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Anas said: “One night the people of Madinah felt alarmed. People went out hurriedly towards the
source of sound, but the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had already gone ahead of them. He was on
the horseback of Abu Talhah which had no saddle over it, and a sword was slung round his neck,
and said to them: ‘There was nothing to be afraid for.’”
He was the most modest and the first one to cast his eyes down. Abu Sa‘îd Al-Khudri : “He was
shier than a virgin in her boudoir. When he hates a thing we read it on his face. He does not stare at
anybody’s face. He always casts his eyes down. He looks at the ground more than he looks sky-
wards. His utmost looks at people are glances. He is willingly and modestly obeyed by everybody.
He would never name a person whom he had heard ill-news about — which he hated. Instead h e
would say: ‘Why do certain people do so....’”
Al-Farazdaq verse of poem fits him very much and the best one to be said of:
·
“He casts his eyes modestly but the eyes of others are cast down due to his solemnity,
and words issue out of his mouth only while he is smiling.”
The Prophet Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÓáã is the most just, the most decent, the most truthful at speech, and
the honestest of all. Those who have exchanged speech with him, and even his enemies,
acknowledge his noble qualities. Even before the Prophethood he was nicknamed
Al-Ameen
(i.e. the
truthful, the truthworthy). Even then — in
Al-Jahiliyah
— they used to turn to him for judgement
and consultation. In a version by At-Tirmidhi, he says that ‘Ali had said that he had been told by
Abu Jahl that he (Abu Jahl) said to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him): “We do not call you
a liar; but we do not have faith in what you have brought.” In His Book, Allâh, the Exalted, said
about them:
·
“It is not you that they deny, but it is the Verses (the Qur’ân) of Allâh that the
Zalimûn
(polytheists and wrong-doers) deny.” [6:33]
Even when Heraclius asked Abu Sufyan: “Have you ever accused him of lying before the ministry of
Prophethood?” Abu Sufyan said: “No.”
He was most modest and far from being arrogant or proud. He forbade people to stand up at his
presence as other people usually do for their kings.
Visiting the poor, the needy and entertaining them are some of his habits. If a slave invited him, he
would accept the invitation. He always sat among his friends as if he were an ordinary person of
them. ‘Aishah said that he used to repair his shoes, sew or mend his dressand to do what ordinary
men did in their houses. After all, he was a human being like others. He used to check his dress
(lest it has some insects on). Milking the she-sheep and catering for himself were some of his
normal jobs. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was the most truthful to his pledges, and it is one of
his qualities to establish good and steady relationship with his relatives— ‘
Silat-Ar-Rahim
’. He is the
most merciful, gentle and amiable to all people. His way of living is the simplest one. Ill-manners
and indecency are two qualities completely alien to him. He was decent, and did not call anybody
names. He was not the sort of person who cursed or made noise in the streets. He did not exchange
offences with others. He pushed back an offence or a n error by forgiveness and overlooking. Nobody
was allowed to walk behind him (i.e. as a bodyguard). He did not feel himself superior to others not
even to his slaves (men or women) as far as food or clothes were concerned.
Whoever served him should be served by him too. ‘Ugh’ (an utterance of complaint) is a word that
had never been said by him to his servant; nor was his servant blamed for doing a thing or leaving
it undone. Loving the poor and the needy and entertaining them or participating in their funerals
were things the Prophet (Peace be upon him) always observed. He never contempted or disgraced a
poor man for his poverty. Once he was travelling with his Companions and when it was time to have
food prepared, he asked them to slaughter a she-sheep. A man said: I will slaughter it, another one
said: I will skin it out. A third said: I will cook it. So the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
said: I will collect wood for fire. They said: “No. We will suffice you that work.” “I know that you can
do it for me, but I hate to be privileged. Allâh hates to see a slave of his privileged to others.” So he
went and collected fire-wood.
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