The Prophet Muhammad a Mercy To the World

Earn Your Living

It is related that Im"m Ja!far £"diq said: 'One of the companions of the Apostle of God was in dire circumstances. His wife said to him: 'If only you would go to the Prophet and ask from him.' So the man went to the Prophet and when he saw him the Prophet said: 'Whoever asks from us then we will give to him and whoever seeks independent means then God will make him independent.' The man said to himself:

'He means none other than me.' So he went to his wife and told her. She said: 'The Apostle of God is surely a human being so let him know [our circumstances].' So the man went to the Prophet once again and when the Prophet saw him he said: 'Whoever asks from us then we will give to him and whoever seeks independent means then God will make him independent.' The man did this for a third time after which he went and borrowed an axe and went to the mountains. There he climbed and began to cut firewood which he brought down and sold for half a measure of flour. He took this home and ate it. The next day he brought down even more firewood and sold it. He continued to do this until he was able to buy an axe.

Then he kept gathering until he was able to buy two young camels and a servant after which he became rich and his life became easy. He went to the Prophet and told him how he had come to ask from him and how he had heard the Prophet speaking. The Prophet said: 'I said to you: 'Whoever asks us then we will give to him and whoever seeks independent means then God will make him independent.' 162 162 al-k"f:; vol.2, p.139, 9ad:th 7, chap. Contentment.

He Turns Foes into Friends

A narrative states that a Bedouin from BanY Sal:m came to the Messenger of Allah, stood in front of him and called upon him saying, "O Muhammad! O Muhammad! You are a lying sorcerer more lying than whom there is none under the shade or in the plains! You are the one who claims that in this green land you have a God Who sent you to the black and to the white! I swear by [the idols] L"t and !Ozza that had I not feared my folks describing me as rash, I would have hit you with this sword of mine one blow that will kill you, thus making myself the master of the first generations and of the last!" One of the companions leapt to him to hit him, but the Prophet said to the companion, "Sit down; a clement person is almost as good as a prophet." Then the Messenger of Allah turned to the Bedouin and said, "O brother of BanY Sal:m! Is this how Arabs behave?! They approach us at our place of meeting and thus assail us with such rough language?! O Bedouin! I swear by the One Who sent me as a Prophet with the truth, anyone who harms me in the life of this world shall be tomorrow in the fire being tormented."

The Bedouin, who expected a similarly hash response from the Prophet, was moved by the latter's clemency and his overlooking of his own harsh words. He paused and on contemplating on the manner and behaviour of the Prophet in response to him words, and his reminder of the hereafter, and the values he holds dear, the Bedouin began to realise the virtue and magnanimity of the Prophet of Islam.

After some soul searching, the man accepted Islam and thereafter started inviting his tribesmen to Islam, until the Muslim population amongst the tribe numbered more than five hundred.

Foes Testify to His Distinction

The Quraysh kept admitting his truthfulness, trustworthiness and every virtue. Even al-Akhnas met AbY Jahl163 during the battle of Badr and said to him, "O AbY al-Hakam! Only you and I are here; nobody hears our dialogue, could you please inform me about Muhammad, is he truthful or a liar?" AbY Jahl said, "By Allah! Muhammad is truthful; never did Muhammad ever tell a lie."

Heraclius164 asked AbY Sufy"n [who was one of the prophet's archenemies] about him saying, "Did you all used to accuse him of telling lies before his claim that he is what he says he is?" AbY Sufy"n answered with a simple "No".

Kindness Beautifies

One of his wives has narrated saying that a Jew entered the house of the Messenger of Allah and said, "As-S"mm !Alaik (death be upon you)!" Another Jew entered and repeated the same. The wife became angry and said, "Alaikomis-S"mm wal Ghadab wal La`na (death be upon you, and Divine Wrath and Curse)" The Messenger of Allah said to her, "Had verbal abuse been an example, it would have been a bad example; never was kindness placed on anything except that it beautified it, and it was never removed from anything except that it stained it."

163 AbY Jahl was one of the Prophet's archenemies. 164 The Caesar of the Roman Byzantine Empire contemporary to the Prophet Muhammad. Reports indicate that Heraclius embraced Islam as a way of life, but had to refrain from publicising it due to the reactions of some of the court's clergy.

