The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

This description of Muhammad is divided into two parts: one is historical and one is concerned with his character.

Muhammad – may Allah bless him and grant him peace  – was the son of ‘Abdullah son of ‘Abdul-Muttalib son of Hashim of the tribe of Quraysh, descendent of Ismail son of Ibrahim. He was born in Makka fifty-three years before the Hijra. His father died before his birth and his mother Amina died while he was still a young boy, but he found a protector and a guardian first in his grandfather ‘Abdul-Muttalib, and then, on his death, in his uncle Abu Talib.

His childhood and boyhood was very simple. He received no kind of formal education and would look after his family’s herd of sheep and goats in the hills surrounding Makka. On one occasion he accompanied his uncle on a caravan to Syria and on this journey met a Christian hermit called Bahira who told his uncle that his young nephew would be the Prophet of his people. When he was twenty-five years old, he again made the same journey, this time as a trader in the service of a wealthy widow named Khadija. As a result of his success and from hearing reports of the excellence of his character, she married her young agent. They lived together for twenty-six years and she was the mother of his children and stood by him during the difficult years when he was trying to spread Islam among the people of Makka. It was his custom every year to spend the month of Ramadan alone in a cave on a mountain near Makka. In his fortieth year, nearly at the end of this month, he heard during the night a voice which said to him: “Read!” He replied: “I cannot read.” Again the voice came: “Read!” Again he replied, awestruck: “I cannot read.” For the third time, the voice commanded: “Read!” He said, “What should I read?” The voice said: “Read in the Name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clot.” This was the beginning of the revelation of the Qur’an which continued, intermittently, until just before his death, twenty-three years later. The voice told him that he was the Messenger of Allah and raising his eyes he saw the angel Jibril who was the means by which the revelation was conveyed to him from the Creator of the universe.

His first thought as that he had gone mad, but he was reassured by his wife Khadija and gradually as the revelation continued his reluctance left him and he accepted the awesome task of being the Messenger of the Lord of the creation. During the first three years after this event, he told only his immediate circle about what had happened. His wife Khadija, his adopted son ‘Ali, his freed slave Zayd, and his friend Abu Bakr were among the first to accept what he said and to agree to follow him. Then he received the command to “arise and warn” and he began to talk openly to the people of Makka. He pointed out to them the stupidity of idol worship in the face of the clear proofs of the Divine Unity manifest in the creation. Seeing that their way of life was threatened, the clans of the Quraysh became hostile and started to persecute his followers and to insult him.

In spite of this, the number of Muslim steadily increased and the Quraysh tried to stop him with bribes, even offering to make him king if he would only compromise with them and stop attacking their false gods. By his words and example, he was undermining and endangering the structure of their society and the basis of their wealth. However, Islam was further strengthened when ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab accepted the Prophet. He was one of the strongest and most respected of Quraysh and until this time had been one of the staunchest opposers of Islam. In their frustration and rage, the Quraysh confined the whole of the Prophet’s clan to a ravine for three years forbidding all dealings with them. During this time, his wife Khadija and his uncle and protector Abu Talib died and an attempt that he made to take Islam to the nearby city of Ta’if met with failure and rejection. It was at this seemingly low ebb that the Miraj took place. Muhammad was taken up through the seven heavens and shown the true nature of his being and the honour in which he was held by his Lord, the Divine Reality.

Shortly after this, a small group of me from a city named Yathrib listened to him when they came to Makka. They accepted him as Prophet and returned to their city with a Muslim teacher. The following year they returned with seventy-three new Muslims and invited the Prophet to their city. From then the Muslims began to leave Makka and to settle in Yathrib and finally the Prophet, evading an attempt to murder him, travelled with Abu Bakr to Yathrib which was renamed al-Madina al-Munawwara, the Enlightened City. This event is known as the Hijra and marks the beginning of the Muslim community.

