Description of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

***sohno4u*** · #1 08-24-2006, 02:28 PM

Description of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

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The following is an excerpt from the book entitled "The Message of
Mohammad", by Athar Husain. Among other things, it talks about some
of the personal characteristics of the prophet Mohammed (Peace Be
Upon Him), the final messenger of Allah (God). It has been edited
slightly in order to reduce it's length. Care has been taken not to
change the content inshallah. The topics include:

Appearance
Dress
Mode of living
His manners and disposition
Children
Daily routine
Trust in Allah
Justice
Equality
Kindness to animals
Love for the poor

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Appearance
Muhammad (pbuh) was of a height a little above the average. He was of
sturdy build with long muscular limbs and tapering fingers. The hair
of his head was long and thick with some waves in them. His forehead
was large and prominent, his eyelashes were long and thick, his nose
was sloping, his mouth was somewhat large and his teeth were well
set. His cheeks were spare and he had a pleasant smile. His eyes were
large and black with a touch of brown. His beard was thick and at the
time of his death, he had seventeen gray hairs in it. He had a thin
line of fine hair over his neck and chest. He was fair of complexion
and altogether was so handsome that Abu Bakr composed this couplet on
him:

"as there is no darkness in the moonlit night so is Mustafa, the well-
wisher, bright."

His gait was firm and he walked so fast that others found it
difficult to keep pace with him. His face was genial but at times,
when he was deep in thought, there there were long periods of
silence, yet he always kept himself busy with something. He did not
speak unnecessarily and what he said was always to the point and
without any padding. At times he would make his meaning clear by
slowly repeating what he had said. His laugh was mostly a smile. He
kept his feelings under firm control - when annoyed, he would turn
aside or keep silent, when pleased he would lower his eyes (Shamail
Tirmizi).

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Dress
His dress generally consisted of a shirt, tamad (trousers), a sheet
thrown round the sholders and a turban. On rare occasions, he would
put on costly robes presented to him by foreign emissaries in the
later part of his life (Ahmed, Musnad, Hafiz Bin Qaiyyam).

His blanket had several patches (Tirmizi). He had very few spare
clothes, but he kept them spotlessy clean (Bukhari). He wanted others
also to put on simple but clean clothes. Once he saw a person putting
on dirty clothes and remarked,

"Why can't this man wash them." (Abu Dawud, Chapter "Dress").

On another occasion he enquired of a person in dirty clothes whether
he had any income. Upon getting a reply in the affirmative, he
observed,

"When Allah has blessed you with His bounty, your appearence should
reflect it." (Abu Dawud)

He used to observe:

"Cleanliness is piety".

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Mode of living
His house was but a hut with walls of unbaked clay and a thatched
roof of palm leaves covered by camel skin. He had separate apartments
for his wives, a small room for each made of similar materials. His
own apartment contained a rope cot, a pillow stuffed with palm
leaves , the skin of some animal spread on the floor and a water bag
of leather and some weapons. These were all his earthly belongings,
besides a camel, a horse, and an ass and some land which he had
acquired in the later part of his life (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud).
Once a few of his disciples, noticing the imprint of his mattress on
his body, wished to give him a softer bed but he politely declined
the offer saying,

"What have I to do with worldly things. My connection with the world
is like that of a traveler resting for a while underneath the shade
of a tree and then moving on."

Amr Ibn Al-Harith, a brother in law of the prophet (pbuh), says that
when the prophet died, he did not leave a cent, a slave man or woman,
or any property except his white mule, his weapons and a piece of
land which he had dedicated for the good of the community (Bukhari,
Sahih Bukhari).

He advised the people to live simple lives and himself practiced
great austerities. Even when he had become the virtual king of
arabia, he lived an austere life bordering on privation. His wife
Aiysha (ra) says that there was hardly a day in his life when he had
two square meals (Muslim, Sahih Muslim, Vol.2, pg 198). When he died
there was nothing in his house except a few seeds of barley left from
a mound of the grain obtained from a Jew by pawning his armour
(Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter "Aljihad").

