SUBLIME CHARACTER
The Quran describes the Prophet Muhammad as a “sublime character22.” Here are two sayings of the Prophet which throw light on what this “sublime character” consists of: Never debase your character by saying that if people treat you well, you will treat them well, and if they harm you, then you will do worse to them. Instead, become accustomed to being good to those who are good to you and not wronging those who harm you23.
Join hands with those who break away from you, forgive those who wrong you, and be good to those who harm you.24
The sublime character described here was displayed in its noblest form by the Prophet himself. Of course, ordinary Muslims require such character as an accessory, but with the Prophet, it was an essential requisite.
There are two levels of character, an ordinary and a superior level. A common character is based on the principle: do as you have been done by. Such a character might be termed a “knee-jerk character,” for those possessed of such a character offer only reflex responses to treatment by others, breaking with those who break with them, wronging those who wrong them, and harming those who harm them.
But the higher character level is based on the principle: do as you would be done. Those of such a character deal with friend and foe in the same principled manner, irrespective of how they have been treated. They are reconciliatory, even joining with those who break with them. They are compassionate, even to those who seek to harm them. They are forbearing, even towards those who wrong them.
According to the French philosopher Voltaire (1694–1778), “No one is a hero to his valet.” This is because a valet has access to a person’s private life; in private life, no one is perfect. Therefore, those close to a person usually do not hold him in such high esteem as those further off. That is why they cannot think of him as a hero. But this does not hold good for the Prophet Muhammad. On the contrary, history shows that the closer one came to him, the more one was impressed by his fine qualities.
Once, some members of the tribe of Banu Qayn ibn Jasr attacked the camp of the Banu Ma’an, a branch of the Tay tribe. While plundering, they captured an eight-year-old boy called Zayd, whom they sold as a slave at the fair of ‘Ukaz. It so happened that the latter came into the service of the Prophet, having been presented by his buyers to Khadijah shortly before her marriage to the Prophet. The boy’s father and uncle soon learnt of his whereabouts and came to Makkah to recover and take him home. They met the Prophet and said they would give any compensation he required if he returned the child to them. The Prophet said he did not want compensation; if Zayd wanted to go with them, they could take him. So Prophet called Zayd and asked him if he knew these people. Zayd said that he did: they were his father and uncle. “They want to take you with them.” “I won’t leave you to go anywhere: Zayd replied. His father and uncle were incensed on hearing this. “What, do you prefer slavery to freedom?” they asked. “Do you want to forsake your folk and live amongst others?” “I cannot prefer anyone to Muhammad.” Zayd replied, “not after seeing the qualities that he has.” They had no choice then but to go back home without him. Such was the charisma of the Prophet.
This incident, which occurred before the commencement of the Prophet’s mission, reveals the tenderness that was inherent in his nature. The Quran has referred to this characteristic of his in the following words:
It was thanks to God’s mercy that you were lenient with them. Had you been cruel and hard-hearted, they would indeed have deserted you.
This magnanimity of the Prophet gave him the power to capture people’s hearts: the closer one came to him, the more one would be won over by his noble character.
The Prophet once said: “Honouring ties of relationship does not mean honouring your ties with those who honour their ties with you; it means honouring your ties with those who sever their ties with you.” The well-known case of ‘Aisha, wife of the Prophet and daughter of Abu Bakr, being accused of adultery is an apt illustration of this principle.
This slanderous accusation was brought against ‘Aisha when she was accidentally left behind while returning from the expedition to Banu al-Mustaliq (A.H. 6), then rescued by a young companion of the Prophet named Safwan ibn al-Mu’attal. Indeed, the episode has become famous in Islamic history as the “case of slander.” One of the persons responsible for fabricating it and spreading it far and wide was a relative of Abu Bakr named Mistah. When Abu Bakr learnt that Mistah was one of those who had defamed his innocent daughter, he cut off the allowance that he used to grant Mistah as a needy relative. When Abu Bakr took this step, God revealed this verse of the Quran to His Prophet:
Let not the honourable and wealthy among you swear not to give to their kindred, the poor, and those who have migrated for the cause of God. Instead, let them pardon and forgive. Do you not wish God to forgive you? He is Forgiving, Merciful.
