Prophetology Selections Part Four
can be satisfied in a far more pleasant and harmless way when high moral and spiritual values control them. The obsession with instant satisfaction of all itches and urges which presently plague the Western culture is at the bottom of most of its woes- abuse of the bodies with excess food, excess drugging, excess sex etc. and the economic waste and pollution these and the general consumerism cause. Humanity and charity? There is a lot of internal humanity and charity, mostly built into what is called the welfare state and the West’s justified pride. But charity which is a flood within the nation but a reluctant trickle internationally isn’t civilized and enlightened enough. Consuming such enormous varieties of goods and services and polluting the environment at such unsustainable rates while at least half of the fellow human beings on this earth live around starvation line and die like fleas from simplest infections and are robbed and brutalized by brass-faced gangsters posing as leaders and governments? Can this be? Overseas aid begins if the media cries out loudly and persistently enough after an unusual disaster (forming a hiatus over the regular super disaster of poverty and deprivation). Then a few planeloads of milk powder and flour etc are dropped over a specimen area where on impact some become useless while some others are picked up by instantly formed gangs to be sold on the black-market and only part ends up in the bellies of the walking skeletons inhabiting the area. If aid is delivered to the local governments nobody knows or can check to what use they are put. Lastly, the same ‘charitable’ Western governments keep selling, directly or via tortuous intermediary routes, arms and armaments to the oppressive and warlike corrupt governments who pay from the proceeds of the theft and plunder they commit on the national resources and as well as the black-marketing of the disaster aid given. Loans taken are also paid, if ever, from the same illegally and immorally obtained funds. The appalling condition of humanity today is veiled from view by the conspicuous luxury life-style seen in the rich countries which embellish 90% of all media and art output in comparison to which the heart-rending details of the sufferings of at least the half of the humankind go unreported, undebated and unattended. More soberingly, any remnants of spiritual institutions are anything but spiritual. Temples, churches and to a lesser extent some mosques in both the poor and rich countries are epitomes of luxury and waste and the priestly class (thankfully non-existent in mainstream Islam) live like kings and tycoons at the expense of their flocks and despite the poverty blackening the surface of the earth, which poverty’s relief should be their main concern. Nobody among the supposed representatives of prophets seem prepared to live lives of voluntary humility, frugality and ascetism and in humble premises . They do not spend enough on charity but spend on their comforts and luxuries. Recently, in a muslim country, the official religious establishment has opened their national ‘social centre’ after building and refurbishing works lasting a decade at the cost of many millions of dollars which centre are for the rest and holidaying needs of its staff and features five star hotel standards and facilities like swimming pools, jacuzzis, indoor and outdoor sports facilities etc. while the intended beneficiaries eulogize the asceticism of the Prophet and his disciples despite great wealth sometimes being available and at their disposal. Of course other religions are even more extravagant in looking after their dispensers of salvation as a matter of institutional arrangement and whatever the poor muslim men of religion (mosque imams and ulama) do in worldliness they cannot even begin to attain the riches and abuses available to the priesthood of other religions. The general condition of men of religion among muslims have always been poverty and insignificance relative to other professions based on learning, especially recently. But enriched and abusive men of religion in all religions have always been around and had the Buddha or the Christ or Muhammad come back today they would in all probability, axe in hand, demolish those gold-plated and crystal hanging houses of pretended spirituality, divest the high priests of their more than royal vestments and break to pieces their elaborate thrones to sell for scrap jewellery and feed the poor from the proceeds. In fact Muhammad already abolished priesthood as a class and a profession and the Qur’an criticizes the same for their impieties and hoarding of wealth by spiritual deception and not spending it in the way of God and threatens them with being branded on all their sides with the gold and silver they so hoarded, after those coins are heated up in the hell fire (9:35). Even graves are sometimes disgracefully pompous and luxurious with wealth wasted on them while the living including babes starve for no fault of their own. How could a prophet bear this sight? Religions did not lose ground for nothing.
This is a disgrace and catastrophe which only a MUHAMMAD can address and solve, a man who can take others to the God in themselves, introduce them the glorious heavens of piety beckoning to them in themselves and the terrible hell that threatening to suck them down into its bottomless fire pits in themselves. Remove the veils blinding their hearts’ view of the sacred and the righteous and the loving-kind and catapult them into the oceans and spaces of light and salvation and absolute bliss coming from absolute commitment to goodwill and responsibility and altruism while firmly keeping their feet on solid ground of the objective world and its pious and charitable preoccupations including the repelling evil and chasing it to hell where it belongs. Muhammad was a supreme and comprehensive realist who did not sacrifice either the spiritual to the worldly or the worldly to the spiritual. He struck a perfect and smoothly working and sustainable balance between the two. Such should be a total leader, a comprehensive saviour, a fully civilizing teacher! Such is not made but born.
The Western which is presently the highest civilization hasn’t got, either within itself all the qualities of best civilization possible even by a far margin. The far better order, and the clock-work efficiency and the better law-abiding in the West than in the rest of the world is more based on better education and better administrative organization (thanks to the riches mined and made from colonialism) than the personal virtues of individual citizens although the virtues and the virtuous are indeed plentiful. Good character is not a monopoly of any society. It occurs in many individuals among all nations and cultures and particular faiths and education each inculcates only polishes and enhances the characters. But some religions do better because they have better rules and higher yet more realistic aspirations. But in any group and particularly in the more developed and prouder West just relax laws and regulations, just relax police watchfulness and other controls and chaos and cheating will engulf at no time. For example leave parking decisions to drivers who will be provided with guiding advisory signs along the roads. Most will park almost anywhere. Leave every earner to calculate and pay his own taxes with written guidance provided. A lot of honest tax may flow into the national coffers but the national total will most probably plummet disastrously. Crime also will soar and go through the roof. Compare this with what the Prophet envisaged. According to a hadith he said “If and when this affair of ours (Islam) comes to its peak those who see those days will see a virgin riding from Hira (north Iraq) to Yemen with a sackful of gold arrive at her destination safely without any other police protection than the fear of Allah in the hearts of men along her path”. You see he envisaged to police man from within. That is more reliable, almost infallible as well as very cheap in economic terms, almost free. This near-total in-soul policing of course has never been realized to this day but there have been times and places when and where it nearly did. Many Western visitors, for example, who travelled in or through Turkey during the better times of the Ottoman Empire testified in their reports and memoirs the extraordinary peacefulness, safety, honesty, chastity, hospitality and charity they witnessed among the muslims of Turkey who sharply contrasted with some non-muslim fellow communities in whose quarters all quarrels were heard and seen, drink and vice houses were concentrated and thefts and murders were commonplace- just as in Europe at large at the times (and even today). These travellers were never robbed, molested or otherwise inconvenienced by a single muslim wherever they went. The muslims either welcomed and showed them free and generous hospitality or watched from a distance with a dignified detachment, being ashamed even to be curious. In those days it was almost impossible to walk the streets in Paris or London without being mugged, accosted by prostitutes or their pimps or even caught up in a brawl and murdered as a result. Even today many less well-to-do parts of Western metropolises aren’t significantly better than before in decency and safety. Some are even police no-go areas.
So who was then Muhammad who achieved what no other teacher and leader of men could? I mean what was his character, the character which stood the best chance to save the world?