He had declared unlawful for himself and his family anything given by
the people by way of zakat or sadaqa (types of charity). He was so
particular about this that he would not appoint any member of his
family as a zakat collector (Sahah-Kitab Sadqat).

His manners and disposition
"By the grace of Allah, you are gentle towards the people; if you had
been stern and ill-tempered, they would have dispersed from round
about you" (translation of Qur'an 3:159)

About himself the prophet (pbuh) said

"Allah has sent me as an apostle so that I may demonstrate perfection
of character, refinement of manners and loftiness of deportment."
(Malik, Mawatta; Ahmed, Musnad; Mishkat)

By nature he was gentle and kind hearted, always inclined to be
gracious and to overlook the faults of others. Politeness and
courtesy, compassion and tenderness, simplicity and humility,
sympathy and sincerity were some of the keynotes of his character. In
the cause of right and justice he could be resolute and severe but
more often than not, his severity was tempered with generosity. He
had charming manners which won him the affection of his followers and
secured their devotion. Though virtual king of Arabia and an apostle
of Allah, he never assumed an air of superiority. Not that he had to
conceal any such vein by practice and artifice: with fear of Allah,
sincere humility was ingrained in his heart. He used to say,

"I am a Prophet of Allah but I do not know what will be my end."
(Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter "Al-Janaiz")

In one of his sermons calculated to instill the fear of Allah and the
day of reckoning in the hearts of men, he said,

"O people of Quraish be prepared for the hereafter, I cannot save you
from the punishment of Allah; O Bani Abd Manaf, I cannot save you
from Allah; O Abbas, son of Abdul Mutalib, I cannot protect you
either; O Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, even you I cannot save."
(Sahahin)

He used to pray,

"O Allah! I am but a man. If I hurt any one in any manner, then
forgive me and do not punish me." (Ahmed, Musnad, Vol. 6 pg. 103)

He always received people with courtesy and showed respect to older
people and stated:

"To honor an old man is to show respect to Allah."

He would not deny courtesy even to wicked persons. It is stated that
a person came to his house and asked permission for admission. The
prophet (pbuh) remarked that he was not a good person but might be
admitted. When he came in and while he remained in the house, he was
shown full courtesy. When he left Aiysha (ra) said,

"You did not think well of this man, but you treated him so well."

The prophet (pbuh) replied,

"He is a bad person in the sight of Allah who does not behave
courteously and people shun his company because of his bad manners."
(Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari)

He was always the first to greet another and would not withdraw his
hand from a handshake till the other man withdrew his. If one wanted
to say something in his ears, he would not turn away till one had
finished (Abu Dawud, Tirmizi). He did not like people to get up for
him and used to say,

"Let him who likes people to stand up in his honor, he should seek a
place in hell." (Abu Dawud, Kitabul Adab, Muhammadi Press, Delhi).

He would himself, however, stand up when any dignitary came to him.
He had stood up to receive the wet nurse who had reared him in
infancy and had spread his own sheet for her. His foster brother was
given similar treatment. He avoided sitting at a prominent place in a
gathering, so much so that people coming in had difficulty in
spotting him and had to ask which was the Prophet (pbuh). Quite
frequently uncouth bedouins accosted him in their own gruff and
impolite manner but he never took offence. (Abu Dawud Kitabul Atama).

He used to visit the poorest of ailing persons and exhorted all
muslims to do likewise (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter "Attendance
on ailing persons"). He would sit with the humblest of persons saying
that righteousness alone was the criterion of one's superiority over
another. He invariably invited people be they slaves, servants or the
poorest believers, to partake with him of his scanty meals (Tirmizi,
Sunan Tirmizi).

Whenever he visited a person he would first greet him and then take
his permission to enter the house. He advised the people to follow
this etiquette and not to get annoyed if anyone declined to give
permission, for it was quite likely the person concerned was busy
otherwise and did not mean any disrespect (Ibid).

