The following is an excerpt from the
book entitled "The Message of
Mohammad", by Athar Husain.
Among other things, it talks about some
of the personal characteristics of the
prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him),
the final messenger of Allah (God). It
has been edited slightly in order to
reduce it's length. Care has been taken
not to change the content inshallah.
Muhammad (pbuh) was of a height a little
above the average. He was of sturdy
build with long muscular limbs and
tapering fingers. The hair of his head
was long and thick with some waves in
them. His forehead was large and
prominent, his eyelashes were long and
thick, his nose was sloping, his mouth
was somewhat large and his teeth were
well set. His cheeks were spare and he
had a pleasant smile. His eyes were
large and black with a touch of brown.
His beard was thick and at the time of
his death, he had seventeen gray hairs
in it. He had a thin line of fine hair
over his neck and chest. He was fair of
complexion and altogether was so
handsome that Abu Bakr composed this
couplet on him:
"as there is no darkness in the
moonlit night so is Mustafa, the
well-wisher, bright."
His gait was firm and he walked so fast
that others found it difficult to keep
pace with him. His face was genial but
at times, when he was deep in thought,
there there were long periods of
silence, yet he always kept himself busy
with something. He did not speak
unnecessarily and what he said was
always to the point and without any
padding. At times he would make his
meaning clear by slowly repeating what
he had said. His laugh was mostly a
smile. He kept his feelings under firm
control - when annoyed, he would turn
aside or keep silent, when pleased he
would lower his eyes (Shamail Tirmizi).
His dress generally consisted of a
shirt, tamad (trousers), a sheet thrown
round the sholders and a turban. On rare
occasions, he would put on costly robes
presented to him by foreign emissaries
in the later part of his life (Ahmed,
Musnad, Hafiz Bin Qaiyyam).
His blanket had several patches (Tirmizi).
He had very few spare clothes, but he
kept them spotlessy clean (Bukhari). He
wanted others also to put on simple but
clean clothes. Once he saw a person
putting on dirty clothes and remarked,
"Why can't this man wash
them." (Abu Dawud, Chapter
"Dress").
On another occasion he enquired of a
person in dirty clothes whether he had
any income. Upon getting a reply in the
affirmative, he observed,
"When Allah has blessed you
with His bounty, your appearence
should reflect it." (Abu
Dawud)
His house was but a hut with walls of
unbaked clay and a thatched roof of palm
leaves covered by camel skin. He had
separate apartments for his wives, a
small room for each made of similar
materials. His own apartment contained a
rope cot, a pillow stuffed with palm
leaves , the skin of some animal spread
on the floor and a water bag of leather
and some weapons. These were all his
earthly belongings, besides a camel, a
horse, and an ass and some land which he
had aquired in the later part of his
life (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud). Once
a few of his disciples, noticing the
imprint of his mattress on his body,
wished to give him a softer bed but he
politely declined the offer saying,
"What have I to do with
worldly things. My connection with the
world is like that of a traveler
resting for a while underneath the
shade of a tree and then moving
on."
Amr Ibn Al-Harith, a brother in law of
the prophet (pbuh), says that when the
prophet died, he did not leave a cent, a
slave man or woman, or any property
except his white mule, his weapons and a
piece of land which he had dedicated for
the good of the community (Bukhari,
Sahih Bukhari).
He advised the people to live simple
lives and himself practised great
austerities. Even when he had become the
virtual king of arabia, he lived an
austere life bordering on privation. His
wife Aiysha (ra) says that there was
hardly a day in his life when he had two
square meals (Muslim, Sahih Muslim,
Vol.2, pg 198). When he died there was
nothing in his house except a few seeds
of barley left from a mound of the grain
obtained from a Jew by pawning his
armour (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter
"Aljihad").
He had declared unlawful for himself
and his family anything given by the
people by way of zakat or sadaqa (types
of charity). He was so particular about
this that he would not appoint any
member of his family as a zakat
collector (Sahah-Kitab Sadqat).
