion, Arwa bint Uwais, the neighbour of Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), came to Muhammad bin ‘Amr bin Hazm (rahimahullah) with a complaint against her neighbour, Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).
She claimed that he had built his wall in her property and asked Muhammad bin ‘Amr (rahimahullah) to go to him and speak to him on her behalf. She also said, “By the qasam (oath) of Allah Ta’ala, if Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) does not return what is due to me, I will openly announce the injustice which he has caused to me before all the people in the masjid of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).”
Muhammad bin ‘Amr bin Hazm (rahimahullah) cautioned her saying, “Do not cause harm to the companion of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) (referring to Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu)). He is not a person who will oppress you or usurp your rights.”
Disappointed with his reply, Arwa left and went to ‘Umaarah bin ‘Amr and Abdullah bin Salimah (rahimahumallah), and mentioned her complaint to them. Upon her request, they went to Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) who was in his property in ‘Aqeeq. Upon seeing them, he asked them, “Why have you come here?” They mentioned to him the complaint of Arwa and her request to them.
Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “I heard Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) saying, ‘Whoever usurps the property of any person, even if it be the amount of a Shibr (a handspan), he will come on the day of Qiyaamah with that piece of land tied to his neck, together with the seven earths below it.’”.
Thereafter, he said, “Let her come and take whatever land of mine she wrongfully claims to be hers.” He then cursed her saying, “O Allah, if she is a liar in the claim she is making against me, then do not let her pass away before You take away her eyesight and cause her to die in her property (or in her well, according to one narration).” He also made dua that Allah Ta’ala allows the truth to become apparent to the Muslims.
In some narrations, it is mentioned that Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said, “I take an oath in the name of Allah Ta’ala, I have already given her six hundred ziraa’ of my own property upon the false claim she has made against me. I only gave her from my property due to the hadith which I heard directly from Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).” He then quoted the above-mentioned hadith.
Arwa thereafter came to him and took the piece of his land upon which he had built his wall. She then demolished the wall which he had built and built a house for herself upon the land.
After a short period of time, the entire area of ‘Aqeeq was afflicted with a severe and unprecedented flood which caused the boundary of both properties to become clearly distinguished. It was at that time that her false claim became exposed before people and the truthfulness of Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) became apparent to all.
One month later (after the flood), Arwa bint Uwais lost her eyesight and became blind. Not long thereafter, while walking in her property one night, she fell into her well and died. In this way, the curses of Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) against Arwa became a reality.
Abu Bakr bin Muhammad bin ‘Amr bin Hazm, one of the narrators of this incident, mentions, “When we were young, and a dispute arose between two people, we would sometimes hear one person saying to the other, ‘May Allah Ta’ala blind you like how He blinded Arwa.’ We used to think that perhaps the person cursing was referring to the animal called Arwa (a mountain goat). However, we later on came to know that this statement was the words of Hazrat Sa’eed bin Zaid who cursed Arwa bint Uwais, due to which she lost her eyesight. (Siyarul A’alaamin Nubalaa 1/106, Hilyatul Awliya 1/97)