His Loyalty

When his foster sister, whose name was Shaym"', came to visit him once, he spread his outer mantle for her and seated her on it. Then he said to her, "If you wish, you can stay with me surrounded with honours and love, or I may provide you with rations and you may return to your people." She chose to return to her folks; therefore, he gave her some money and she returned very pleased.

He was sitting once when a woman came and got close to him. He stood up for her, spread his own outer mantle for her, so she sat on it. His companions asked each other who that woman was. They said that she was the woman who nursed him."

It has been narrated that he was once sitting when his foster father came, so he put his own outer mantle for him to sit on. Then his foster mother came, so he seated her on it too. Then his foster brother came, so the Messenger of Allah seated him in front of him.

Out of to his kindness and loyalty, he used to send some money and clothes to Thawbiyya - bondmaid of AbY Lahab - the woman who nursed him when he was a baby. When she died, he asked, "Who from among her relatives is still alive?" He intended to send something to her relatives, but he was told that she had no relatives among the living.

He quite often remembered Khadijah165 after she had died, slaughter a she-camel then send the meat as presents to her friends out of his devotion to her. Khadijah had said to him 165 Lady Khadijah peace be upon her was the Prophet's most beloved and loyal wife.

once, "O Messenger of Allah! Good news! By Allah, Allah shall never expose you to shame; for you always visit your relatives, are generous to your guest, and you offer solace during calamities."

Whenever he entered a gathering, he would sit in the nearest available space, and he used to sit on the floor and eat on the ground. As he did, he would say, "I am a slave [of Allah]; I eat as slaves do, and I sit as a slave sits."

A woman with a sharp tongue once saw him sitting at a mountain's foot, so she said to him, "O Muhammad! By Allah! You eat as slaves eat and you sit as a slave sits." The Messenger of Allah said, "Is there a more dedicated slave [of Allah] than I am?"

His Humbleness

Im"m S"diq said the following in his description of the Messenger of Allah: "He used to prefer to ride on the donkey without a saddle, eat while sitting on the most modest of all types of flooring in the company of the slaves, handing something to the beggar in his own hand. He used to ride a donkey and seat his slave or anyone else behind him. He used to ride a mare, a mule or a donkey without any hesitation." On the day the Muslims scored a victory over Bani Quraydha, he was riding a donkey whose reins were made of cable made of date-tree's leaves. [it was possible for the Prophet to ride the best of the horses, for hundreds were available to his forces, but he opted for a humble way of life and preferred to be like the majority of people at that time who could not afford more than a donkey as a means of transport.]

In an incident, Im"m B"qir is quoted as having said, "The Messenger of Allah walked out seeking to take care of an errand. He saw al-Fadl ibn al-!Abb"s so he said, "Let this youth ride behind me," then the Messenger of Allah rode on with his hand behind the youth. Then he said to the youth, "Young man! Fear Allah, you will then find Him before you. O young man! Fear Allah and He shall make you independent of anyone else."

He Serves at Home

Whenever he went home, he kept busy doing home chores, helping his wife, cutting the meat, sitting most humbly to eat his meal. He used to lick his fingers but never belched. He milked his sheep, patched his torn shirt, mended his sandals and took care of his needs. He used to feed and tie his camel, feed his animals, take a bath by himself at night, keep company with the poor, eat with the indigent, handing them over the food in person. He used to judge justly, make decisive decisions, so both his foes and friends loved him. And he was trustworthy, loyal, truthful, so much so that prior to his prophetic mission, his people used to call him "al- Am:n," the trustworthy one.

The Trustworthy One

It has been narrated that when the Prophet wanted to migrate from Mecca to Medina as a result of the persecution at the hands of the Quraysh, he left Imam Ali behind him to pay his debts and to return the trusts with which he was entrusted [by his foes]. He did not say that he was fleeing away from those people's evil because they sought to kill him, so their wealth was lawful [for him to take] because they were infidels who are fighting him.