There was no type of household work too low or too undignified for
him. Aiysha (ra) has stated,

"He always joined in household work and would at times mend his
clothes, repair his shoes and sweep the floor. He would milk, tether,
and feed his animals and do the household shopping." (Qazi Iyaz:
Shifa; Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter: Kitabul Adab)

He would not hesitate to do the menial work of others, particularly
of orphans and widows (Nasi, Darmi). Once when there was no male
member in the house of the companion Kabab Bin Arat who had gone to
the battlefield, he used to go to his house daily and milk his cattle
for the inhabitants (Ibn Saad Vol. 6, p 213).

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Children
He was especially fond of children and used to get into the spirit of
childish games in their company. He would have fun with the children
who had come back from Abyssinia and tried to speak in Abyssinian
with them. It was his practice to give lifts on his camel to children
when he returned from journeys (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 2
pg.886). He would pick up children in his arms, play with them, and
kiss them. A companion, recalling his childhood, said,

"In my childhood I used to fell dates by throwing stones at palm
trees. Somebody took me to the Prophet (pbuh) who advised me to pick
up the dates lying on the ground but not to fell them with stones. He
then patted me and blessed me." (Abu Dawud)

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Daily routine
On the authority of Ali, Tirmizi has recorded that the Prophet (pbuh)
had carefully apportioned his time according to the demands on him for

offering worship to Allah
public affairs, and
personal matters.
After the early morning prayers he would remain sitting in the mosque
reciting praises of Allah till the sun rose and more people
collected. He would then preach to them. After the sermons were over,
he would talk genially with the people, enquire about their welfare
and even exchange jokes with them. Taxes and revenues were also
distributed at this time (Muslim, Sahih Muslim Tirmizi, Sunan
Tirmizi). He would then offer chaste prayers and go home and get busy
with household work (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi). He would again return
to the mosque for the mid-day and afternoon prayers, listen to the
problems of the people and give solace and guidance to them. After
the afternoon prayers, he would visit each of his wives and, after
the evening prayers, his wives would collect at one place and he
would have his dinner (Muslim, Sahih Muslim). After the night
prayers, he would recite some suras of the Quran and before going to
bed would pray:

"O Allah, I die and live with thy name on my lips."

On getting up he would say,

"All praise to Allah Who has given me life after death and towards
Whom is the return."

He used to brush his teeth five times a day, before each of the daily
prayers. After midnight, he used to get up for the tahajjud prayers
which he never missed even once in his life (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari).
He was not fastidious about his bed: sometimes he slept on his cot,
sometimes on a skin or ordinary matress, and sometimes on the ground
(Zarqani).

On friday he used to give sermons after the weekly "Jumma" prayers.
He was not annoyed if anyone interrupted him during the sermons for
anything. It is stated that once, while he was delivering his sermon,
a bedouin approached him and said, "O messenger of Allah, I am a
traveler and am ignorant of my religion." The prophet (pbuh) got down
from the pulpit, explained the salient features of Islam to him and
then resumed the sermon (Tirmizi, Sunan Tirmizi).

On another occasion his grandson Husain, still a child, came tumbling
to him while he was delivering a sermon. He descended and took him in
his lap and then continued the sermon (Ibid).

Trust in Allah (swt)
Muhammad (pbuh) preached to the people to trust in Allah (swt). His
whole life was a sublime example of the precept. In the loneliness of
Makkah, in the midst of persecution and danger, in adversity and
tribulations, and in the thick of enemies in the battles of Uhud and
Hunain, complete faith and trust in Allah (swt) appears as the
dominant feature in his life. However great the danger that
confronted him, he never lost hope and never allowed himself to be
unduly agitated. Abu Talib knew the feelings of the Quraish when the
Prophet (pbuh) started his mission. He also knew the lengths to which
the Quraish could go, and requested the Prophet (pbuh) to abandon his
mission, but the latter calmly replied,

"Dear uncle, do not go by my loneliness. Truth will not go
unsupported for long. The whole of Arabia and beyond will one day
espouse its cause." (Ibn Hisham, Sirat-ur-Rasul.)

