—his Lord, Exalted be He, who said: “When I try My servant by depriving him of his two beloved ones—meaning his eyes—and he remains patient, I shall reward him for them with Paradise.” 1

Third: the blind man’s insistence on the supplication, expressed in his words, “Then pray,” necessarily shows that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did in fact pray for him. He was the most faithful in fulfilling what he promised, and he had already promised to pray if the man so wished. The man chose the supplication and persisted in it; therefore the Prophet certainly prayed for him, and the point at issue is thus confirmed.

Out of mercy and out of his eagerness that Allah answer the prayer made for the blind man, the Prophet guided him to the second lawful form of tawassul, tawassul through righteous deeds, so that all avenues of good might be gathered for him. He ordered him to perform ablution, to pray two units, and then to supplicate for himself. These actions are acts of obedience to Allah, presented before the Prophet’s own supplication on his behalf, and they fall under the Almighty’s command: “Seek the means of nearness to Him” (Qur’an 5:35), as noted earlier.

Thus the Messenger of Allah did not suffice with the supplication he had promised; he also occupied the blind man with deeds that constitute obedience to Allah and a means of drawing near to Him, so that the matter would be complete from every angle and more likely to be accepted and pleasing to Allah. The whole episode therefore revolves around supplication—as is evident—and contains nothing of the claims they advance.

Shaykh al-Ghumari overlooked this, or affected to overlook it, when he said in Al-Miṣbāḥ, p. 24: “If you wish, I shall pray,” that is, “If you wish, I will teach you a supplication that you can recite yourself and coach you in it.” He holds that such an interpretation is necessary in order to harmonize the opening of the ḥadīth with its conclusion.