He had his qualities since before the start of his prophetic mission. It is reported that, in the pre-Islamic times, when they completed the reconstruction of the Ka!bah, the various tribes of Quraysh disputed with each other with regard to who would put the Black Stone in its place. They decided that the first person to enter their meeting place would be the one to do it. It was then that the Prophet entered, and this took place before the mission of Prophethood. They, therefore, said, "Here is Muhammad, the Trustworthy one! We accept his arbitration!" In order to please everyone involved and that no one would be left out, Muhammad instructed them to bring a large garment, spread it on the ground, place the Black Stone on the garment, and invited one of every tribe to grab a corner of the garment and lift it to the level of the place of the Black Stone, and so he positioned it in its place. 166

You First

An incident testifying to his fulfilment of his promise says that Amm"r167 said, "I used to tend to cattle before the advent of Islam, and so did Muhammad. I said once to him, 'O Muhammad! Would you like to go to Fakhkh [to let the cattle graze there], for I left it when there was lightning in the sky [a harbinger of rain and, thus, pasture]?' He agreed, so I went there the next day to find Muhammad already there, standing

166 al-Kafi, vol. 4, p 217. 167 Amm"r was one of the prophet's devout and loyal companions. At the outset of the mission of the Prophet, Amm"r's elderly parents, Yasser and Somayyah, who had also embraced Islam, were tortured in a bid to force Amm"r to renounce Islam, and his mother died under torture. Somayyah was the first woman martyr in Islam.

to keep his flock away from the pasture. He said to me, 'I promised you to be there, so I hated to give my flock access to the pasture before you.'"

The Pragmatic Statesman

He was lenient, always looking for the best ways to reach reconciliation, and peace. In the process of signing the peace treaty of Hodaybiyah, the Messenger of Allah invited Ali ibn Ab: ?"lib and said to him, "Write: In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful." Quraysh's envoy, Suhayl, objected saying, "As for 'the most Gracious,' by Allah, I do not know who He is.

Rather, you should write: 'In Thy Name, O Lord!' instead." The Muslims said, "By Allah! We shall not write it except In the Name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful."

The Prophet said to Ali "Write: 'In Thy Name, O Lord.'" Then he went on to say to Ali, "Following is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has decided." Suhayl objected again by saying, "Had we recognized you as the Messenger of Allah, we would not have kept you away from the House of Allah, nor would we have fought you. Rather, write [your name as] Muhammad son of Abdull"h." The Prophet said, "I am the Messenger of Allah even if you accuse me of lying." Then the Messenger of Allah asked Ali to erase the phrase saying "the Messenger of Allah", but Ali refused to do so, so the Prophet took the sheet and erased the phrase himself. Then Ali replaced it with "Muhammad son of Abdull"h" instead.

He Never Changed

The Messenger of Allah came to the enlightened city of Medina pursued, immigrant, indigent, and having nothing. When he arrived there, he built his mosque and built around it chambers for his wives and companions. He used to live in those mud and baked clay chambers. Those chambers were so small that even ten persons standing beside each other could hardly fit in. [After the death of the Prophet, when people came to offer prayers for him, a maximum of ten could squeeze in to face the coffin and offer the prayers.]

His circumstances changed after reaching Medina. He became the head of a state, and funds were brought to him from that spacious state, yet his chamber did not change to become a huge house, nor did his simple furniture change to become luxurious.

He was the most generous of all people, the most patient, the most truthful, the most trustworthy, the most kind, and the best companion; whoever saw him would be in awe of him; whoever associated with him would love him. He used to unite people together rather than make them shun each other; he was generous to anyone known to be honourable among his people, granting him authority over them. He used to say, "If a man is held by his folks as honourable, you, too, should honour him." He used to always inquire about his companions, fairly distributing his attention among those in his company, so much so that none of them would think that someone else was better than him. If someone kept him company because of something which he wanted, he would be patient with him till he himself would be the one to part. If anyone asked him for something, he would respond by giving him it, or he would give him sufficient assurances in its regard.

He used to say, "Respond to whoever asks you even with a little, or say something beautiful to him." And he also used to say, "The best of rulers is one who unites the disunited folks, and the worst is one who disunites those who are united."

The Prophet Should be Emulated

There are many such incidents which all point out to the Prophet Muhammad's wide popularity, great manners, humbleness, loyalty and wise government the like of which history never knew before him or after him - with the exception of the time of Imam Ali, hence rulers should use it as their role model if they wish to be near to Allah and to win the best of the Hereafter. Imam Ali has said, "Whoever seeks a role model, let the Prophet be his role model; otherwise, he shall have no safeguard against perdition."