THE GOLDEN BRICKS OF THE GODLY CHARACTER EDIFICE
When Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her, the widowed wife of the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) was asked about his character she simply said “Don’t you read the Qur’an? His character was the Qur’an”. Classical Islamic scholars culled the Qur’an and the Hadith and came up with a list of character elements and habits of the Prophet and compiled excellent books on them. One of the most famous of them is Imam Tirmizi’s ‘Shamail al Sharif (holy conduct/dispositions). And very many more. As a taster and briefest of summaries we put below some of the more important moral and social qualities of the Messenger of Allah (sws) which qualities should be ours as well and not looked at from a distance as curiosities. In the obtainment of them is salvation and nowhere else. A ‘practicing muslim’ devoid of these holy qualities is only like a precision manufacturing robot with no real spiritual advancement than any other silly person. For the Prophet said “One who prays and fasts without any resultant improvement in his morality and manners is tiring and hungering and thirsting for nothing. Allah does not need his tiring and hungering and thirsting. If anything such worshipping drivers the worshipper even father away from Allah”. The Messenger of Allah spoke the truth.
What are the main golden character bricks we must form and use in the building of our character edifice? Let us see.
1. FAITH (Iman): The very and the indispensable first of good character traits is true faith in True God who is Allah as far as the Arabic language is concerned. Allah describes His messenger and those who submitted to him as follows:
“The Messenger believed in Allah together with the believers. Each believed in Allah and His angels and His Books and in His messengers (saying) ‘we do not discriminate among His messengers; we have heard and obeyed, Thy forgiveness o our Lord- unto Thee is the return” (2: 285).
Acquiring faith is an ability which is an essential indication of good character. One who cannot consent to anything other than what he or she can scientifically investigate and verify despite all the appeal and benefits of a proposed faith cannot build up the best possible character. For only faith makes possible some of the best kinds of behaviour man sometimes displays or ought to display. But having any faith isn’t good enough. Look whom you are believing in and worshipping and determine what spiritual qualities you are going to obtain. If you believe in the classical Greek gods like Zeus, Aphrodite and Bacchus, which gods are full of human weaknesses and scandals and accordingly lie, cheat, steal and seduce, those are the character traits you will continue to have or get. If you believe in one god but that god is a racist or class-prejudiced god then that is what you are or whom you shall become. If your god has elected and adopted one particular tribe or race or class as His inalienable birth-right favourites no matter their and others conduct and behaviour that cannot be a perfect model for you. It demeans and dooms you to deluded conflicts and painful and costly confrontations. Some jews, Christians and muslims make this mistake and think that although God is universal He is only their prejudiced friend and the others are worthless and hopeless. Hindu Brahmins believe that they have automatic bossing and boasting rights over the three other classes they believe to be under them and especially the lowest class, the ‘untouchables’ (i.e., ‘filth’) have no rights at all except servitude. The perfect recipe for an imperfect world constantly at resorting to dirty tricks and falling in wars or needing bloody revolutions! What better faiths the Devil could invent and promote? Your god must be the True God Who can only be Perfect and perfecting- universal, just, egalitarian, unprejudiced in any way, loving and kind and caring despite being under no obligation; yet also firm and disciplining if that is in the best interests of some deviants, but always ready to forgive and rewards at slightest sign of repentance and amends. That is exactly what the Qur’an and the Prophet teach about Allah. “O Aisha (my wife)/ o Fatima (my daughter)” the Prophet used to say “Fear Allah and act piously for I can help you nothing against Allah if you offend Allah’s commandments”. According to a holy hadith Allah said “Do not do injustice to anybody, whatever his or her beliefs. For there is no veil (barrier) between the cry of an oppressed person and his or her true Lord Allah”. A muslim is not allowed even to kill an ant so long it does not do or threaten any serious harm. It teaches that that ant shall await its turn on the Day of Judgment to put its complaint to Allah who will avenge the oppression and satisfy the ant at the expense of its oppressor. This is how True God and True Faith should be. This is the law of the True God and this is the foundation of the very best character. Faith in this leads to love of and a commitment to justice as nothing else. True faith in Allah means true intention to treat fellow creatures with wisdom and love and compassion only which qualities can act as the foundation of really good enough morality and manners.
2. SINCERITY (Ikhlas): Allah and His messenger asked us to be sincere servants of Allah and sincere followers of His Prophet. Sincere here means this- to love what Allah and His messenger love and to loath what they loathe as if we are their shadow. The Prophet was the sincerest of believers in Allah which, in psychological terms means one and only one thing: A total love of and commitment to the highest behaviour standards and very best course action in any situation, action marked as the wisest and the most charitable. A Bedouin (normally an uncourteous figure) approached the Prophet one day while he was sitting with his companions. With passionate vehemence he grabbed the Prophet from his garment and protested “O Muhammad, where is your repayment of your debt to me”, for he had lent something to him. The companions were incensed with this strangers audacity and moved to stop and repel him with angry disgust. The Prophet stopped them “Let the man put his case” he said, “Every creditor is entitled to demand his debtor to pay up when the time has come. There is no good in a community in which people are discouraged or banned from asking for what is due to them”. He then had the debt paid with some extra whereupon the Bedouin was very pleased and moved with gratitude and admiration. The Prophet was so mindful of Allah’s reaction to his acts and attitudes that just before his death he asked to be taken to the mosque where he, after some touching sermon about his imminent demise asked for those who had any grievances against him to stand up demand their rights. “If I have received anything from any of you and I have not returned it, let him ask for it now. If I hit any of you with a stick let them hit me the same way same place. For I do not want to meet my Lord with any of His servants aggrieved because of me”. One man stood up and reminded the Prophet a paltry sum he had loaned him. It was immediately paid back. Another rose to demand retaliation for the occasion during the inspection of the army ranks before the battle of Badr when the Messenger of Allah, as the commander, had slightly probed the belly of one soldier, the plaintive, in order to move him back a little bit so that the file he belonged was made straight. “Come and hit me at the same place as I hit you” said the Prophet. The man objected “You had hit me on my bare belly, not covered. “Then follow me to my home where I can bare my belly and you do the same to me” the Prophet offered. All the while the companions were in shock and wonderment and anger against the graceless claimants but known their master’s strict standards for justice they dared not to intervene. The man then followed the Prophet home but when the Prophet bared his belly the man embraced and kissed him on the spot he said he was hit, crying and shrieking loudly “O Messenger of Allah, my intention was touching your holy person so that hell fire may not touch me on the Day of Judgment”. As almost is the case with most hadiths reports are several and in variants but the above story I believe to be a good approximate reconstruction. Our grandsheikh (may Allah bless his soul) defined ikhlas as follows “It is admitting and abiding by the truth from whatever source it comes”. Muhammad (sws) was so.
3. Trust: The true believer in the True God trusts the True God in the sense that so long as he keeps doing his best to live up to the expectations of Allah from him Allah will live up to more than the believer’s expectations. Faith is not easy to keep and doubts and fears for the interests of the lower self are never too far away although sometimes they hide themselves from view. Prophets, saints, pious believers of all degrees… suffer from doubt and fear to varying degrees every now and then. Now this is not a curse or a let-down by Allah. It is a blessing in disguise, a test of determination in the believer to remain committed to Allah despite everything which is part of being a fallible human and not infallible god. The reward for this struggle is so great that having occasional doubts and fears is more profitable than having constant unperturbed surety. This world is a testing ground and testing time and what greater test than a test of faith itself? Every time another test is lived through and survived is another rivet in the building up perfect faith by hard work, another occasion for the congratulations from Allah and writing of rewards for the servant and a demonstration to the angels and the Devil how and why man was made the top repository of Allah’s Holy Spirit and reflector of His glories in action. What can demonstrate the loving kindness of Allah than a good man’s sacrificing some of his assets and interests to relieve the suffering of another creature for the love of the Creator? Allah says regarding such “They (my good servants) feed for His love the destitute, the orphan and the slave, saying ‘we are not feeding you but for the Face of Allah (to make His Divine Face just to break into a smile for us). We do not ask from you any reward or even thanks” (76: 8-9). A true lover of Allah likes giving more than taking and for his upkeep he just trusts Allah’s loyalty to him as a friend. What then can stop a man from doing any deserved or needed charitable act, within his means, whatever the apparent cost to him once he trusts in Allah. When the Prophet was appointed a prophet he was a single individual against the whole world- not a tycoon, not a prince, not a ruler or commander of anybody. Trusting in his Lord he just rose up and called people to Him. From this absolutely impoverished and lonely beginning he attained today’s status of being proven the most successful prophet and leader of men ever, having vastly contributed, directly and indirectly to the standards of civilization of all the billions of man inhabiting this earth. His name is chanted five times a day from millions of minarets dotting the earth and about a billion of men occasionally do charitable acts or abandon wrongs just because he said so. His balance sheet is therefore the most in the profit among all men and as Islam is the most resilient and surviving of all faiths his share of the merits.
