|
 “I
began to look at him and at the moon, he was wearing a red mantle, and he
appeared to be more beautiful than the moon to me.” (Al-Tirmidhi)
This is how Jabir
ibn Samura described the Last of the Prophets, the Chief of the Pious, the
Prince of the Believers, the Chosen One of the Most Merciful – Muhammad,
the Messenger of God.
He had a pleasant
face that was round, white, and fair. His hair fell to his ear lobes. His
beard was thick and black. When he was pleased, his face would light up. His laugh
was no more than smiling. His eyes were blackish, and his eyelashes were long.
His long eyebrows were curved. When the eyes of Abdullah ibn Salam, the chief
rabbi of Medina, fell on his face, he declared that such a noble face could not
be the face of a liar!
He was of medium
height, neither tall nor short. He walked inclining forward. He wore tanned
leather sandals. His pants would reach to the middle of his shin or sometimes
just above his ankles.
On his back, towards
the left shoulder was the ‘Seal of Prophethood’. It was the size of a pigeon’s
egg with spots like moles on it. His palms were described to be softer than
the brocade of silk.
He was recognized by
his fragrance when he approached from a distance. Drops of his perspiration
were described to be like pearls. His companions collected his sweat to mix
with their perfumes which made them even more fragrant!
Islamic doctrine
holds if someone has been blessed with the vision of the Prophet in a dream as
described, then indeed they have seen him.
He would keep silent
for long periods of time and was the most dignified when silent.
When he spoke, he
uttered nothing but the truth in a voice pleasing to the ears. He did not
speak rapidly as many people do today; rather he spoke in a clear speech so
that those who sat with him could remember it. His speech was described to be
such that anyone who wished to count his words could have done so easily. His
companions described him to be neither vulgar nor indecent. He neither cursed
people, nor abused them. He merely reprimanded by saying:
“What is the matter with such and such people” (Saheeh
Al-Bukhari)
The most hateful
conduct to him was lying. Sometimes he used to repeat himself twice or even
thrice to enable the listeners to understand him well. He would give short sermons.
While delivering the sermons his eyes would become red, his voice would rise,
and his emotions become visible as if he were warning of an imminent assault
from an enemy.
He led a simple life
without any extravagance or lavishness. He put the worldly life behind his
back and turned away from it. He considered it to be a prison, not Paradise! Had he wished, he could have had anything he desired, for the keys of its
treasures were presented to him, but he refused to accept them. He did not
exchange his share of the life to come with the worldly life. He knew that it
is a corridor, not a permanent residence. He understood fully well that it is
a transit station, not a leisure park. He took it for its real worth - a
summer cloud that would soon disperse.
Yet God says He enriched
him from poverty:
“Did He not find you poor and enrich you?” (Quran 93:8)
Aisha, his wife, said:
“A month would pass while the family of Muhammad
would not light fire in their homes. They subsisted on two things - dates and
water. Some residents of Medina who were his neighbors would send milk from
their sheep, which he would drink and then give to his family.” (Saheeh
Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim)
She said the family
of Muhammad never ate wheat bread to their satisfaction for three consecutive
days from the time of his arrival at Medina until he passed away, about 10
years!
With all this, he
would stand up in the middle of the night to offer his gratitude to his Lord in
prayer. He would pray for so long that his feet would swell! When his wives
would ask why he worshipped God so much, his only response would be:
“Shall I not be a thankful servant of God?” (Saheeh
Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim)
Omar, one of his
companions, remembering the days he passed in hunger said that sometimes the
Prophet did not even have rotten dates to satisfy his hunger!
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud,
another companion and eye-witness, says that once ,when Muhammad, may the mercy
and blessings of God be upon him, awoke from sleep, the marks of the mat made
out of date palm leaves on which he used to sleep were etched on his body. Abdullah
complained:
“My father and mother be ransomed for you! Why did
you not let us prepare something (softer) for you from which you could protect
yourself?”