"By the grace of
Allah, you are gentle towards the
people; if you had been stern and
ill-tempered, they would have
dispersed from round about you" (translation
of Qur'an
3:159)
About himself the prophet (pbuh) said
"Allah has sent me as an
apostle so that I may demonstrate
perfection of character, refinement of
manners and loftiness of
deportment." (Malik, Mawatta;
Ahmed, Musnad; Mishkat)
By nature he was gentle and kind
hearted, always inclined to be gracious
and to overlook the faults of others.
Politeness and courtesy, compassion and
tenderness, simplicity and humility,
sympathy and sincerity were some of the
keynotes of his character. In the cause
of right and justice he could be
resolute and severe but more often than
not, his severity was tempered with
generosity. He had charming manners
which won him the affection of his
followers and secured their devotion.
Though virtual king of Arabia and an
apostle of Allah, he never assumed an
air of superiority. Not that he had to
conceal any such vein by practice and
artifice: with fear of Allah, sincere
humility was ingrained in his heart. He
used to say,
"I am a Prophet of Allah but
I do not know what will be my
end." (Bukhari, Sahih
Bukhari, Chapter "Al-Janaiz")
In one of his sermons calculated to
instill the fear of Allah and the day of
reckoning in the hearts of men, he said,
"O people of Quraish be
prepared for the hereafter, I cannot
save you from the punishment of Allah;
O Bani Abd Manaf, I cannot save you
from Allah; O Abbas, son of Abdul
Mutalib, I cannot protect you either;
O Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, even
you I cannot save." (Sahahin)
He used to pray,
"O Allah! I am but a man. If
I hurt any one in any manner, then
forgive me and do not punish me."
(Ahmed, Musnad, Vol. 6 pg. 103)
He always received people with courtesy
and showed respect to older people and
stated:
"To honor an old man is to
show respect to Allah."
He would not deny courtesy even to
wicked persons. It is stated that a
person came to his house and asked
permission for admission. The prophet (pbuh)
remarked that he was not a good person
but might be admitted. When he came in
and while he remained in the house, he
was shown full courtesy. When he left
Aiysha (ra) said,
"You did not think well of this
man, but you treated him so
well."
The prophet (pbuh) replied,
"He is a bad person in the
sight of Allah who does not behave
courteously and people shun his
company bacause of his bad
manners." (Bukhari, Sahih
Bukhari)
He was always the first to greet another
and would not withdraw his hand from a
handshake till the other man withdrew
his. If one wanted to say something in
his ears, he would not turn away till
one had finished (Abu Dawud, Tirmizi).
He did not like people to get up for him
and used to say,
"Let him who likes people to
stand up in his honour, he should seek
a place in hell." (Abu Dawud,
Kitabul Adab, Muhammadi Press, Delhi).
He would himself, however, stand up when
any dignitary came to him. He had stood
up to receive the wet nurse who had
reared him in infancy and had spread his
own sheet for her. His foster brother
was given similar treatment. He avoided
sitting at a prominent place in a
gathering, so much so that people coming
in had difficulty in spotting him and
had to ask which was the Prophet (pbuh).
Quite frequently uncouth bedouins
accosted him in their own gruff and
impolite manner but he never took
offence. (Abu Dawud Kitabul Atama).
He used to visit the poorest of
ailing persons and exhorted all muslims
to do likewise (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari,
Chapter "Attendance on ailing
persons"). He would sit with the
humblest of persons saying that
righteousness alone was the criterion of
one's superiority over another. He
invariably invited people be they
slaves, servants or the poorest
believers, to partake with him of his
scanty meals (Tirmizi, Sunan Tirmizi).
Whenever he visited a person he would
first greet him and then take his
permission to enter the house. He
advised the people to follow this
etiquette and not to get annoyed if
anyone declined to give permission, for
it was quite likely the person concerned
was busy otherwise and did not mean any
disrespect (Ibid).
There was no type of household work
too low or too undignified for him.