4. Loving Kindness (Rahmah): With all the above commitment to Allah the Prophet aspired at not partaking or reflecting Allah’s majesty (as high priests in all traditions outside Islam fall for and display in the form of titles, riches, pomp, luxury and power of condemnation and approval and punishment an reward, palaces and guards… ) but aspired after His grace whose fountainhead is ‘rahmah’. For example, non-muslims and even some muslims think that the Prophet hated Christians. Of course some Christians are excused to think like that because they hate the Prophet to start with. But the Prophet had and taught respect for all prophets before him and their followers at all times. He called them ‘ahl al kitab’ i.e. the people of the Bible and commanded muslims to respect and allow them to practice their without interference and molestation. So in Spain, during the eight centuries of Muslim occupation Muslims, Jews and Christians lived both side by side and indiscriminately mixed depending on the locality in complete peace, harmony, justice and respective autonomy which was suddenly and brutally terminated as soon as Christians conquered it back. Muslims and Jews were variously massacred outright or forced either to convert to Catholicism leave Spain altogether. No Christian power in their supposed capacity of representing the just and merciful Christ had any interest in helping the Muslims and Jews. It was the representative of Muhammad, the sultan of Turkey, namely Bayezid II who cared and sent passenger ships and warships and sailors to embark and carry to safety as many muslims and jews as possible from Spain. Most jews were transported direct to Turkey where they were given lands and urban quarters to settle and make homes and start businesses. In an age when muslims as pupils of Muhammad spared and let be and prosper all peoples of all faiths they conquered the only option the Christian powers as the pupils of the Christ gave to all non-christians was conversion or death! Even Christians of another sect than of the conquering Christians often faced the same option. Who was more successful in humanizing and civilizing his pupils need no further debating. Of course it wasn’t the fault of the real Christ (but historically lost) and even the mythicalized Christian Christ. Both versions were for mercy. But deprived of a real leader instead of an imaginary and plastic one the medieval Christendom could hardly do better. That is why, like all nations modern Christians need Muhammad to help them attain what the Christ wanted them to be. As regards this all-important mercy or loving-kindness let the very first verse of the Qur’an, the verse which is repeated in the Qur’an 114 times altogether and at intervals speak for itself:
BISMILLAHIR RAHMANIR RAHIM
This verse means “In (or by) the Name of God, the Rahman, the Rahim”. I kept the Arabic words Rahman and Rahim because these need a good elaboration because we can find no adequate translation for them into English.
The two derive from the root RHM in Arabic. The commonest noun deriving from this root is RAHM which means WOMB, that organ of motherhood in which almost every multicellular creature of the Creator starts its existence. If we take humankind, each man or woman begin his or her existence in the form of a fertilized egg stuck and sucking upon a mother’s womb. All its needs are met by the owner of that most protective, comfortable and caring organ for forty weeks or so at the end of which it is delivered out into open air and society as a new member.
From the root RHM derives the verb RAHIMA, which means showing mercy out of unselfish love. A mother’s womb does just that to its occupant. From this verb derives two separate noun-adjectives (in Arabic noun and adjective are often the one and the same)- RAHMAN and RAHIM. Rahman is the superlative form- it means greatly and comprehensively loving-kind or more appropriately for the purposes of the Qur’an it means ‘universally, indiscriminately loving merciful which indeed Allah is. Sinner or pious He cares and provides for all on top of caring and providing for all the universe and all things that might be beyond even. So with this word the Revealer of the Qur’an wants to remind us that He has an unconditional merciful commitment to all of us whatever our thoughts and acts. True, He sometimes hurts us but that He assures us is for our own good in the long run. The basic mercy of bringing us into existence and feeding and keeping us remains. Plus of course the many good breaks and delicious experiences. Than comes the second word, rahim. This means special love and kindness to special people, namely those who are after God’s pleasure. Allah ‘feels’ extra love and nurtures and shows/will show extra compassion to His believing and obedient servants. Now this most important and most repeated verse of the Qur’an and these two fine words in it do not exhaust their application and significance there. It is a well-accepted insight among the spiritual masters of Islam (i.e., true and great Sufis) that all beatific qualities of Allah- like these two, rahman and rahim, are in fact intended to belong to Allah’s believers by unbreakable extension. So Muhammad, as the truest and greatest believer is merciful towards all creatures of Allah and is especially extra-merciful towards Islamic believers. And so should be the followers of Muhammad: in their capacity of universal loving-kindness they should avoid hurting even an ant without real good reason as well as avoid hurting anybody muslim or non-muslim without good (legally and morally justified and necessary) reason. Instead he or she carry in his or her heart a fundamental love and compassion towards all men and women and wish them well at all times. For so is the Lord as evidenced by the great display of beauty and generosity filling the earth with few exceptions and temporary and localized hitches- for reasons of proof by contrast. ALL GOOD CHARACTER TRAITS GROW UPON THIS ROOT OF ‘RHM’ and we now proceed to a description of the Messenger of Allah in aspect, attitude and action.
MUHAMMAD THE REAL MAN
Culled from the Hadith literature and from descriptions especially by the likes of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) we have an accurate description of the Prophet’s appearance, demeanour, ethics, manners and behaviour.