He replied:
“I have nothing to do with this world. I am in
this world like a rider who stops under the shade of the tree for a short time
and, after taking rest, he resumes his journey again, leaving the tree behind.”
(Al-Tirmidhi)
Various conquerors in
the annals of history are known for spilling rivers of blood and erecting
pyramids of skulls. Muhammad, may God praise him, is known for his forgiveness.
He never took revenge from anyone who wronged him to the point that he never
struck anybody with his hand, neither a woman nor a servant, unless he was
fighting in battle. His forgiveness could be seen on the day he entered Mecca as a conqueror after eight years of exile.
He forgave those who
persecuted him, and forced him and his family in exile for three years in
rugged mountains, who had accused him of being a lunatic, a poet, or one
possessed. He pardoned Abu Sufyan, one of the most evil of people who plotted
to persecute him day and night, along with his wife, Hind, who mutilated the
dead body of the Prophet’s Muslim uncle and ate the raw liver after ordering Wahshi,
a fierce slave known for his fighting skills, to kill Him, which later led
them to accept Islam. Who else could be on such an exalted standard of
character but the noblest and most truthful Messenger of God?
Wahshi, who used to
live in Mecca, won his freedom from Hind for the service of killing the uncle
of the Prophet. When Islam gained dominance in Mecca, Wahshi ran away from Mecca to Taif. Eventually Taif also succumbed to the Muslims. He was told Muhammad would forgive
anyone who accepted Islam. Even though the crime was so great, Wahshi gathered
his courage and came to the Prophet of Mercy and announced his Islam, and Muhammad,
may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, forgave him.
His forgiveness even
extended to Habbar ibn Aswad. When Zaynab, the Prophet’s daughter, was migrating
from Mecca to Medina, the Meccans tried to stop her, Habbar was one of them. He
made the Prophet’s pregnant daughter fall from her camel. As a result, she
lost her baby. Running away from the guilt of his crime, Habbar fled to Iran, but God turned his heart towards the Prophet. So he came to the Prophet’s court,
acknowledged his guilt, bore the testimony of faith, and was forgiven by the
Prophet!
Muhammad, may the
mercy and blessings of God be upon him, performed physical miracles with God’s
permission. He split the moon into two halves by merely pointing his finger at
it. In a mystical journey known as Mi’raaj, he traveled in one night from
Mecca to Jerusalem on a heavenly mount, al-Buraq, led all the Prophets
in prayer, and then ascended beyond the seven heavens to meet his Lord. He
cured the sick and the blind; demons would leave the possessed by his command,
water flowed from his fingers, and his food would glorify God.
Yet he was the most
humble of men. He sat on the ground, ate on the ground, and slept on the
ground. A companion narrated that if a stranger were to enter a gathering
where he was present, he would not be able to differentiate the Prophet from
his companions due to his humbleness. Anas, his servant, swore that in his nine
years of service, the noble Prophet never chastised him or blamed him for
anything. Those around him described Muhammad to be so humble that even a
little girl could hold his hand and take him wherever she wished. He used to
come to the weak among the Muslims in order to visit the sick and attend their
funeral processions. He used to stay at the back of the caravan to aid the
weak and pray for them. He would not hesitate to walk with a widow or a poor
person until he had accomplished for them what they needed. He responded to
the invitation of even slaves, eating nothing more than barley bread with them.
He was the best of
men to his wives. Aisha, his wife, described how humble he was:
“He used to remain busy serving and helping his
household, and when the time for prayer came he would perform ablution and go
for prayer. He would patch his own sandals and sew his own garments. He was
an ordinary human being, searching his clothes for lice, milking his sheep, and
doing his own chores.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)
Indeed he was the
best of all people to his family. His personality was such that people were
not driven away from him!
Such was the noble
Prophet of God who we must love more than our own selves and whom God has
described as:
“Indeed in the Messenger of God you have a good example to
follow…” (Quran 33:21)
|