Aiysha (ra) has stated,
"He always joined in household
work and would at times mend his
clothes, repair his shoes and sweep
the floor. He would milk, tether, and
feed his animals and do the household
shopping." (Qazi Iyaz: Shifa;
Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter:
Kitabul Adab)
He would not hesitate to do the menial
work of others, particularly of orphans
and widows (Nasi, Darmi). Once when
there was no male member in the house of
the companion Kabab Bin Arat who had
gone to the battlefield, he used to go
to his house daily and milk his cattle
for the inhabitants (Ibn Saad Vol. 6, p
213).
He was especially fond of children and
used to get into the spirit of childish
games in their company. He would have
fun with the children who had come back
from Abyssinia and tried to speak in
Abyssinian with them. It was his
practice to give lifts on his camel to
children when he returned from journeys
(Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 2 pg.886).
He would pick up children in his arms,
play with them, and kiss them. A
companion, recalling his childhood,
said,
"In my childhood I used to fell
dates by throwing stones at palm
trees. Somebody took me to the Prophet
(pbuh) who advised me to pick up the
dates lying on the ground but not to
fell them with stones. He then patted
me and blessed me." (Abu Dawud)
On the authority of Ali, Tirmizi has
recorded that the Prophet (pbuh) had
carefully apportioned his time according
to the demands on him for
offering worship to Allah
public affairs, and
personal matters.
After the early morning prayers he would
remain sitting in the mosque reciting
praises of Allah till the sun rose and
more people collected. He would then
preach to them. After the sermons were
over, he would talk genially with the
people, enquire about their welfare and
even exchange jokes with them. Taxes and
revenues were also disrtibuted at this
time (Muslim, Sahih Muslim Tirmizi,
Sunan Tirmizi). He would then offer
chaste prayers and go home and get busy
with household work (Bukhari, Muslim,
Tirmizi). He would again return to the
mosque for the mid-day and afternoon
prayers, listen to the problems of the
people and give solace and guidance to
them. After the afternoon prayers, he
would visit each of his wives and, after
the evening prayers, his wives would
collect at one place and he would have
his dinner (Muslim, Sahih Muslim). After
the night prayers, he would recite some
suras of the Quran and before going to
bed would pray:
"O Allah, I die and live with
thy name on my lips."
On getting up he would say,
"All praise to Allah Who has
given me life after death and towards
Whom is the return."
He used to brush his teeth five times a
day, before each of the daily prayers.
After midnight, he used to get up for
the tahajjud prayers which he never
missed even once in his life (Bukhari,
Sahih Bukhari). He was not fastidious
about his bed: sometimes he slept on his
cot, sometimes on a skin or ordinary
matress, and sometimes on the ground (Zarqani).
On friday he used to give sermons
after the weekly "Jumma"
prayers. He was not annoyed if anyone
interrupted him during the sermons for
anything. It is stated that once, while
he was delivering his sermon, a bedouin
approached him and said, "O
messenger of Allah, I am a traveler and
am ignorant of my religion." The
prophet (pbuh) got down from the pulpit,
explained the salient features of Islam
to him and then resumed the sermon (Tirmizi,
Sunan Tirmizi).
On another occasion his grandson
Husain, still a child, came tumbling to
him while he was delivering a sermon. He
descended and took him in his lap and
then continued the sermon (Ibid).
Muhammad (pbuh) preached to the people
to trust in Allah (swt). His whole life
was a sublime example of the precept. In
the loneliness of Makkah, in the midst
of persecution and danger, in adversity
and tribulations, and in the thick of
enemies in the battles of Uhud and
Hunain, complete faith and trust in
Allah (swt) appears as the dominant
feature in his life. However great the
danger that confronted him, he never
lost hope and never allowed himself to
be unduly agitated. Abu Talib knew the
feelings of the Quraish when the Prophet
(pbuh) started his mission. He also knew
the lengths to which the Quraish could
go, and requested the Prophet (pbuh) to
abandon his mission, but the latter
calmly replied,
"Dear uncle, do not go by my
loneliness. Truth will not go
unsupported for long. The whole of
Arabia and beyond will one day espouse
its cause." (Ibn Hisham,
Sirat-ur-Rasul.)
