The Character of the Prophet
Humility
On one of his journeys, the Prophet asked his companions to roast a goat. One volunteered to slaughter the animal, another to skin it, and another to cook it. The Prophet said that he would collect wood. “Messenger of God,” his companions protested, “we will do all the work.” “I know that you will do it,” the Prophet replied, “but that would amount to discrimination, which I don’t approve of. God does not like His servants to assert any superiority over their companions.” (Khulasa al-Siyar, Muhibbuddin al-Tabari, p. 87)
One day Abu Dharr al-Ghifari was sitting next to a Muslim who was black. Abu Dharr addressed him as “black man.” The Prophet was very displeased on hearing this, and told Abu Dharr to make amends “Whites are not superior to blacks,” he added. (Sahih Muslim) As soon as the Prophet admonished him, Abu Dharr became conscious of his error. He cast himself to the ground in remorse, and said to the person he had offended: “Stand up, and rub your feet on my face.” When Abu Talib died, and the Prophet’s affliction became more intense, he betook himself to Taif, a town situated at a distance of 75 kilometers from Makkah and seek refuge from the chiefs of the town and in the hope that they would grant him asylum and support. According to Arab custom, this was nothing new. But the leaders were not ready to give refuge to a prophet who believed in the One God. Instead of giving him refuge, they incited the urchins to chase him away from the town by pelting stones at him. One can tell what savage treatment the Prophet received at their hands from this prayer that he made on his return to Makkah: “Lord, I complain to you of my weakness and helplessness. How vulnerable I am among men, most Merciful one!” (Al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir, al-Tabrani, hadith no. 14764)
The Prophet took refuge in an orchard on the outskirts of Taif where he spent the night. According to a tradition, on that occasion God sent the angel of the Mount to him. The Angel said to him: “God has seen the treatment meted out to you by the people of Taif. Now, if you give me permission, I can join the two mounts in order that all these people should be crushed to death.” The Prophet replied: “No, although the present generation of Taif has refused to listen to me, I still hope that the next generation of Taif will listen to me and will follow the path of God.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith no. 3231)
Forbearance
Once the Prophet had to borrow some money from a Jew by the name of Zayd ibn Sa’nah. A few days before the date fixed for the repayment of the debt, the Jew came to demand his money back. He went up to the Prophet, caught hold of his clothes, and said to him harshly: “Muhammad, why don’t you pay me my due? From what I know of the descendants of Muttalib, they all put off paying their debts.” Umar ibn al-Khattab was with the Prophet at the time. He became very angry, scolded the Jew and was on the point of beating him up. But the Prophet just kept smiling. All he said to the Jew was: “There are still three days left for me to fulfil my promise.” Then he addressed Umar: “Zayd and I deserved better treatment from you,” he said. “You should have told me to be better at paying my debts, and him to be better at demanding them. Take him with you, Umar, and pay him his due; in fact, give him 20 sa’ahs (about forty kilos) of dates extra because you have alarmed him with your threats.” (Mustadrak al-Hakim, hadith no. 6547) The most remarkable thing about this episode is that the Prophet could still behave with such forbearance and humility even after being established as head of the Muslim state of Madinah.
The Prophet lived among his companions as an equal. No bitter criticism or provocation would make him lose his composure. Once a desert-dweller came up to him and pulled so hard at the sheet he was wearing that it left a mark on his neck. “Muhammad!” he said. “Give me two camel-loads of goods, for the money in your possession is
“Lord, I complain to you of my weakness and helplessness. How vulnerable
I am among men, most Merciful one!”
The Prophet Muhammad
not yours, nor was it your father’s.” “Everything belongs to God,” the Prophet said, “and I am His servant.” He then asked the desert-dweller, “hasn’t it made you afraid, the way you treated me?” He said not. The Prophet asked him why. “Because I know that you do not requite evil with evil,” the man answered. The Prophet smiled on hearing this, and had one camel-load of barley and another of dates given to him. (Kitab al-Shifa, Qadi Iyad, vol. 1, p. 225)
Patience and Cool headedness
The emigration from Makkah to Madinah was an example of the Prophet’s patience. When the Quraysh had decided to kill the Prophet, the latter had two options before him: either he could take up his sword in self defense, or he could leave Makkah for some safer abode. The Prophet adopted the second course of action. He coolly thought the situation over and decided on emigration to Madinah, where he would be able to continue the same work, only in a different place.
From the point of view of a zealous Muslim political leader of the modern age, the emigration would appear as a flight, for what he would advocate in a similar situation would be a fight to the death; he would be looking no further ahead than making a martyr of himself. But if one looks at the results of the emigration of the Prophet, one can see that it was clearly the greatest watershed in Islamic history.
When faced with enemy onslaughts people usually take retaliatory measures of their own: People are generally used to retaliating when they face any unpleasant treatment by others. Sabr, on the other hand, means to bear patiently whatever is meted out by the enemy. For instance, if people in a certain country find themselves up against economic bias, the way of sabr is not to start demanding equal treatment, but is rather to make extra efforts oneself to excel over others. Prejudice can only have an adverse effect when people of equal ability are competing for one job. If one of the contestants clearly excels the others in ability, then not even prejudice can deny him his rightful place.