Appearance first. He was of medium height nearer to the tall yet ‘looked as if he was the tallest in any group’. His frame was large with robust bone structure and well developed muscles. He was neither fat nor lean but just medium, his chest and belly on the same line’ i.e. neither pot-bellied nor emaciated. His head was rather big crowned with black wavy hair reaching his ear lobes and his face circled by a well-trimmed and kept beard which was worn neither too long or too short but about the length to fill his palm when grasped. The moustache was well-trimmed but not totally shaven. His skin colour was pinkish white, eyes big and black with their whites having a reddish hue as if due to the lack of sleep but overall extremely beautiful and endearing. They were surrounded by long black eyelashes which tremendously enhanced their beauty. His brow was high which together with his generous cranium reflected his very high intelligence. His eyebrows were long, bow shaped, coming near in the middle but not united. His nose was perfectly shaped, prominent with an aquiline hint which made him impressive to look at. A wide mouth surrounded by medium fleshy lips which looked ever-smiling and parted to reveal a full set of pure white largish teeth with slight gaps between them gave him a childish appeal. He washed and groomed himself very scrupulously and dressed in simple but very clean garments, using a mirror, a comb, a toothbrush made from a fibrous twig (mithwaq) with such frequency and care as to keep himself in tiptop clean and tidy condition. He always washed hands before and after meals, ate only from what was near on the table spread not looking and reaching for more attractive morsels. He chewed slowly and thoroughly with his mouth shut and engaged in pleasant table talk quite naturally and sincerely. He began first and stopped last, adjusting his speed of eating so as to encourage a beginning and not to embarrass and make stop other eaters who took longer time for any reason. His demeanour was one of contented seriousness and thoughtfulness tempered by politeness and occasional, light humorousness. His speech was slow and crystal clear with excellent and powerful sound quality. His hands had fleshy palms and with long, handsome fingers, always felt pleasantly cool to touch and left an ethereal nice scent on your hand after contact. His legs touched the ground with strength, his feet largish and bony and he walked slightly bent forward with deliberate steps as if he was climbing a slight hill. When addressed from his side he would turn around and face you fully ready to attend to your query or request as if you were the most important person to him. His accessibility and availability for help was so much that slave girls could approach him without any fear of rebuff and holding his hand take him to a corner to ask him about things or make complaints and be given advice or help they needed while people looked on. He would mix with and talk to children and even play with them briefly, kiss and hug his children, grandchildren and the children of his friends and relations and carry them in his arms or on his shoulders or on his camel as it occasioned and listen to their babble and talk back to them with pleasure. He was totally unassuming yet radiated a natural, irresistible authority whether he was gaily joking or talking serious matters. Anyone who saw him for the first time would begin to tremble from his unaffected, unhelpable natural grandeur but would pleasantly relax when the Prophet began to talk to him. Then the visitor would fall in love with him on the spot. He always preferred dialogue and just and peaceful solutions of all disputes, never lost patience so long goodwill was maintained and was ready with both compromises and sacrifices to enable a peaceful solution to be arrived at. But if it came to war despite everything then he was the most valorous and steadfast of fighters. Additionally, as soon as the enemy submitted he treated him magnanimously and rewarded him handsomely if he embraced Islam. Vengeance was not in his vocabulary as far as his person was concerned- he was ready to forgive and forget every offence carried out against his person as Muhammad. He was generous to a fault, never able to say ‘no’ to any request- he would either grant it on the spot or promise to do so as soon as he came in possession of the required item when he invariably kept his promise. Any kindness he returned superlatively, visited all the sick and attended all the funerals and in fact all ceremonial occasions when invited. Like all superb leaders he had the born ability to know almost everybody in and around his community in great detail; their ancestry and their and their relations’ names and occupations and skills, their tribes and tribal affiliations, their accents and local habits and traditions etc etc. and relate to them as if he was one of them. He was a supreme reader of characters and minds and could anticipate anything that could come from people he knew. He was the politest and tactfulest of men probing for helpful reactions rather than provoking them and took care not to burden anybody beyond his capacity whatever the issue. Please look at this funny yet profound example:
It was Ramadan the fasting time. A man came to the Messenger of Allah while he was sitting with others and said that he was ruined because he could not resist making love to his wife despite both being on fast. The Prophet ruled the regular ruling “You will have to fast sixty days in atonement after Ramadan”. “But I cannot do that, I cannot bear it o Messenger of Allah” the man moaned. “Then you must give sixty daily rations to feed the poor” the Prophet ruled as the alternative. “But I myself am dirt poor, how can I do that?” the man moaned again. The Prophet graciously grinned and turning to the companions around him asked them to contribute towards the rations which they did. He then asked the man to take the lot and going from door to door deliver them to poor households. After an hour or two the man came back “O Messenger of Allah, I could not find a house poorer than mine”. The Prophet broke into a very wide grin and rejoined “Then go and eat them with your family and that is alright”. The man rushed back home totally satisfied and delighted. Of course hardly any mufti (jurist) will deliver such a verdict today (nor such was delivered in the past) because they would fear abuse of such leniency on the part of worshippers who could find some commandments too difficult to their lazy or licentious egos but it at least shows that the Prophet for his part was only too merciful and wise to cause any believer to find Islam too difficult and too austere (Sufis also tend to emulate the Prophet in leniency sometimes incurring the wrath of some ulama for that). In our humble opinion although general, across the board relaxation of Islamic commandments are out of question- because they are very beneficial, in fact indispensable in principle- individual cases of inability to cope must be handled sensitively and private rulings granted to stop the moaner being repelled by Islam but keep him or her in the fold until he or she can cope better if at all. And this is exactly what the Prophet did in this instance and in many others (and great jurists catered for this eventuality as well, but on the safer toughish side). For example he is known to have discouraged confessing adulterers or thieves to withdraw their confessions or if caught by others those others seek for play-down or explain-away interpretations so as to avoid the corporeal or capital punishments which had to be meted out in the worst case. True to the Prophet’s spirit of compassion his worthy son-in-law and third successor (caliph) the great Ali is on record trying to put words into the mouth of a caught thief explainers-away like ‘I took it by mistake’ or ‘I thought it was given to me’ etc. The Prophet himself once scolded some of his companions for not explaining-away/covering-up the theft committed by one among them so as to avoid the cutting off his hand showing that (and many profound ulama agree) corporeal penal rulings in Islam are not so much intended for application but as threats designed to deter. Ideally they should only be implemented in exceptionally bad and preferably repetitive, unrepentant cases, which implementations had to be because, especially given the ignorance and barbarity of those times, crime could not be curbed otherwise with the best intentions in the world. In this respect and many others regarding the Prophet’s wise and merciful disposition towards the sinners the book “Hayat al Sahaba” by allama M. Yusuf Kandahlawi of India is very illuminating and for the adequate understanding of the Sunna it is a most required reading. All in all the Prophet never intended and could not contemplate making Islam look a harsh, too strict and as a result repellent religion with a repellent law as some appliers of them have been notorious for but had adequately and mercifully flexible responses to individual cases of lawbreaking and loved to avoid harsh punishments for good people who, being weak, fallible human beings, could sometimes lapse and do something awful. This difference between the Prophet’s (in fact God’s, as stated in the Qur’an) lenient and constructive approach to misbehaviour and some contemporary self-styled ‘Islamic’ regimes’ pitch-dark ruthlessness occasionally come out in some deplorable examples. In one recent case a man who pursued and murdered a number of prostitutes was praised and absolved by the authorities instead of being tried and sentenced for murder or at least manslaughter. In another equally awful example the whole world watched in horror how some prostitutes were taken to a sports grounds and beheaded in public. The fact known all over the world is that no sensible and moderately cared for woman will go into prostitution. That activity do not give them any pleasure (except any nymphomaniacs or extremely ‘high-class’ self-employeds among them) but means intolerable abuse by any and every type of man from the sadist to the old and ugly and disgusting. They are occasionally beaten up, mutilated and even killed. They are often seduced or forced into prostitution by very skilful and ruthless pimps who often work in mighty gangs even which the police are scared of. The would-be prostitutes are often lured into a trap with false promises of decent employment or are outright kidnapped and even smuggled into rich countries. Knowing such desperate backgrounds to prostitutions Allah praised and glorified Him be issued blank forgiveness to all prostitutes seduced or forced into that filth. He says “Whoever forces women into prostitution then because of those women’s helplessness and victimization Allah is mercifully forgiving towards them” (24: 33). Hardened, unconscionable criminals we should not spare but basically good and decent people somehow tempted and fallen into sin should be helped to avoid full penalties of their sin, even a cover-up for merciful reasons may be called for. Such people are greatly sorry and distressed for what they have done and in fact ready to pay for it out of good conscience, their God-fearing. These the Prophet tended to spare and make do with their sincere repentance. This again shows what an enlightened and lenient and wise soul was his and tallies very well with the modern enlightened ways of regarding some crime. True to his masters sunna and spirit Umar the second caliph of the Prophet did similar things in the matter of punishments. Seeing that people were sword-happy in chopping off the hands of caught thieves he added more conditions before such severe treatment of the culprits could be applied. Poverty, instant and urgent need as well as ignorance or mental defectiveness should be ruled out first. Furthermore, the value of the goods stolen should be above a defined substantial value and basic foodstuffs to relive personal hunger didn’t count. The theft should be the third time in a row with warnings issued each time it was committed in the past etc. All this from Umar who was regarded a harsh administrator in general terms at a time when Islam’s fast expansion and absorption of hundreds of thousands of new subjects made firmness with public behaviour standards necessary.