When the attitude of the Quraish became
more threatening, Abu Talib again begged
his nephew to renounce his mission but
the Prophet's (pbuh) reply was:
"O my uncle, if they placed
the sun in my right hand and the moon
in my left, to force me to renounce my
work, verily I would not desist
thereform until Allah made manifest
His cause, or I perished in the
attempt." (Ibid)
To another well-wisher, he said,
"Allah will not leave me
forelorn."
A dejected and oppressed disciple was
comforted with the words:
"By Allah, the day is near
when this faith will reach its
pinnacle and none will have to fear
anyone except Allah." (Bukhari,
Sahih Bukhari)
It was the same trust in Allah (swt)
which emboldened the prophet (pbuh) to
say his prayers openly in the haram in
the teeth of opposition. The Quraish
were once collected there and were
conspiring to put an end to his life
when he next entered the haram. His
young daughter Fatima, who happened to
overhear their talk rushed weeping to
her father and told him of the designs
of the Quraish. He consoled her, did his
ablutions and went to the Kaaba to say
prayers. There was only consternation
among the Quraish when they saw him
(Ahmed, Musnad, Vol. 1, pg. 368).
Then leaving his house for Madinah he
asked Ali (ra) to sleep on his bed and
told him,
"Do not worry, no one will be
able to do you any harm" (Tabari,
Ibn Hisham)
Even though the enemies had surrounded
the house, he left the house reciting
the Quranic verse:
"We have set a
barricade before them and a barricade
behind them and (thus) have covered
them so that they see not" (Q36:9)
Abu Bakr was frightened when pursuers
came close to the cavern in which he and
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were hiding
during their flight, but the Prophet (pbuh)
heartened him,
"Grieve not. Allah is with
us."
A guard was kept at the Prophet's house
in Madinah because of the danger that
surrounded him but he had it withdrawn
when the Quranic verse was revealed:
"Allah will protect
you from the people" (Q5:67).
A man was caught waiting in ambush to
assault the Prophet (pbuh) but he was
directed to be released with the words,
"Even if this man wanted to
kill me, he could not." (Ahmed,
Musnad, Vol.3 pg. 471)
A Jewess from Khaibar had put poison in
the Prophet's (pbuh) food. He spat it
out after taking a morsel but a disciple
who had his fill died the next day. The
Jewess was brought before the prophet (pbuh)
who questioned her:
"Why did you do this?"
"To kill you," was her
defiant reply. She was told,
"Allah would not have allowed you
to do it." (Muslim, Sahih
Muslim.)
In the battle of Uhud when the rear
guard action of the Makkan army had
disorganized the Muslim army and had
turned the tables, the Prophet (pbuh)
stood as firm as a rock even though he
had suffered personal injuries. When Abu
Sufiyan taunted the Muslims and shouted
"Victory to hubal!" (hubal was
one of their idols), the Prophet (pbuh)
asked Umar (ra) to shout back,
"Allah is our protector and friend.
You have no protector and friend. Allah
is Great, Magnificent." (Ibn Hisham,
Sirat-Ur-Rasul).
Again in the battle of Hunain, when
the unexpected assault of the army had
swept the Muslim force off its feet and
a defeat seemed imminent, the Prophet (pbuh)
did not yield ground. With trust in
Allah (swt) he showed such courage that
the Muslim army rallied behind him to
win a signal victory.
The Prophet (pbuh) asked people to be
just and kind. As the supreme judge and
arbiter, as the leader of men, as
generalissimo of a rising power, as a
reformer and apostle, he had always to
deal with men and their affairs. He had
often to deal with mutually inimical and
warring tribes when showing justice to
one carried the danger of antagonizing
the other, and yet he never deviated
from the path of justice. In
administering justice, he made no
distinction between believers and
nonbelievers, friends and foes, high and
low. From numerous instances reported in
the traditions, a few are given below.