A person in need should not be denied financial assistance because of his misconduct. Instead, one should pardon him and continue to help him.
A man insulted Abu Bakr one day while he was sitting with the prophet. Abu Bakr listened but remained silent. The man continued to abuse him. Abu Bakr still held his peace. Finally, when the man kept repeating his foul tirade, Abu Bakr could no longer contain himself and answered. On hearing this, the Prophet immediately got up and left. “Why have you left your place, Prophet of God?” Abu Bakr enquired. “As long as you remained silent, Abu Bakr,” the Prophet replied, “God’s angel was answering for you. But as soon as you burst out, the angel left.” Thus the Prophet illustrated that God requites any wrong done to one, as long as one does not oneself retaliate. To one who seeks revenge, God turns a deaf ear. Therefore, retribution will be more complete if it is left to God.
The Prophet once borrowed some money from a Jewish scholar. After a few days, the Jew demanded payment of his debt. “At the moment, I have nothing to pay you with,” the Prophet told him. “I won’t let you go until you have paid me back,” the Jew retorted. And so he stayed there, from morning until night, holding the Prophet captive. At this time, the Prophet was the established ruler of Madinah: he had the power to take measures against the Jew. His companions wanted to rebuke the man and chase him away. But the Prophet forbade them to take any action. “A Jew is holding you captive,” protested one of them. “True,” the Prophet replied, “but the Lord has forbidden us to wrong anyone.” The night turned to morning. With the light of dawn, the Jew’s eyes opened. He was profoundly moved on seeing the Prophet’s tolerance, notwithstanding the latter’s power to take action, and he thereupon embraced Islam. This Jew, a rich man, had detained the Prophet the day before on account of a few pence; but the Prophet’s noble conduct had such an impact on him that now he was willing to give all his wealth to the Prophet, saying, “Spend it as you please.”
‘Abdullah ibn Abi al-Hasma’ was once engaged in a transaction with the Prophet. It had not yet been completed when he had to go home on some urgent business. “Wait here,” he said to the Prophet. “We’ll settle this affair when I come back.” When he reached home, he became so engrossed in certain tasks that he forgot his promise. He remembered it three days later and returned to where he found the Prophet still waiting. He said to ‘Abdullah ibn Abi al-Hasma’: “You have given me much trouble; I have been waiting here for three days.” Such conduct has a powerful magnetism, which even the most obdurate person cannot resist.
Once, a group of Rabbis came to the Prophet. When they entered, instead of giving the normal ‘Assalamu ‘Alaykum’ greeting, they said ‘Assamu ‘Alaykum’, meaning “death to you.” ‘Aisha heard this and could not contain herself. “Death to you instead,” she said. “May God damn you.” The Prophet told ‘Aisha not to answer back in this manner. “God is gentle,” he said, “and He likes gentleness in every matter.” In truth, there is no more effective method of winning a person’s heart than by returning soft words for harsh ones. It is possible to withstand an armed onslaught, but noble conduct is a force that no one can resist. It is sure to prevail in all situations.
What a terrible thing it must have been for a man such as the Prophet when, as night was falling, he found the urchins of Ta’if chasing him out of town and pelting him with stones. Ta’if was where the Hijaz aristocracy used to while away their summer days, and the Prophet had made the fifty-mile trip from Makkah to call them to Islam. But the lords of Ta’if did not listen to his well-meaning words; instead, they set the street-urchins on him and kept chasing him until night had cast a veil between them and God’s Prophet. His body was covered in wounds. Bleeding from head to foot and utterly exhausted, he took refuge in a vineyard. This, even for the most ordinary man, would have been a traumatic experience. The Prophet once told his wife, ‘Aisha, that it had been the hardest night of his life. But even at this gravest of moments, the Prophet did not wish his enemies any harm.