From this time, the Prophet was ordered by his Lord to fight his enemies though up to this time there had been no attempt at self-defence. The first expeditions were very small and there was almost no fighting. In the second year of the Hijra the Quraysh sent an army of a thousand men ostensibly to protect a caravan from Syria. The Prophet assembled an army of just over three hundred men and the two sides met at a place called Badr. The Muslims led by the Prophet, with complete trust in Allah in their hearts and reinforcement from the angelic world, won a complete victory and killed many of the leaders of Quraysh. The enmity of Quraysh increased but Islam was firmly established in the land.

The following year, the Quraysh marched against Madina and the Muslims met them at the mountain of Uhud, a short distance from the city. Despite the odds against them, the Muslims would have won a victory except that greed for spoils led a band of archers to leave their position and the Muslims were defeated. This defeat led to the murder of Muslims who travelled to spread Islam and to open hostility from the Jews of Madina encouraged by disaffected elements within the Muslim community.

In the fifth year of the Hijra, the Quraysh again attacked Madina and this time they brought ten thousand men. The Prophet had organised the digging of a deep ditch as a defence for the city and the affair became known as the Battle of the Ditch. The Makkans were joined by a tribe of Jews from Madina. However, confused by the ditch and discouraged by suspicion of their Jewish allies and a bitter wind which blew for three days and nights, they packed up and left without offering battle. The Jewish tribe were severely punished for their treacherous behaviour.

In the same year, the Prophet decided to take a company of fourteen hundred men to Makka to perform Hajj. They camped at al-Hudaybiyya just outside the city, but were prevented from entering. Envoys were sent by Quraysh and the Prophet made a treaty which appeared to be disadvantageous to the Muslims and they returned to Madina without setting foot in the Holy City. However, this treaty which stopped the fighting between the Quraysh and the Muslims proved in fact a great victory and Islam spread with greater speed than ever before.

Under the terms of the treaty, the Quraysh had agreed to evacuate Makka the following year for three days while the Muslims visited the city and performed ‘Umrah. This was the first time that the Prophet and his Companions had visited Makka for seven years.

In the following year, the Prophet sent an army of three thousand to face an attack from the Byzantine Emperor in Syria. They attacked fearlessly a hundred thousand men, fighting until three leaders had been killed. The few who remained retired and returned to Madina. Then the Quraysh broke the treaty and the Prophet marched with ten thousand men against the Quraysh in Makka. They conquered without bloodshed and the Prophet proclaimed a general amnesty. He freely forgave the people who had unceasingly persecuted him since the beginning of Islam. They became Muslims and the only destruction was of the idols around the Ka’ba. The Prophet set about subduing the remaining hostile tribes, winning a victory at Hunayn, and he besieged and won over the city of Ta’if whose people had rejected him ten years earlier.

In the ninth year of the Hijra, the Muslims of Madina were tested by Allah. The Prophet called for all the Muslims to go with him at the hottest time of the year on a gruelling expedition to a place called Tabuk. Some went and some stayed behind. The expedition returned without fighting. The same year was known as the Year of Deputations and people came to swear allegiance to Islam and the Prophet from all parts of Arabia.

In the tenth year of the Hijra, the Prophet led the Farewell Hajj at which there were one hundred forty thousand Muslims. In a khutba on Mount Arafat, he reminded them of the duties of Islam and that they would be called to account for their actions, and then he asked them if he had truly delivered the guidance. The reply was: “By Allah, yes!” and he said, “O Allah, you are witness.” Soon after his return to Madina, he became ill and died with his head in the lap of his most loved wife, ‘A’isha.

During the last ten years of his life, he led twenty-seven campaigns in nine of which there was fierce fighting. He planned and sent out thirty more. He personally supervised every detail of administration and judged every case himself, being accessible to every suppliant. He destroyed idol worship and replaced the arrogance and violence, the drunkenness and immorality of the Arabs by humility and compassion, harmony and generosity, creating a truly illuminated society whose like has never been seen – the community of the Companions of the Seal of the Prophets, the final Messenger, the slave of his Lord, Muhammad.

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2.