Sakhar, a chief of a tribe, had
helped Muhammad (pbuh) greatly in the
seige of Taif, for which he was
naturally obliged to him. Soon after,
two charges were brought against Sakhar:
one by Mughira of illegal confinement of
his (Mughira's) aunt and the other by
Banu Salim of forcible occupation of his
spring by Sakhar. In both cases, he
decided against Sakhar and made him undo
the wrong. (Abu Dawud, Sunan Dawud,
pg.80)
Abdullah Bin Sahal, a companion, was
deputed to collect rent from Jews of
Khaibar. His cousin Mahisa accompanied
him but, on reaching Khaibar, they had
separated. Abdullah was waylaid and done
to death. Mahisa reported this tragedy
to the Prophet (pbuh) but as there were
no eye-witnesses to identify the guilty,
he did not say anything to the Jews and
paid the blood-money out of the state
revenues (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari Nasai).
A woman of the Makhzoom family with
good connections was found guilty of
theft. For the prestige of the Quraish,
some prominent people including Asama
Bin Zaid interceded to save her from
punishment. The Prophet (pbuh) refused
to condone the crime and expressed
displeasure saying,
"Many a community ruined
itself in the past as they only
punished the poor and ignored the
offences of the exalted. By Allah, if
Muhammad's (My) daughter Fatima would
have committed theft, her hand would
have been severed." (Bukhari,
Sahh Bukhari, Chapter "Alhadood")
The Jews, in spite of their hostility to
the Prophet (pbuh), were so impressed by
his impartiallity and sense of justice
that they used to bring their cases to
him, and he decided them according to
Jewish law. (Abu Dawud, Sunan Dawud)
Once, while he was distributing the
spoils of war, people flocked around him
and one man almost fell upon him. He
pushed the men with a stick causing a
slight abrasion. He was so sorry about
this that he told the man that he could
have his revenge, but the man said,
"O messenger of Allah, I forgive
you." (Abu Dawud, Kitablu Diyat).
In his fatal illness, the Prophet (pbuh)
proclaimed in a concourse assembled at
his house that if he owed anything to
anyone the person concerned could claim
it; if he had ever hurt anyone's person,
honor or property, he could have his
price while he was yet in this world. A
hush fell on the crowd. One man came
forward to claim a few dirhams which
were paid at once. (Ibn Hisham,
Sirat-ur-Rasul)
Muhammad (pbuh) asked people to shun
notions of racial, family or any other
form of superiority based on mundane
things and said that righteousness alone
was the criterion of one's superiority
over another. It has already been shown
how he mixed with everyone on equal
terms, how he ate with slaves, servants
and the poorest on the same sheet (a
practice that is still followed in
Arabia), how he refused all privileges
and worked like any ordinary laborer.
Two instances may, however, be quoted
here:
Once the Prophet (pbuh) visited Saad
Bin Abadah. While returning Saad sent
his son Quais with him. The Prophet (pbuh)
asked Quais to mount his camel with him.
Quais hesitated out of respect but the
Prophet (pbuh) insisted: "Either
mount the camel or go back." Quais
decided to go back. (Abu Dawud, Kitabul
Adab)
On another occasion he was traveling
on his camel over hilly terrain with a
disciple, Uqba Bin Aamir. After going
some distance, he asked Uqba to ride the
camel, but Uqba thought this would be
showing disrespect to the Prophet (pbuh).
But the Prophet (pbuh) insisted and he
had to comply. The Prophet (pbuh)
himself walked on foot as he did not
want to put too much load on the animal.
(Nasai pg. 803)
The prisioners of war of Badr
included Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet
(pbuh). Some people were prepared to
forgo their shares and remit the
Prophet's (pbuh) ransom but he declined
saying that he could make no
distinctions. (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari,
Chapter "Ransoms")
During a halt on a journey, the
companions apportioned work among
themselves for preparing food. The
Prophet (pbuh) took upon himself the
task of collecting firewood. His
companions pleaded that they would do it
and that he need not take the trouble,
but he replied,
"It is true, but I do not
like to attribute any distinction to
myself. Allah does not like the man
who considers himself superior to his
companions." (Zarqani, Vol 4
pg. 306)
The Prophet (pbuh) not only preached to
the people to show kindness to each
other but also to all living souls. He
forbade the practice of cutting tails
and manes of horses, of branding animals
at any soft spot, and of keeping horses
saddled unnecessarily (Muslim, Sahih
Muslim). If he saw any animal
over-loaded or ill-fed he would pull up
the owner and say,
"Fear Allah in your treatment
of animals." (Abu Dawud,
Kitab Jihad).