On the contrary, he said, “Lord, guide them, for they know not what they do.” Such was the noble character of the Prophet, and this nobility finally subdued his opponents and brought the whole of Arabia within the Islamic fold. The force of his sublime spirit was enough to conquer all in its path. No prejudice, antagonism or contumacy could withstand the magical power of good embodied in his person.
Absence of Acrimony
The Prophet had made peace with the Quraysh at Hudaybiyyah (A.H. 6) on three conditions: one was that if any Makkan accepted Islam and wanted to settle in Madinah, he must be surrendered to the Quraysh. But if any Madinan Muslims should go to Makkah, the Makkans would not send them back to Madinah. No sooner had this treaty been made than a Makkan youth named Abu Jandal escaped from Makkah and came to Hudaybiyyah, his body bearing weals and bruises where chains had abraded his skin. “Save me from the enemy!” he cried to the Muslims. This was an extremely sensitive moment. The companions of the Prophet drew their swords. The sight of Abu Jandal aroused their feelings to such a degree that most of them wanted to break the treaty and save his life. The Quraysh meanwhile reminded the Prophet that this was an occasion on which he would be obliged to abide by the pact that had been made between them. Finally, the Prophet decided that he could not go back on the terms that had been agreed upon. Painful as this decision was for the Muslims, Abu Jandal was returned to the Quraysh. Ostensibly the Prophet was putting an innocent victim of oppression back into the clutches of his oppressors. But, in effect, he acted on the highest moral principles. The oppressors, in turn, were confounded and awestruck by such uniquely ethical conduct, and then it became no ordinary matter for them to take Abu Jandal away and imprison him; instead, the event became symbolic of their degradation in contrast to the moral ascendancy of Islam. The result was that the people of Makkah were won over by the high ethical standards of Islam, which many of them started to embrace. Abu Jandal’s presence in Makkah became a living testament to the truth of the prophet’s faith. Even as a prisoner, Abu Jandal began to appear to his captives as a threat to their national security. Eventually, they deemed it prudent to free him and deport him from Makkah.
While the Prophet was living in Madinah, where he had attained religious and political leadership, he sent some riders to Najd, the inhabitants of which were his sworn enemies. On the way, they came across the ruler of the city of Yamamah, Thamamah ibn Uthal. They took him captive and brought him to Madinah, where they tied him against a mosque pillar. The Prophet came to enquire after him. “If you kill me,” Thamamah said, “my people will avenge my blood, and if you release me, I will always be indebted to you. If it’s money you want, then I am ready to give you as much as you desire.”
The Prophet did not kill Thamamah physically but conquered the man’s soul through humane treatment. After his release, Thamamah went to a nearby garden, bathed, and returned to the mosque. People wondered what he had come back for. But when he proclaimed his acceptance of Islam by pronouncing the testimony of faith in a loud voice, people realized that, by releasing Thamamah, the Prophet had, in effect, taken him captive for all time. Thamamah then went on a pilgrimage to Makkah. When the people of Makkah heard of his conversion, they told him that he had lost his faith. “I have not lost my faith,” Thamamah answered. “Rather, I have adopted the faith of God and His Prophet.” Thamamah, moreover, became a source of strength to Islam. Yamamah was one of the main places from which the people of Makkah used to collect grain. Thamamah told them that without the permission of the Prophet Muhammad, he would not provide them with a single grain. The case of Thamamah shows that noble conduct—though it may appear to have no practical value—can win the world.
Adopting a high code of ethics means practising what one preaches; treating the weak with the same courtesy and deference as one shows to the strong; setting the same standards for oneself as one sets for others; never budging from one’s principles; maintaining a high moral bearing even when others stoop to the depths of degradation. From this point of view, the prophet of Islam stood at the highest pinnacle of human ethics, never abandoning the lofty standards that he preached. Expediency or dispute could not make him resort to unethical conduct. No evidence could be more substantial in this regard than that of his closest companions.