It needs a big volume to give its due to this most useful and edifying and interesting subject of the Most Magnificent Character Ever but we shall have to do with a concluding, rounding-up summary.
The Chosen One for all humanity for all time to come, namely Muhammad the Prophet and Messenger of our infinitely kind and wise Creator was a man worthy of all praises that could be directed to a man. As everything with him his blessed good fortune (barakah) included the appropriateness of his very name MUHAMMAD means superlatively and universally praiseworthy on top of making him the ONLY prophet whose memory (biography and conduct) and revelation (the Qur’an) survived the distorting and effacing effects of time. The man was simply all good luck, all blessing, all enviability, all lovability and disarming, irresistible leadership based more on admiration and gratitude than anything else. The key to his incomparable and obviously inimitable and unrepeatable success is none other than his Magnificent Character and the Qur’an testifies exactly and succinctly to that:
“And with Allah’s compassion you have been soft and tender towards them. Had thou been rude and ruthless they would disperse from around thee. Therefore (continue with the display of thy good character and) keep forgiving them, ask for Allah’s forgiveness for them, consult with them in all affairs (show a democratic leadership, not a harsh totalitarian one). Once you make up thy mind (after that) then just trust Allah and go ahead with it. For Allah loves those who put their trust in Him” (3: 159).
The Magnificent Character.
This is a disgrace and catastrophe which only a MUHAMMAD can address and solve, a man who can take others to the God in themselves, introduce them the glorious heavens of piety beckoning to them in themselves and the terrible hell that threatening to suck them down into its bottomless fire pits in themselves. Remove the veils blinding their hearts’ view of the sacred and the righteous and the loving-kind and catapult them into the oceans and spaces of light and salvation and absolute bliss coming from absolute commitment to goodwill and responsibility and altruism while firmly keeping their feet on solid ground of the objective world and its pious and charitable preoccupations including the repelling evil and chasing it to hell where it belongs. Muhammad was a supreme and comprehensive realist who did not sacrifice either the spiritual to the worldly or the worldly to the spiritual. He struck a perfect and smoothly working and sustainable balance between the two. Such should be a total leader, a comprehensive saviour, a fully civilizing teacher! Such is not made but born.
The Western which is presently the highest civilization hasn’t got, either within itself all the qualities of best civilization possible even by a far margin. The far better order, and the clock-work efficiency and the better law-abiding in the West than in the rest of the world is more based on better education and better administrative organization (thanks to the riches mined and made from colonialism) than the personal virtues of individual citizens although the virtues and the virtuous are indeed plentiful. Good character is not a monopoly of any society. It occurs in many individuals among all nations and cultures and particular faiths and education each inculcates only polishes and enhances the characters. But some religions do better because they have better rules and higher yet more realistic aspirations. But in any group and particularly in the more developed and prouder West just relax laws and regulations, just relax police watchfulness and other controls and chaos and cheating will engulf at no time. For example leave parking decisions to drivers who will be provided with guiding advisory signs along the roads. Most will park almost anywhere. Leave every earner to calculate and pay his own taxes with written guidance provided. A lot of honest tax may flow into the national coffers but the national total will most probably plummet disastrously. Crime also will soar and go through the roof. Compare this with what the Prophet envisaged. According to a hadith he said “If and when this affair of ours (Islam) comes to its peak those who see those days will see a virgin riding from Hira (north Iraq) to Yemen with a sackful of gold arrive at her destination safely without any other police protection than the fear of Allah in the hearts of men along her path”. You see he envisaged to police man from within. That is more reliable, almost infallible as well as very cheap in economic terms, almost free. This near-total in-soul policing of course has never been realized to this day but there have been times and places when and where it nearly did. Many Western visitors, for example, who travelled in or through Turkey during the better times of the Ottoman Empire testified in their reports and memoirs the extraordinary peacefulness, safety, honesty, chastity, hospitality and charity they witnessed among the muslims of Turkey who sharply contrasted with some non-muslim fellow communities in whose quarters all quarrels were heard and seen, drink and vice houses were concentrated and thefts and murders were commonplace- just as in Europe at large at the times (and even today). These travellers were never robbed, molested or otherwise inconvenienced by a single muslim wherever they went. The muslims either welcomed and showed them free and generous hospitality or watched from a distance with a dignified detachment, being ashamed even to be curious. In those days it was almost impossible to walk the streets in Paris or London without being mugged, accosted by prostitutes or their pimps or even caught up in a brawl and murdered as a result. Even today many less well-to-do parts of Western metropolises aren’t significantly better than before in decency and safety. Some are even police no-go areas.
So who was then Muhammad who achieved what no other teacher and leader of men could? I mean what was his character, the character which stood the best chance to save the world?
THE GOLDEN BRICKS OF THE GODLY CHARACTER EDIFICE
When Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her, the widowed wife of the Prophet (may Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) was asked about his character she simply said “Don’t you read the Qur’an? His character was the Qur’an”. Classical Islamic scholars culled the Qur’an and the Hadith and came up with a list of character elements and habits of the Prophet and compiled excellent books on them. One of the most famous of them is Imam Tirmizi’s ‘Shamail al Sharif (holy conduct/dispositions). And very many more. As a taster and briefest of summaries we put below some of the more important moral and social qualities of the Messenger of Allah (sws) which qualities should be ours as well and not looked at from a distance as curiosities. In the obtainment of them is salvation and nowhere else. A ‘practicing muslim’ devoid of these holy qualities is only like a precision manufacturing robot with no real spiritual advancement than any other silly person. For the Prophet said “One who prays and fasts without any resultant improvement in his morality and manners is tiring and hungering and thirsting for nothing. Allah does not need his tiring and hungering and thirsting. If anything such worshipping drivers the worshipper even father away from Allah”. The Messenger of Allah spoke the truth.
What are the main golden character bricks we must form and use in the building of our character edifice? Let us see.
1. FAITH (Iman): The very and the indispensable first of good character traits is true faith in True God who is Allah as far as the Arabic language is concerned. Allah describes His messenger and those who submitted to him as follows:
“The Messenger believed in Allah together with the believers. Each believed in Allah and His angels and His Books and in His messengers (saying) ‘we do not discriminate among His messengers; we have heard and obeyed, Thy forgiveness o our Lord- unto Thee is the return” (2: 285).
