If your faith was really truly put to the test, would you pass? Or would you fail miserably?

Three men were put to the test by Allah, a blind man, a leper and a bald man (more on this later). An Angel in the guise of a man went to visit each of them seperately and asked them, what bothers them most in the world. The blind man complained about his eye sight and poverty. The bald man complained about his lack of hair, he felt that wherever he went everyone would stare at his hairless head and it made him feel miserable. The leper felt like an outcast and wished he could fit in, he also felt like his leprosy added to his poverty. After the Angel left, Allah granted each of them what it was they felt they wanted most in the world.

The blind man was given his sight back and was made wealthy as was the leper who was also completely healed and the bald man regained his hair. For awhile they were each happy, enjoying the new turns their lives had taken. Then it was time for them to be put to the test. The Angel went back to visit each person looking the way they each did before.

First, he went to visit the leper as a leper. Now the leper was so wealthy he had people who minded the entrance to his house. When they saw the leper (who was really an Angel) they tried to chase him away but the leper begged them to tell the owner of the house that he wanted to speak to him. So they went to deliver the message. The moment the former leper heard about a leper at his gate, he told them to get rid of him because he did not wish to see him or speak to him. SubhanAllah!

Then he went to visit the bald man as a bald man. The former bald man also treated him the way the leper had.

Lastly he went to visit the formerly blind man. As soon as he heard that there was a blind man who wanted to speak to him he ushered him into his house and welcomed him with open arms. He told the blind man who was really an Angel in disguise that he used to be blind and poor as well, but Allah in His mercy saw fit to restore his sight and bless him with wealth. He fed the Angel then took him by the hand and led him outside where he had lots of camels. He told the blind man to take as many camels as he wanted. SubhanAllah!

When I heard this story for the first time a number of things struck me.

First, how could the leper treat someone who was in his exact condition the way he didn’t want to be treated? Then it reminded me of one of the most important parts of our faith which is to love our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters as we love ourselves. If he had done that, then he wouldn’t have had any trouble passing his test. As it is, he obviously failed miserably.

Secondly, I thought a bald man?! Really? That’s a problem? But then I realized the reason that bald man was crucial to the story is because no matter how seemingly trivial an issue is, if it is important to you, then it is important. And we will only be tested with things that are important to us, otherwise, it’s not really a test then is it?

You can imagine how surprised and shocked I was when the bald man also failed his test!! That reinforced for me, that the test is about character. And no matter how big or small something may seem, what’s important is how we react to it. He was basically an arrogant and vain person, who once he gained his head of hair back, acted vain and arrogant towards someone who didn’t have hair, because he felt that now he was better than the other guy since he now had hair. That’s why being bald was such a problem for him, because he felt that the whole world saw him the way he saw the bald looking Angel.

Thirdly, sometimes those with the worst situations in life are the best of us. The blind man was the only one who passed the test. I couldn’t help but wonder if it is because being blind was the most devastating situation out of the three. Was it because he had felt true suffering that he appreciated the alleviation of that suffering more than the others? Or was his heart simply better than that of the other two?

The lessons of the story are many but ultimately it boils down to this: If Allah puts our faith to the test, will we pass?

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