(6) The Simple Life of Muhammad If we compare the life of Muhammad before his mission as a prophet and his life after he began his mission as a prophet, we will conclude that it is beyond reason to think that Muhammad was a false prophet, who claimed prophethood to attain material gains, greatness, glory, or power. Before his mission as a prophet, Muhammad had no financial worries. As a successful and reputed merchant, Muhammad drew a satisfactory and comfortable income. After his mission as a prophet and because of it, he became worse off materially. To clarify this more, let us browse the following sayings on his life: Aa’isha, Muhammad’s wife, said: “O my nephew, we would sight three new moons in two months without lighting a fire (to cook a meal) in the Prophet’s houses.” Her nephew asked: “OAunt, what sustained you?” She said: “The two black things, dates and water, but the Prophet had some Ansar neighbors who had milk-giving she-camels and they used to send the Prophet some of its milk.”1 Sahl Ibn Sa’ad, one of Muhammad’s companions, said: “The Prophet of God did not see bread made from fine flour from the time God sent him (as a prophet) until he died.”2 Aa’isha, Muhammad’s wife, said: “The mattress of the Prophet , on which he slept, wasmade of leather stuffed with the fiber of the date-palm tree.”3 Amr Ibn Al-Hareth, one of Muhammad’s companions, said that when the Prophet died, he left neither money nor anything else except his white riding mule, his arms, and a piece of land which he left to charity.4 Muhammad lived this hard life till he died although the Muslim treasury was at his disposal, the greater part of the Arabian Chapter 1 Some Evidence for the Truth of Islam (6) The Simple Life of Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam 37 (1) Narrated inSaheeh Muslim, #2972, andSaheeh Al-Bukhari, #2567. (2) Narrated inSaheeh Al-Bukhari, #5413, andAl-Tirmizi, #2364. (3) Narrated inSaheeh Muslim, #2082, andSaheeh Al-Bukhari, #6456. (4) Narrated inSaheeh Al-Bukhari, #2739, andMosnad Ahmad, #17990.
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