Acquiring faith is an ability which is an essential indication of good character. One who cannot consent to anything other than what he or she can scientifically investigate and verify despite all the appeal and benefits of a proposed faith cannot build up the best possible character. For only faith makes possible some of the best kinds of behaviour man sometimes displays or ought to display. But having any faith isn’t good enough. Look whom you are believing in and worshipping and determine what spiritual qualities you are going to obtain. If you believe in the classical Greek gods like Zeus, Aphrodite and Bacchus, which gods are full of human weaknesses and scandals and accordingly lie, cheat, steal and seduce, those are the character traits you will continue to have or get. If you believe in one god but that god is a racist or class-prejudiced god then that is what you are or whom you shall become. If your god has elected and adopted one particular tribe or race or class as His inalienable birth-right favourites no matter their and others conduct and behaviour that cannot be a perfect model for you. It demeans and dooms you to deluded conflicts and painful and costly confrontations. Some jews, Christians and muslims make this mistake and think that although God is universal He is only their prejudiced friend and the others are worthless and hopeless. Hindu Brahmins believe that they have automatic bossing and boasting rights over the three other classes they believe to be under them and especially the lowest class, the ‘untouchables’ (i.e., ‘filth’) have no rights at all except servitude. The perfect recipe for an imperfect world constantly at resorting to dirty tricks and falling in wars or needing bloody revolutions! What better faiths the Devil could invent and promote? Your god must be the True God Who can only be Perfect and perfecting- universal, just, egalitarian, unprejudiced in any way, loving and kind and caring despite being under no obligation; yet also firm and disciplining if that is in the best interests of some deviants, but always ready to forgive and rewards at slightest sign of repentance and amends. That is exactly what the Qur’an and the Prophet teach about Allah. “O Aisha (my wife)/ o Fatima (my daughter)” the Prophet used to say “Fear Allah and act piously for I can help you nothing against Allah if you offend Allah’s commandments”. According to a holy hadith Allah said “Do not do injustice to anybody, whatever his or her beliefs. For there is no veil (barrier) between the cry of an oppressed person and his or her true Lord Allah”. A muslim is not allowed even to kill an ant so long it does not do or threaten any serious harm. It teaches that that ant shall await its turn on the Day of Judgment to put its complaint to Allah who will avenge the oppression and satisfy the ant at the expense of its oppressor. This is how True God and True Faith should be. This is the law of the True God and this is the foundation of the very best character. Faith in this leads to love of and a commitment to justice as nothing else. True faith in Allah means true intention to treat fellow creatures with wisdom and love and compassion only which qualities can act as the foundation of really good enough morality and manners.
2. SINCERITY (Ikhlas): Allah and His messenger asked us to be sincere servants of Allah and sincere followers of His Prophet. Sincere here means this- to love what Allah and His messenger love and to loath what they loathe as if we are their shadow. The Prophet was the sincerest of believers in Allah which, in psychological terms means one and only one thing: A total love of and commitment to the highest behaviour standards and very best course action in any situation, action marked as the wisest and the most charitable. A Bedouin (normally an uncourteous figure) approached the Prophet one day while he was sitting with his companions. With passionate vehemence he grabbed the Prophet from his garment and protested “O Muhammad, where is your repayment of your debt to me”, for he had lent something to him. The companions were incensed with this strangers audacity and moved to stop and repel him with angry disgust. The Prophet stopped them “Let the man put his case” he said, “Every creditor is entitled to demand his debtor to pay up when the time has come. There is no good in a community in which people are discouraged or banned from asking for what is due to them”. He then had the debt paid with some extra whereupon the Bedouin was very pleased and moved with gratitude and admiration. The Prophet was so mindful of Allah’s reaction to his acts and attitudes that just before his death he asked to be taken to the mosque where he, after some touching sermon about his imminent demise asked for those who had any grievances against him to stand up demand their rights. “If I have received anything from any of you and I have not returned it, let him ask for it now. If I hit any of you with a stick let them hit me the same way same place. For I do not want to meet my Lord with any of His servants aggrieved because of me”. One man stood up and reminded the Prophet a paltry sum he had loaned him. It was immediately paid back. Another rose to demand retaliation for the occasion during the inspection of the army ranks before the battle of Badr when the Messenger of Allah, as the commander, had slightly probed the belly of one soldier, the plaintive, in order to move him back a little bit so that the file he belonged was made straight. “Come and hit me at the same place as I hit you” said the Prophet. The man objected “You had hit me on my bare belly, not covered. “Then follow me to my home where I can bare my belly and you do the same to me” the Prophet offered. All the while the companions were in shock and wonderment and anger against the graceless claimants but known their master’s strict standards for justice they dared not to intervene. The man then followed the Prophet home but when the Prophet bared his belly the man embraced and kissed him on the spot he said he was hit, crying and shrieking loudly “O Messenger of Allah, my intention was touching your holy person so that hell fire may not touch me on the Day of Judgment”. As almost is the case with most hadiths reports are several and in variants but the above story I believe to be a good approximate reconstruction. Our grandsheikh (may Allah bless his soul) defined ikhlas as follows “It is admitting and abiding by the truth from whatever source it comes”. Muhammad (sws) was so.
3. Trust: The true believer in the True God trusts the True God in the sense that so long as he keeps doing his best to live up to the expectations of Allah from him Allah will live up to more than the believer’s expectations. Faith is not easy to keep and doubts and fears for the interests of the lower self are never too far away although sometimes they hide themselves from view. Prophets, saints, pious believers of all degrees… suffer from doubt and fear to varying degrees every now and then. Now this is not a curse or a let-down by Allah. It is a blessing in disguise, a test of determination in the believer to remain committed to Allah despite everything which is part of being a fallible human and not infallible god. The reward for this struggle is so great that having occasional doubts and fears is more profitable than having constant unperturbed surety. This world is a testing ground and testing time and what greater test than a test of faith itself? Every time another test is lived through and survived is another rivet in the building up perfect faith by hard work, another occasion for the congratulations from Allah and writing of rewards for the servant and a demonstration to the angels and the Devil how and why man was made the top repository of Allah’s Holy Spirit and reflector of His glories in action. What can demonstrate the loving kindness of Allah than a good man’s sacrificing some of his assets and interests to relieve the suffering of another creature for the love of the Creator? Allah says regarding such “They (my good servants) feed for His love the destitute, the orphan and the slave, saying ‘we are not feeding you but for the Face of Allah (to make His Divine Face just to break into a smile for us). We do not ask from you any reward or even thanks” (76: 8-9). A true lover of Allah likes giving more than taking and for his upkeep he just trusts Allah’s loyalty to him as a friend. What then can stop a man from doing any deserved or needed charitable act, within his means, whatever the apparent cost to him once he trusts in Allah. When the Prophet was appointed a prophet he was a single individual against the whole world- not a tycoon, not a prince, not a ruler or commander of anybody. Trusting in his Lord he just rose up and called people to Him. From this absolutely impoverished and lonely beginning he attained today’s status of being proven the most successful prophet and leader of men ever, having vastly contributed, directly and indirectly to the standards of civilization of all the billions of man inhabiting this earth. His name is chanted five times a day from millions of minarets dotting the earth and about a billion of men occasionally do charitable acts or abandon wrongs just because he said so. His balance sheet is therefore the most in the profit among all men and as Islam is the most resilient and surviving of all faiths his share of the merits.