Sa’id ibn Hisham was the generation immediately following the Prophet Muhammad. He once asked ‘Aisha, the Prophet’s widow, about her late husband’s character. “He was a personification of the Quran”, ‘Aisha replied. That is to say, the Prophet moulded his own life by the ideal pattern of life, which he presented to others in the form of the Quran. Anas ibn Malik served the Prophet for ten years. He says that the Prophet never even rebuked him. “When I did something, he never questioned my manner of doing it; and when I did not, he never questioned my failure to do it. He was the most good-natured of all men.” According to ‘Aisha, the Prophet never beat a servant, a woman or anyone else. To be sure, he fought for what was righteous. Yet, when he had to choose between two alternatives, he would take the easier course, provided it did not involve sin: no one was more careful to avoid sin than he. Moreover, he never sought revenge—on his behalf—for any wrong done to him personally. Only if divine commandments had been broken would he mete out retribution for the sake of God.
This conduct on the part of the Prophet made him respected even in the eyes of his enemies. His followers stood by him through all kinds of hardship and misfortune. He was as loved in times of oppression as in times of victory and supremacy. His immediate followers found him without blemish—just as he appeared from afar. He provided humanity with an inimitable model of exemplary conduct. The principles the Prophet based his life on were in the same mould as his sublime disposition. These principles never wavered. They formed a permanent part of his life. He applied them equally to those who followed his path and those who had harmed or aggrieved him.
Even in pre-Islamic times—known as the Age of Ignorance—the office of gatekeeper of the Kaabah had been held in high esteem. From ancient times the task had been allotted to one particular family. In the time of the Prophet Muhammad, a member of that family, ‘Uthman ibn Talhah retained it in his custody.
Al-Bukhari, the greatest compiler of traditions of the Prophet, had related how the Prophet, before he emigrated to Madinah, once desired to go inside the Ka’bah for worship. He asked ‘Uthman for the keys to open the gate. ‘Uthman refused and insulted the Prophet. ‘Uthman,’ the Prophet said, “perhaps you will see that I will have these keys in my hands one day. Then, I will have the power to dispose of them as I will.” “It will be a day of disgrace and woe for the Quraysh when the keys of the Ka’bah are handed over to one like you,” ‘Uthman retorted.
Then the time came when the Prophet conquered Makkah and reigned supreme there. The first thing he did on entering the holy city was to go to the House of God. Seven times he circumambulated the Ka’bah. Then he summoned ‘Uthman ibn Talhah. According to one account, ‘Uthman had become a Muslim during the period in between the peace of Hudaybiyyah and the Conquest of Makkah. So the Prophet took the keys from him, opened the gate of the Ka’bah, and went inside. He remained there for a while, removing the idols within its walls.
Then he came outside, holding the keys in his hands. On his lips was this verse from the Quran:
God commands you to hand back your trust to their rightful owners.27
Then, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, stood up: “God bless you,” he said to the Prophet, “but we Banu Hashim have always been entrusted with the task of bearing water for pilgrims. Now is the time to take over the gatekeeper office as well.” The Prophet did not reply to ‘Ali and asked where ‘Uthman ibn Talhah was. When he came forward, the Prophet handed the keys over to him. ‘Uthman,’ he said, “here are your keys. This is a day of righteousness and fulfilment of promises. They will remain in your family from generation to generation. It is only a wrongdoer who will take them away from you.”
This action of the Prophet illustrates that Muslims should be meticulous in fulfilling obligations and returning trust. Even if they have been treated acrimoniously by those with whom they are dealing, they should still pay them their full due. However much it may hurt them, they should never deny people their rights.
When worldly people gain power, the first thing they do is punish their opponents, removing them from their posts and installing their supporters instead. All people who come to power think in terms of supporters or opponents. Promoting supporters and demoting opponents is an essential part of their policy. But when the Prophet of Islam gained control in Arabia, he did quite the opposite. He did not look at matters in terms of supporters and opponents; he considered only what was right and fair. He buried all grudges and dealt with everyone as justice and compassion would demand.