Muhammad – may Allah bless him and grant him peace by the number of beautiful things and by the number of good qualities manifested by men from the beginning of time until the end of time – appeared, when alone, to be a man of medium height. But when he was with other people, he neither dwarfed those smaller than he, nor seemed shorter than those taller. He was well built with a broad chest and wide shoulders and his limbs were strong and well-proportioned. On his back, between his shoulder-blades, nearer the right than the left, was the seal of prophecy, a black mole surrounded by tiny hairs.

His face was oval-shaped and he had a white complexion with a hint of brown in it. His forehead was broad and he had very long arched eyebrows with a gap between them where there was a vein which pulsated in moments of strong feeling. His eyes were black and wide set. He had long heavy eyelashes. His nose was aquiline and his mouth and lips were beautifully formed. His teeth, of which to took great care, were well set and would flash brilliant white when he smiled or laughed. He had broad even cheeks and a full thick black beard which had in it, at the time of his death, seventeen white hairs. His face was framed by luxuriant black hair which fell in waves to between his ears and shoulders, and which he would sometimes plait and sometimes let hang free. The translucence of his face was such that his anger or pleasure shone directly through it. His neck was neither short nor long and was the colour of silver mixed with gold. His hands had the texture of satin with broad palms and long fingers and they exuded a sweet scent which lingered on the things that he touched. His feet were high arched and his gait was like a man who walks down a slope with speed and modesty.

He was mild-tempered and beautifully mannered in an environment accustomed to arrogant violence. He was never insulting and never looked down on illness or poverty. He honoured nobility and rewarded according to worth, giving each what was most fitting to his needs. He never paid homage to wealth and power, but called all those who came to him to the worship of Allah.

He would always be the first to greet whoever he met and would never be the first to withdraw his hand. He was endlessly patient with all who came to him for advice or help, not minding the ignorance of the uneducated nor the coarseness of the ill-bred. On one occasion, a Bedouin came to him asking for something and tugged so violently at his clothes that he ripped a piece right off. Muhammad laughed and gave the man what he wanted.

It was one of his qualities that he had time for all who needed him. He showed regard for his visitors to the point of giving up his own place or spreading his cloak for them to sit on; and if they refused, he would urge them until they accepted. He gave all his guests his complete attention so that all without exception felt that they were the most honoured.

Of all men, he was the least prone to anger and the most ready to be pleased. The mistakes of his companions were not mentioned and he never blamed or reviled anyone. His servant Anas was with him for ten years and not once in all that time did Muhammad take him to task even by so much as asking why he had not done something. He loved to hear good things about his companions and regretted their absence. He visited the sick even in the parts of Madina that were furthest from his house and the most difficult to get to. He attended feasts and accepted the invitations of slaves and free men alike. He accompanied funeral processions and prayed over the graves of his companions. Wherever he went he walked unguarded, even among people who were known to be unfriendly to him.

He had a powerful melodious voice and, although he was silent for long periods at a time, he would always speak when the occasion demanded. When he spoke, he was extraordinarily eloquent and precise, and his sentences were beautifully constructed and so cohesive that those who heard them – whoever they were – could easily understand and remember his words. He would speak sweetly and playfully when he was with his wives; and with his companions he was the most smiling and laughing of men, admiring what they said and joining in with them. He was never angry for himself or for any matter connected with this world, but when he became angry for the sake of Allah, nothing whatever could stand in his way. When he directed someone to a place, he would point with his whole hand. When he was pleased with something, he turned his palms up. When he was speaking, he placed his palms together, When he talked to someone, he would turn with his whole body towards them. Whatever he did, he would do it to the full.

His generosity was such that whenever he was asked for anything he was never known to say no. He once went on giving sheep to a Bedouin who kept asking for more until they filled a valley between two mountains and the man was overwhelmed. He would never go to bed until all the money in his house had been distributed to the poor and he would frequently give away from his year’s store of grain, so that he and his family would be without before the year was up. He used to ask people about their needs without them coming to him and would give them what they wanted. As he was generous with his few possessions, so he was generous with himself, giving unceasingly, advice, help, kindness, and forgiveness, and overflowing love.