4. Loving Kindness (Rahmah): With all the above commitment to Allah the Prophet aspired at not partaking or reflecting Allah’s majesty (as high priests in all traditions outside Islam fall for and display in the form of titles, riches, pomp, luxury and power of condemnation and approval and punishment an reward, palaces and guards… ) but aspired after His grace whose fountainhead is ‘rahmah’. For example, non-muslims and even some muslims think that the Prophet hated Christians. Of course some Christians are excused to think like that because they hate the Prophet to start with. But the Prophet had and taught respect for all prophets before him and their followers at all times. He called them ‘ahl al kitab’ i.e. the people of the Bible and commanded muslims to respect and allow them to practice their without interference and molestation. So in Spain, during the eight centuries of Muslim occupation Muslims, Jews and Christians lived both side by side and indiscriminately mixed depending on the locality in complete peace, harmony, justice and respective autonomy which was suddenly and brutally terminated as soon as Christians conquered it back. Muslims and Jews were variously massacred outright or forced either to convert to Catholicism leave Spain altogether. No Christian power in their supposed capacity of representing the just and merciful Christ had any interest in helping the Muslims and Jews. It was the representative of Muhammad, the sultan of Turkey, namely Bayezid II who cared and sent passenger ships and warships and sailors to embark and carry to safety as many muslims and jews as possible from Spain. Most jews were transported direct to Turkey where they were given lands and urban quarters to settle and make homes and start businesses. In an age when muslims as pupils of Muhammad spared and let be and prosper all peoples of all faiths they conquered the only option the Christian powers as the pupils of the Christ gave to all non-christians was conversion or death! Even Christians of another sect than of the conquering Christians often faced the same option. Who was more successful in humanizing and civilizing his pupils need no further debating. Of course it wasn’t the fault of the real Christ (but historically lost) and even the mythicalized Christian Christ. Both versions were for mercy. But deprived of a real leader instead of an imaginary and plastic one the medieval Christendom could hardly do better. That is why, like all nations modern Christians need Muhammad to help them attain what the Christ wanted them to be. As regards this all-important mercy or loving-kindness let the very first verse of the Qur’an, the verse which is repeated in the Qur’an 114 times altogether and at intervals speak for itself:
BISMILLAHIR RAHMANIR RAHIM
This verse means “In (or by) the Name of God, the Rahman, the Rahim”. I kept the Arabic words Rahman and Rahim because these need a good elaboration because we can find no adequate translation for them into English.
The two derive from the root RHM in Arabic. The commonest noun deriving from this root is RAHM which means WOMB, that organ of motherhood in which almost every multicellular creature of the Creator starts its existence. If we take humankind, each man or woman begin his or her existence in the form of a fertilized egg stuck and sucking upon a mother’s womb. All its needs are met by the owner of that most protective, comfortable and caring organ for forty weeks or so at the end of which it is delivered out into open air and society as a new member.
From the root RHM derives the verb RAHIMA, which means showing mercy out of unselfish love. A mother’s womb does just that to its occupant. From this verb derives two separate noun-adjectives (in Arabic noun and adjective are often the one and the same)- RAHMAN and RAHIM. Rahman is the superlative form- it means greatly and comprehensively loving-kind or more appropriately for the purposes of the Qur’an it means ‘universally, indiscriminately loving merciful which indeed Allah is. Sinner or pious He cares and provides for all on top of caring and providing for all the universe and all things that might be beyond even. So with this word the Revealer of the Qur’an wants to remind us that He has an unconditional merciful commitment to all of us whatever our thoughts and acts. True, He sometimes hurts us but that He assures us is for our own good in the long run. The basic mercy of bringing us into existence and feeding and keeping us remains. Plus of course the many good breaks and delicious experiences. Than comes the second word, rahim. This means special love and kindness to special people, namely those who are after God’s pleasure. Allah ‘feels’ extra love and nurtures and shows/will show extra compassion to His believing and obedient servants. Now this most important and most repeated verse of the Qur’an and these two fine words in it do not exhaust their application and significance there. It is a well-accepted insight among the spiritual masters of Islam (i.e., true and great Sufis) that all beatific qualities of Allah- like these two, rahman and rahim, are in fact intended to belong to Allah’s believers by unbreakable extension. So Muhammad, as the truest and greatest believer is merciful towards all creatures of Allah and is especially extra-merciful towards Islamic believers. And so should be the followers of Muhammad: in their capacity of universal loving-kindness they should avoid hurting even an ant without real good reason as well as avoid hurting anybody muslim or non-muslim without good (legally and morally justified and necessary) reason. Instead he or she carry in his or her heart a fundamental love and compassion towards all men and women and wish them well at all times. For so is the Lord as evidenced by the great display of beauty and generosity filling the earth with few exceptions and temporary and localized hitches- for reasons of proof by contrast. ALL GOOD CHARACTER TRAITS GROW UPON THIS ROOT OF ‘RHM’ and we now proceed to a description of the Messenger of Allah in aspect, attitude and action.
MUHAMMAD THE REAL MAN
Culled from the Hadith literature and from descriptions especially by the likes of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) we have an accurate description of the Prophet’s appearance, demeanour, ethics, manners and behaviour.
Appearance first. He was of medium height nearer to the tall yet ‘looked as if he was the tallest in any group’. His frame was large with robust bone structure and well developed muscles. He was neither fat nor lean but just medium, his chest and belly on the same line’ i.e. neither pot-bellied nor emaciated. His head was rather big crowned with black wavy hair reaching his ear lobes and his face circled by a well-trimmed and kept beard which was worn neither too long or too short but about the length to fill his palm when grasped. The moustache was well-trimmed but not totally shaven. His skin colour was pinkish white, eyes big and black with their whites having a reddish hue as if due to the lack of sleep but overall extremely beautiful and endearing. They were surrounded by long black eyelashes which tremendously enhanced their beauty. His brow was high which together with his generous cranium reflected his very high intelligence. His eyebrows were long, bow shaped, coming near in the middle but not united. His nose was perfectly shaped, prominent with an aquiline hint which made him impressive to look at. A wide mouth surrounded by medium fleshy lips which looked ever-smiling and parted to reveal a full set of pure white largish teeth with slight gaps between them gave him a childish appeal. He washed and groomed himself very scrupulously and dressed in simple but very clean garments, using a mirror, a comb, a toothbrush made from a fibrous twig (mithwaq) with such frequency and care as to keep himself in tiptop clean and tidy condition. He always washed hands before and after meals, ate only from what was near on the table spread not looking and reaching for more attractive morsels. He chewed slowly and thoroughly with his mouth shut and engaged in pleasant table talk quite naturally and sincerely. He began first and stopped last, adjusting his speed of eating so as to encourage a beginning and not to embarrass and make stop other eaters who took longer time for any reason. His demeanour was one of contented seriousness and thoughtfulness tempered by politeness and occasional, light humorousness. His speech was slow and crystal clear with excellent and powerful sound quality. His hands had fleshy palms and with long, handsome fingers, always felt pleasantly cool to touch and left an ethereal nice scent on your hand after contact. His legs touched the ground with strength, his feet largish and bony and he walked slightly bent forward with deliberate steps as if he was climbing a slight hill. When addressed from his side he would turn around and face you fully ready to attend to your query or request as if you were the most important person to him. His accessibility and availability for help was so much that slave girls could approach him without any fear of rebuff and holding his hand take him to a corner to ask him about things or make complaints and be given advice or help they needed while people looked on. He would mix with and talk to children and even play with them briefly, kiss and hug his children, grandchildren and the children of his friends and relations and carry them in his arms or on his shoulders or on his camel as it occasioned and listen to their babble and talk back to them with pleasure. He was totally unassuming yet radiated a natural, irresistible authority whether he was gaily joking or talking serious matters. Anyone who saw him for the first time would begin to tremble from his unaffected, unhelpable natural grandeur but would pleasantly relax when the Prophet began to talk to him. Then the visitor would fall in love with him on the spot. He always preferred dialogue and just and peaceful solutions of all disputes, never lost patience so long goodwill was maintained and was ready with both compromises and sacrifices to enable a peaceful solution to be arrived at. But if it came to war despite everything then he was the most valorous and steadfast of fighters. Additionally, as soon as the enemy submitted he treated him magnanimously and rewarded him handsomely if he embraced Islam. Vengeance was not in his vocabulary as far as his person was concerned- he was ready to forgive and forget every offence carried out against his person as Muhammad. He was generous to a fault, never able to say ‘no’ to any request- he would either grant it on the spot or promise to do so as soon as he came in possession of the required item when he invariably kept his promise. Any kindness he returned superlatively, visited all the sick and attended all the funerals and in fact all ceremonial occasions when invited. Like all superb leaders he had the born ability to know almost everybody in and around his community in great detail; their ancestry and their and their relations’ names and occupations and skills, their tribes and tribal affiliations, their accents and local habits and traditions etc etc. and relate to them as if he was one of them. He was a supreme reader of characters and minds and could anticipate anything that could come from people he knew. He was the politest and tactfulest of men probing for helpful reactions rather than provoking them and took care not to burden anybody beyond his capacity whatever the issue. Please look at this funny yet profound example:
