Bioghraphy of The Prophet Mohammad
His Appearance
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
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)
He used to observe:
"Cleanliness is piety".
|
Mode Of Living
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).
|
His Manners
"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).
|
Children
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)
|
Daily Routine
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).
|
Trust In Allah
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" (translation
of Qur'an 36:9)
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" (translation
of Qur'an 5:67).
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.
|
Justice
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)
|
Equality
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)
|
Love For The Poor
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)
|
|