He loved poverty and was continually to be found with the poor. His life was as simple as possible. He always sat on the ground, and often when he was with his companions he would sit in the last row so that visitors could not distinguish him among them. He ate from a dish on a cloth on the ground and never used a table. He slept on the ground on a mat of palm fibre, the marks of which showed on his skin, though he did not refuse more comfort if it was offered to him.

He and his family would frequently go hungry and there were months at a stretch when no smoke would rise from his or his wives’ houses because they had only dates and water and no food to cook or oil for the lamps. But on other occasions, when food was available, he ate well. He said that the best meal was the one with the most hands eating it. He never criticised food. If he liked it, he ate it, and if he didn’t, he left it.

He used to tie up the male camel and feed the animals used for carrying water. He swept his room, soled his shoes, patched his clothes, milked the ewe, ate with his slaves, and dressed them as he dressed himself, and carried what he bought from the market place to his house. He said, “O Allah, make me live and die and be raised up with poor,” and at his death, he left not a dinar nor dirham.

He would wear whatever was at hand, provided it was lawful, though he particularly liked green and white garments. When he wore a new garment, he would give an old one away. Sometimes he would wear coarse wool. He had a striped cloak from the Yemen of which he was particularly fond. He loved perfumes and would buy the best that were available. The only possessions of which he was particularly fond and of which he took great care were his words, his bow and his armour, which he used fearlessly and frequently in the expeditions which he led.

Above all, it was through him that the Qur’an was revealed and his whole life was a continual manifestation of his teachings. He was the perfect example to his community, both of how they should be in regard to each other and the world, and also of how they should be with their Lord, the Creator of the Universe. He showed them how to purify themselves and how and when to prostrate before Allah. He showed them how and when to fast. He showed them how and when to give. He showed them how to fight in the Way of Allah. He led them in prayer and prostrated alone during the night until his feet became swollen. When he was asked why, he said, “Should I not be a thankful slave?” He had a prayer for every action and he would never rise nor sit without mentioning Allah. All his actions were performed with the intention of pleasing his Lord. He taught his community everything that would bring them closer to Allah and warned them against everything that would distance them from Allah.

He inspired love and awe in all who met him and his companions loved and revered him more than their families, their possessions, and more even than themselves. His close companion and friend Abu Bakr as-Siddiq once put his foot in a hole where there was a snake which bit him, rather than disturb his beloved Prophet who was asleep at the time. His son-in-law and nephew ‘Ali risked being murdered in his place, and there are many more accounts of the devotion he inspired among those who followed him. The unanimity of reaction of those closest to him and the description of him which has come down to us from them show a man of such perfection of character that there can remain no doubt about the truth of the message and guidance which he brought – the Way of Islam. His Lord said of him in the Qur’an: “We have created you on a vast self-form,” and he said, “I have come to perfect good character.” It is this that is the goal and result of following the Way of the Seal of the Prophets, the final Messenger, the Slave of his Lord, Muhammad.

It is Muhammad, the greatest of the creation in the eyes of the Lord of the Universe, who will intercede for all his fellow creatures on the Day of Reckoning when all are called to account for their actions in this existence. On that day when “he who has done an atom’s weight of good will see it, and he who has done an atom’s weight of wrong will see it.” He, of all beings, has been given the most generosity and compassion and, because he is the Beloved of his Lord, all who have even the tiniest grain of true belief in their hearts will be removed from torment and given bliss.

No description of Muhammad, however detailed or well-researched, can convey who he really is. His perfections are beyond numbering and even the greatest poets among those who love him end by admitting the impossibility of praising him enough. If you want real knowledge of Muhammad, you must look to the people who have given themselves up to following his example in every aspect of their life. In them you will see something of the inner quality and luminosity of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. From them you can learn the way of Islam, the path of submission that leads to peace.

Technorati Tags: Adapted from "Muhammad" by Abdalhaqq Bewley on bewley.virtualave.net/muh.html