It was Ramadan the fasting time. A man came to the Messenger of Allah while he was sitting with others and said that he was ruined because he could not resist making love to his wife despite both being on fast. The Prophet ruled the regular ruling “You will have to fast sixty days in atonement after Ramadan”. “But I cannot do that, I cannot bear it o Messenger of Allah” the man moaned. “Then you must give sixty daily rations to feed the poor” the Prophet ruled as the alternative. “But I myself am dirt poor, how can I do that?” the man moaned again. The Prophet graciously grinned and turning to the companions around him asked them to contribute towards the rations which they did. He then asked the man to take the lot and going from door to door deliver them to poor households. After an hour or two the man came back “O Messenger of Allah, I could not find a house poorer than mine”. The Prophet broke into a very wide grin and rejoined “Then go and eat them with your family and that is alright”. The man rushed back home totally satisfied and delighted. Of course hardly any mufti (jurist) will deliver such a verdict today (nor such was delivered in the past) because they would fear abuse of such leniency on the part of worshippers who could find some commandments too difficult to their lazy or licentious egos but it at least shows that the Prophet for his part was only too merciful and wise to cause any believer to find Islam too difficult and too austere (Sufis also tend to emulate the Prophet in leniency sometimes incurring the wrath of some ulama for that). In our humble opinion although general, across the board relaxation of Islamic commandments are out of question- because they are very beneficial, in fact indispensable in principle- individual cases of inability to cope must be handled sensitively and private rulings granted to stop the moaner being repelled by Islam but keep him or her in the fold until he or she can cope better if at all. And this is exactly what the Prophet did in this instance and in many others (and great jurists catered for this eventuality as well, but on the safer toughish side). For example he is known to have discouraged confessing adulterers or thieves to withdraw their confessions or if caught by others those others seek for play-down or explain-away interpretations so as to avoid the corporeal or capital punishments which had to be meted out in the worst case. True to the Prophet’s spirit of compassion his worthy son-in-law and third successor (caliph) the great Ali is on record trying to put words into the mouth of a caught thief explainers-away like ‘I took it by mistake’ or ‘I thought it was given to me’ etc. The Prophet himself once scolded some of his companions for not explaining-away/covering-up the theft committed by one among them so as to avoid the cutting off his hand showing that (and many profound ulama agree) corporeal penal rulings in Islam are not so much intended for application but as threats designed to deter. Ideally they should only be implemented in exceptionally bad and preferably repetitive, unrepentant cases, which implementations had to be because, especially given the ignorance and barbarity of those times, crime could not be curbed otherwise with the best intentions in the world. In this respect and many others regarding the Prophet’s wise and merciful disposition towards the sinners the book “Hayat al Sahaba” by allama M. Yusuf Kandahlawi of India is very illuminating and for the adequate understanding of the Sunna it is a most required reading. All in all the Prophet never intended and could not contemplate making Islam look a harsh, too strict and as a result repellent religion with a repellent law as some appliers of them have been notorious for but had adequately and mercifully flexible responses to individual cases of lawbreaking and loved to avoid harsh punishments for good people who, being weak, fallible human beings, could sometimes lapse and do something awful. This difference between the Prophet’s (in fact God’s, as stated in the Qur’an) lenient and constructive approach to misbehaviour and some contemporary self-styled ‘Islamic’ regimes’ pitch-dark ruthlessness occasionally come out in some deplorable examples. In one recent case a man who pursued and murdered a number of prostitutes was praised and absolved by the authorities instead of being tried and sentenced for murder or at least manslaughter. In another equally awful example the whole world watched in horror how some prostitutes were taken to a sports grounds and beheaded in public. The fact known all over the world is that no sensible and moderately cared for woman will go into prostitution. That activity do not give them any pleasure (except any nymphomaniacs or extremely ‘high-class’ self-employeds among them) but means intolerable abuse by any and every type of man from the sadist to the old and ugly and disgusting. They are occasionally beaten up, mutilated and even killed. They are often seduced or forced into prostitution by very skilful and ruthless pimps who often work in mighty gangs even which the police are scared of. The would-be prostitutes are often lured into a trap with false promises of decent employment or are outright kidnapped and even smuggled into rich countries. Knowing such desperate backgrounds to prostitutions Allah praised and glorified Him be issued blank forgiveness to all prostitutes seduced or forced into that filth. He says “Whoever forces women into prostitution then because of those women’s helplessness and victimization Allah is mercifully forgiving towards them” (24: 33). Hardened, unconscionable criminals we should not spare but basically good and decent people somehow tempted and fallen into sin should be helped to avoid full penalties of their sin, even a cover-up for merciful reasons may be called for. Such people are greatly sorry and distressed for what they have done and in fact ready to pay for it out of good conscience, their God-fearing. These the Prophet tended to spare and make do with their sincere repentance. This again shows what an enlightened and lenient and wise soul was his and tallies very well with the modern enlightened ways of regarding some crime. True to his masters sunna and spirit Umar the second caliph of the Prophet did similar things in the matter of punishments. Seeing that people were sword-happy in chopping off the hands of caught thieves he added more conditions before such severe treatment of the culprits could be applied. Poverty, instant and urgent need as well as ignorance or mental defectiveness should be ruled out first. Furthermore, the value of the goods stolen should be above a defined substantial value and basic foodstuffs to relive personal hunger didn’t count. The theft should be the third time in a row with warnings issued each time it was committed in the past etc. All this from Umar who was regarded a harsh administrator in general terms at a time when Islam’s fast expansion and absorption of hundreds of thousands of new subjects made firmness with public behaviour standards necessary.
It needs a big volume to give its due to this most useful and edifying and interesting subject of the Most Magnificent Character Ever but we shall have to do with a concluding, rounding-up summary.
The Chosen One for all humanity for all time to come, namely Muhammad the Prophet and Messenger of our infinitely kind and wise Creator was a man worthy of all praises that could be directed to a man. As everything with him his blessed good fortune (barakah) included the appropriateness of his very name MUHAMMAD means superlatively and universally praiseworthy on top of making him the ONLY prophet whose memory (biography and conduct) and revelation (the Qur’an) survived the distorting and effacing effects of time. The man was simply all good luck, all blessing, all enviability, all lovability and disarming, irresistible leadership based more on admiration and gratitude than anything else. The key to his incomparable and obviously inimitable and unrepeatable success is none other than his Magnificent Character and the Qur’an testifies exactly and succinctly to that:
“And with Allah’s compassion you have been soft and tender towards them. Had thou been rude and ruthless they would disperse from around thee. Therefore (continue with the display of thy good character and) keep forgiving them, ask for Allah’s forgiveness for them, consult with them in all affairs (show a democratic leadership, not a harsh totalitarian one). Once you make up thy mind (after that) then just trust Allah and go ahead with it. For Allah loves those who put their trust in Him” (3: 159).
The Magnificent Character.