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THE
PROPHET MUHAMMAD’S LIFE FOLLOWING HIS PROPHETHOOD
If
the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, had
cherished selfish aims and intentions, and if he had not
been a Prophet chosen by God to guide people into truth,
he would not have had to wait until he was forty to emerge
with the claim of Prophethood.
Muhammad
was unlettered. Until he was forty, no one heard him utter
an eloquent speech, talk on religious and metaphysical
issues, formulate any laws, and handle a sword. But, this
reserved and quiet man, who had never given any indication
of political interest or activity before, appeared on the
stage of the world, as a greatest reformer expounding the
intricate problems of metaphysics and theology, delivering
speeches upon the principles of the decline and fall of
nations, teaching ethical canons and formulating the laws
of social culture, economic organization, group conduct
and international relations, the world history has ever
known. He turned suddenly into such a brave soldier that
he did not even once retreat in the fiercest battles. He
changed people’s modes of thought, world-views, and
their beliefs, habits and morals.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was not
only an undefeatable commander, nor a most eminent
statesman, nor a most influential spiritual and moral
teacher. He is the only example where all the excellences
in all the aspects of life have been blended into one
personality.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was not
only an undefeatable commander, nor a most eminent
statesman, nor a most influential spiritual and moral
teacher. He is the only example where all the excellences
in all the aspects of life have been blended into one
personality. He is a man of wisdom and a seer and also a
living embodiment of his own teachings. He is a great
statesman as well as a military genius. He is a legislator
and also a teacher of morals. He is a spiritual luminary
as well as a religious guide. His vision penetrates every
aspect of life and there is nothing which he touches and
does not adorn. His orders and commandments cover a vast
field from the regulation of international relations down
to the habits of everyday life like eating, drinking,
sleeping, and cleanliness of the body. On the foundations
of his teaching he established a civilization and a
culture and produced such a fine, sensitive, and perfect
equilibrium in the conflicting aspects of life that there
is to be found not even the slightest trace of any flaw,
deficiency or incompleteness. What shortcoming and
imperfection does he have when compared with other
Prophets so that he is not confirmed as a Prophet and
Messenger of God?
Muhammad
lived as the humblest of all
Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings lived a very simple life,
as the poorest of his community. He spent all the money he
had earned by the trade before His Prophethood to spread
his Message. In spite of his greatness, his behavior
toward all people was that of the humblest person, that of
an ordinary being. In the struggles and endeavors of his
whole life he did not seek any reward or profit for his
own person, nor did he leave any property for his heirs.
He did not ask his followers to earmark anything for him
or his descendants, so much so that although he and his
family were the poorest of his community, he forbade not
only his family but also his progeny from receiving from
the benefit of zakat.
Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, was extremely merciful
toward all the creatures of God.
Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, was extremely merciful
toward all the creatures of God. In Makka, his people
inflicted on him every kind of suffering, eventually
forcing him to emigrate to Madina, and then waged wars on
him for five years. However, when he conquered Makka
without bloodshed in the twenty-first year of his
Prophethood, he forgave all of his enemies. His mercy even
encompassed hypocrites and unbelievers. Although he
recognized the hypocrites of his time, he never disclosed
them so that they could enjoy the rights of full
citizenship to which their outward confession of faith and
practice entitled them.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was
particularly compassionate towards children. When he saw a
child crying, he sat beside him or her and shared his or
her feelings. He felt the pain of a mother for her child
more than the mother herself. Once he said: I stand in
prayer and wish to prolong it. However, I hear the cry of
a child and cut the prayer short for the anxiety which the
mother praying in the congregation is feeling. He took
children in arms and hugged them. Sometimes he bore them
on his shoulders.
The
Prophet’s compassion encompassed not only human beings,
but also animals. We hear from him that a prostitute was
guided to truth by God and ultimately went to Paradise
because she gave water to a poor dog dying of thirst,
whilst another woman was condemned to the torments of Hell
because she left a cat to die of hunger.
Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, was extremely mild in his
relations with people.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was
extremely mild in his relations with people. He was never
angry with anybody because of what was done to him. When
his wife ‘A’isha, may God be pleased with her, was
made the object of a slander, he did not think to punish
the slanderers even after ‘A’isha was cleared.
Bedouins often came to his presence and behaved
impolitely, but he did not even frown at them.
The
Prophet was also the most generous of people
The
Prophet was also the most generous of people. He liked to
distribute whatever he had. After Prophethood he and his
wealthy wife Khadija spent everything they had in the way
of God. When Khadija, may God be pleased with her, died,
they had no money to buy a shroud, and God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, had to borrow money in
order to bury the first person to embrace Islam and his
first supporter.
According
to the Prophet, the world is like a tree under which
people sit to be shaded during a long journey. No one can
live forever in the world, so people must make in the
world the necessary preparation for the second part of the
journey which will end either in Paradise or Hell. The
mission of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, was to guide people to truth, so he would spend
whatever he had, his life, and his possessions, to this
end. Once ‘Umar, upon him be peace and blessings, saw
him lying on a rough mat and wept, saying: ‘O Messenger
of God! While kings sleep in soft weather beds, you are
lying on a rough mat. You are the Messenger of God and
therefore deserve more than any other people an easy
life.’ The Messenger answered him: Do you not agree that
[the luxuries of] the world be theirs but those of the
Hereafter ours?
Islam
does not approve of monastic life. It came to secure
justice and the well-being of mankind, but warns people
against over-indulgence. It is for this reason that many
Muslims have chosen an ascetic life. Although the Muslims
generally became rich after the death of the Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, some like the Caliphs Abu
Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Ali preferred an austere life. This
was partly because they felt to live as the poorest of
their people and partly because they chose to strictly
follow the Prophet’s example.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was the
most modest of people. As he attained a higher rank each
and every day, he increased in humility and servanthood to
God. He preferred being a Prophet-slave to being a
Prophet-king.
In
the construction of the Mosque in Madina after the Hijra,
he carried two sun-dried bricks while everybody else
carried one. In the digging of the ditch around Madina to
defend the city in the Battle of the Ditch, the Companions
bound a stone around their bellies because of hunger, but
the Messenger bound two, because he was more hungry than
anybody else. Once, a man saw him and, due to his
awe-inspiring appearance, began to tremble out of fear.
The Messenger calmed him, saying: Brother! Don’t be
afraid. I am a man, like you, whose mother used to eat dry
bread. Again, a woman suffering from insanity pulled him
by the hand and said: ‘Come with me and do my
housework.’ God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, went with the woman and did the work. As
reported by ‘A’isha, his wife, the Messenger patched
his clothes, repaired his shoes and helped his wives with
the housework.
‘Ali,
the Fourth Caliph, may God be pleased with him, describes
the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings:
Whoever
attempted to describe Muhammad would say: ‘I have,
either before him or after him, never seen the like of
him, upon him be peace and blessings.’
·
God’s Messenger was the most generous of people in
giving out and the mildest and foremost of them in
patience and perseverance. He was the most truthful of
people in speech, the most amiable and congenial in
companionship and the noblest of them in family. Whoever
sees him first is stricken by awe of him but whoever knows
him closely is attracted to him deeply, and whoever
attempts to describe him says: ‘I have, either before
him or after him, never seen the like of him, upon him be
peace and blessings.’
Other
than conveying God’s Message to people, in other words,
performing the mission of Divine Messengership, who bears
such an austere life as Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, lived, and what else other than a Prophet, can
such a man as Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings,
be? And what substantial argument can one put forward
against his Prophethood?
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