A companion came to him with the young
ones of a bird in his sheet and said
that the mother bird had hovered over
them all along. He was directed to
replace her offspring in the same bush
(Mishkat, Abu Dawud)
During a journey, somebody picked up
some birds eggs. The bird's painful note
and fluttering attracted the attention
of the Prophet (pbuh), who asked the man
to replace the eggs (Bukhari, Sahih
Bukhari).
As his army marched towards Makkah to
conquer it, they passed a female dog
with puppies. The Prophet (pbuh) not
only gave orders that they should not be
disturbed, but posted a man to see that
this was done.
He stated,
"Verily, there is heavenly
reward for every act of kindness done
to a living animal."
The Prophet (pbuh) enjoined upon Muslims
to treat the poor kindly and to help
them with alms, zakat, and in other
ways. He said:
"He is not a perfect muslim
who eats his fill and lets his
neighbor go hungry."
He asked,
"Do you love your Creator?
Then love your fellow beings
first."
Monopoly is unlawful in Islam and he
preached that
"It is diffucult for a man
laden with riches to climb the steep
path that leads to bliss."
He did not prohibit or discourage the
aquisition of wealth but insisted that
it be lawfully aquired by honest means
and that a portion of it would go to the
poor. He advised his followers
"To give the laborer his
wages before his perspiration dried
up."
He did not encourage beggary either and
stated that
"Allah is gracious to him who
earns his living by his own labor, and
that if a man begs to increase his
property, Allah will diminish it and
whoever has food for the day, it is
prohibited for him to beg."
To his wife he said,
"O Aysha, love the poor and
let them come to you and Allah will
draw you near to Himself." (Bukhari,
Sahih Bukhari)
One or two instances of the Prophet's
(pbuh) concern for the poor may be given
here. A Madinan, Ibad Bin Sharjil, was
once starving. He entered an orchard and
picked some fruit. The owner of the
orchard gave him a sound beating and
stripped off his clothes. The poor man
appealed to the Prophet (pbuh) who
remonstrated the owner thus:
"This man was ignorant, you
should have dispelled his ignorance;
he was hungry, you should have fed
him."
His clothes were restored to the Madinan
and, in addition, some grain was given
to him (Abu Dawud, Kitabul Jihad).
A debtor, Jabir Bin Abdullah, was
being harassed by his creditor as he
could not clear his debt owing to the
failure of his date crop. The Prophet
(pbuh) went with Jabir to the house of
the creditor and pleaded with him to
give Jabir some more time but the
creditor was not prepared to oblige. The
Prophet (pbuh) then went to the oasis
and having seen for himself that the
crop was really poor, he again
approached the creditor with no better
result. He then rested for some time and
approached the creditor for a third time
but the latter was adamant. The Prophet
(pbuh) went again to the orchard and
asked Jabir to pluck the dates. As Allah
would have it, the collection not only
sufficed to clear the dues but left
something to spare (Bukhari, Sahih
Bukhari).
His love for the poor was so deep
that he used to pray:
"O Allah, keep me poor in my
life and at my death and raise me at
resurrection among those who are
poor." (Nasai, Chapter:
Pardon)
Sheikh Abdulfattah Abu-Abdullah Adelabu (Ph. D. Damas),
a West African Islamic Academic founded AWQAF Africa, of
which he's the first al Amir (i.e. President).
Sheikh Dr. Adelabu was studying Postgraduate Degrees in
Damascus early 1990's during when Syria reviewed its
national security after an ‘Oslo Accord'...
Syria like many other countries around the world
witnessed, during this period, the flood of refugees
from war troubled nations like Somalia, arrival of
people from Algeria during the brutal struggling between
the Mujahidun and the government, resettlement of the
Palestinians fleeing from sophisticated guns of the
Israelis as well as adventure of African migrants for
reasons uncountable…