Musa from Kayamozhi was a mentally unstable man. People may call him retarded. He died just today. Innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilaihi raaji’oon – we belong to Allah, and we return back to Him.
My native place is Kayamozhi. It is about 650 kms from the Bangalore city, where I live. Whenever we used to visit my ancestors’ place in Tamilnadu, i.e Kayamozhi as a young child, we used to see a teenager looking person wearing lungi and shirt, running around and acting strange. That’s none other than Musa of Kayamozhi. He seemed to be mentally ill since childhood. I’ve seen him since my childhood.
And over a long period of time, I’ve been seeing him in the same town whenever I visited that place. Almost everytime I’ve seen him there. He used to laugh and look curiously, shaking his head, and asking for money. We used to give him some little money that were almost meaning nothing to most of us. We never thought that any money would help this person, who doesn’t know how to use it for his benefit even.
But let me tell you something that could be amazing. He has been collecting such little money from every other person and saved over a lakh rupees in that little village. And interestingly he had even handed out the collected money to a well known family. And that family has finally reached out to Musa’s relatives and given them that money.
We know Musa to be on the streets, carrying some things around, running around, screaming around and doing the same things repeatedly. And as days went by, we saw Musa with grey hair and few teeth. He got older. Sometimes sober. Sometimes erratic and weird, doing all childish things. He ended up as a patient who started to avoid food that could add cholesterol. And now he is no more.
I had empathy for him. Some little affection too. Nobody would want to get him closer or play with him, unless they wanted to make fun of him and have a laugh. But when he is no more, something tells me inside that, “he was part of my hometown”.
People like Musa will not be taken into account for all the mischievous deeds they did. For the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that they will not be accounted for their deeds, and they are free from sinning. Such is the justice of Allah. Allah created such people for us to realise the bounties we have, and to differentiate between good and deformity. There’s a world of a difference. And Allah makes us realise our responsibilities. Such people may be given tests on the day of judgement to pass them and enter paradise. Praise the Lord. That’s what our Prophet told us.
Hence I conclude, everything is created for a reason. I wonder what that saved money of Musa will do. What if someone becomes a millionaire out of it and build a hospital out of that to save the poor and needy? What if that saved money can save a life of a person, and that person in turn makes us all proud. We never know.
May Allah grant Jannatul Firdouse – lofty place in paradise for Musa Kayamozhi. I’ve seen him pray too in masjid sometime, and engaging with masjid works. Indeed Allah takes account of all things.
Written by
Umar Shariff
(President, Discover Islam Education Trust, Bangalore)
18/4/23