Abu Muslim al-Khawlani’s Prayer and the Woman Whose Sight Returned

Abu Dawud’s al-Zuhd preserves a report about Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, may Allah have mercy on him, and a woman who had caused trouble between him and his wife. The account does not give a long description of what she had done; it simply states that she had interfered with or spoiled the relationship within his household.

According to the report, Abu Muslim prayed concerning the woman, and afterward her sight was lost. The early form of the story does not preserve a detailed wording for this first prayer. For that reason, the event is best told simply as the source gives it: he prayed against her, and the report says that she became blind.

The story then changes direction. The woman came back to Abu Muslim, acknowledged what she had done and promised that she would not return to such conduct. Her return and admission become the turning point of the account, because Abu Muslim no longer responds with a prayer against her.

Instead, he makes a second prayer in her favor, and this wording is explicitly preserved: «اللهم إن كانت صادقة فاردد عليها بصرها» — “O Allah, if she is truthful, restore her sight.” The condition in the prayer is important: the restoration is asked for if her confession and promise are truthful.

The report then closes with a short statement that she saw again. There is no long aftermath and no further punishment scene. The memorable sequence is therefore compact: harm within the household, Abu Muslim’s prayer, loss of sight, the woman’s confession and promise, a second conditional prayer, and the return of her sight.

Al-Lalaka'i and Abu Nu'aym later preserve the same basic story, while another route gives fuller wording for the first prayer. That fuller wording belongs to a different transmission and is not merged into this retelling. The public story remains focused on the early account and on the clearly preserved prayer for the woman’s sight to return.