Have you ever met a person in life that you thought might be an angel?
And I'm not just talking about your child or a friend of yours, or someone that
you think is an angelic because of the way that they carry themselves,
but someone who just popped into your life,
you were stuck somewhere and they helped you.
Or someone that, that showed up somewhere in public and said something to you
that you needed to hear in those moments or someone that was sick or ill or
a recipient of charity and you thought this person can't be a human being.
And then, they're mysterious. You don't see them before,
you don't see them after and you're left to think, wait a minute,
was that an angel? Right?
I mean it is possible that you might meet a Shaytan, you know,
in the form of the human being.
But like have I ever actually met an angel in the form of a human being?
there's a Hadith of the prophet (pbuh) where he talks about these three men
from "Bani 'iisrayiyl" and they were contemporaries as as made clear in the Hadith
and the prophet (pbuh) said there was a bold man,
a man who was a leper and a man who was blind, and an angel went to all three
of them and asked them, what is it that you want?
What is it that you'd want to change about yourself?
And the leper said that I would want to have good skin because the people feel
an aversion towards me because of my leprosy.
And the angel touches that person and suddenly their skin is cured altogether.
So they have full skin again. And the angel said to that person,
and what type of property is most beloved to you? And the man says camels.
And so the angel then brings a pregnant shea camel and says,
"barak allah lak fiha" May Allah bless you with that shea camel.
And this shows that it's Allah that's going to provide not the angel.
Allah is the one who blesses and it's also a wisdom and that this person is now
going to see this Valley of camels come from this one pregnant shea camel to
really see the generosity of Allah (swt) unfold be-for their eyes.
And so suddenly that person has the skin that they want,
the appearance that they want,
and they also have the wealth that they want and become a very wealthy person.
The angel then goes to someone who is bold, and says,
what would you like to change about yourself? And the bold man says that,
I'd love to have good hair, right? I feel like it would beautify me.
I feel like it's what's missing in my life.
And so the angel touches that man's head,
gives them an angelic hair transplant.
You can find that anywhere in the world today.
And suddenly that person has a full head of hair.
And the angel then says to the man, and what?
What type of property is most beloved to you? And the man says, cows.
So the same thing happens. A pregnant cow is given, and the angel says,
"barak allah lak fiha" may Allah bless you with it, And suddenly he has an entire,
you know, plot of cows.
And then he goes to a person who is blind.
And we know that, that is a very specific type of tests.
There are multiple rewards that you find in Ahadith for the person that
is blind and patients with Allah (swt)
many scholars who suffered from this, and says to the blind man,
what would you like? You said, I'd love to have my eyesight back,
my vision back, until the angel wipes his eyes and suddenly he can see again.
And then he says to him, and what's the most beloved of property to you?
He says, sheep, which is very simple, right? If you think about it.
So he's given pregnant sheep and that gives birth to,
an entire, plot of sheep.
And so he's got his entire,
property in front of him that he can work with and that he can deal with.
And so each one has their herd now, and they have their property, and they have
the appearance that they want and they have the blessings that they want.
The prophet (pbuh) says that.
Then the angel comes back to each one of those people in the same human form as
they were before. So to the leper, the angel shows up with leprosy,
a human being with leprosy that's also poor, to the one who was bald.
The angel shows up looking like the person used to look also for, and for the one
who was blind.
The angel also shows up in the form of a blind man that's also needy.
And as that angel shows up to each one of them,
the angel asks them for support, the leper and the bald man deny that they used
to be poor and they say that, you know that I earned this.
And they basically shoot the man away.
And the angel responds in the form of that man and says,
aren't you the person that used to be such and such, Weren't you once in need?
And that person denies that they were ever poor in the first place.
And so the arrogance has overtaken them and they forgotten the blessing of
Allah (swt), So the angel says back to them, if you are lying,
then may Allah (swt) return you to what you were before.
If you're lying about who you are, and if you are not just denying the blessing
that Allah has given you,
but not even acknowledging that you once didn't have these things,
may law return you to what you were, but the blind man passed the test.
The prophet (pbuh) said the blind man,
as soon as he saw that person in his own form that he used to be,
he says to the man who was, of course an angel,
go ahead and take from this property,
whatever you want for I was once like you and Allah (swt) provided
for me. So it's all yours. Whatever you want, go ahead and take it.
and "Subhan Allah" the scholars say.
This is the one out of the three that actually had the most severe predicaments.
Right? But look at his humility and he says, just go ahead and take it all.
I used to be like you without even being asked.
I used to be like you and Allah (swt) provided for me.
So therefore I'm providing for you whatever you want from this because this is
all the blessing of Allah (swt). And the angel responds and says,
keep your property with you. "faqad radi Allah eank, wasakhat ean sahibik"
keep your property with you because verly Allah is pleased with you angry
with your two companions.
And so the two companions lost everything that they had and were restored back
to their position with the Duea' of the angel,
and that person was able not just to keep the blessing of Allah (swt)
in this life, but also increased in their station in the hereafter.
Now back to us.
The question is then, when I see someone that's in need,
am I actually encountering an angel? And I have to be honest "Subhan Allah"
I remember a few times that I was in refugee camp and I thought,
I thought to myself this, this can't be a human being that's in front of me.
And Allah knows best right there.
The reality is you're never actually going to know, right?
If you've encountered an angel,
that person is not going to reveal themselves and say, I'm actually an angel.
But it would defeat the purpose if you were only honoring them because you
thought they were an angel.
That's actually the moral of the story that you are to honor the person,
the "yatim", the orphan, the one that's in need,
and remember your own vulnerability and you never know who Allah (swt)
actually has in front of you at that moment.