When the attitude of the Quraish became more threatening, Abu Talib
again begged his nephew to renounce his mission but the Prophet's
(pbuh) reply was:

"O my uncle, if they placed the sun in my right hand and the moon in
my left, to force me to renounce my work, verily I would not desist
thereform until Allah made manifest His cause, or I perished in the
attempt." (Ibid)

To another well-wisher, he said,

"Allah will not leave me forlorn."

A dejected and oppressed disciple was comforted with the words:

"By Allah, the day is near when this faith will reach its pinnacle
and none will have to fear anyone except Allah." (Bukhari, Sahih
Bukhari)

It was the same trust in Allah (swt) which emboldened the prophet
(pbuh) to say his prayers openly in the haram in the teeth of
opposition. The Quraish were once collected there and were conspiring
to put an end to his life when he next entered the haram. His young
daughter Fatima, who happened to overhear their talk rushed weeping
to her father and told him of the designs of the Quraish. He consoled
her, did his ablutions and went to the Kaaba to say prayers. There
was only consternation among the Quraish when they saw him (Ahmed,
Musnad, Vol. 1, pg. 368).

Then leaving his house for Madinah he asked Ali (ra) to sleep on his
bed and told him,

"Do not worry, no one will be able to do you any harm" (Tabari, Ibn
Hisham)

Even though the enemies had surrounded the house, he left the house
reciting the Quranic verse:

"We have set a barricade before them and a barricade behind them and
(thus) have covered them so that they see not" (translation of Qur'an
36:9)

Abu Bakr was frightened when pursuers came close to the cavern in
which he and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were hiding during their flight,
but the Prophet (pbuh) heartened him,

"Grieve not. Allah is with us."

A guard was kept at the Prophet's house in Madinah because of the
danger that surrounded him but he had it withdrawn when the Quranic
verse was revealed:

"Allah will protect you from the people" (translation of Qur'an 5:67).

A man was caught waiting in ambush to assault the Prophet (pbuh) but
he was directed to be released with the words,

"Even if this man wanted to kill me, he could not." (Ahmed, Musnad,
Vol.3 pg. 471)

A Jewess from Khaibar had put poison in the Prophet's (pbuh) food. He
spat it out after taking a morsel but a disciple who had his fill
died the next day. The Jewess was brought before the prophet (pbuh)
who questioned her:

"Why did you do this?" "To kill you," was her defiant reply. She was
told, "Allah would not have allowed you to do it." (Muslim, Sahih
Muslim.)

In the battle of Uhud when the rear guard action of the Makkan army
had disorganized the Muslim army and had turned the tables, the
Prophet (pbuh) stood as firm as a rock even though he had suffered
personal injuries. When Abu Sufiyan taunted the Muslims and
shouted "Victory to hubal!" (hubal was one of their idols), the
Prophet (pbuh) asked Umar (ra) to shout back, "Allah is our protector
and friend. You have no protector and friend. Allah is Great,
Magnificent." (Ibn Hisham, Sirat-Ur-Rasul).

Again in the battle of Hunain, when the unexpected assault of the
army had swept the Muslim force off its feet and a defeat seemed
imminent, the Prophet (pbuh) did not yield ground. With trust in
Allah (swt) he showed such courage that the Muslim army rallied
behind him to win a signal victory.

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Justice
The Prophet (pbuh) asked people to be just and kind. As the supreme
judge and arbiter, as the leader of men, as generalissimo of a rising
power, as a reformer and apostle, he had always to deal with men and
their affairs. He had often to deal with mutually inimical and
warring tribes when showing justice to one carried the danger of
antagonizing the other, and yet he never deviated from the path of
justice. In administering justice, he made no distinction between
believers and nonbelievers, friends and foes, high and low. From
numerous instances reported in the traditions, a few are given below.

Sakhar, a chief of a tribe, had helped Muhammad (pbuh) greatly in the
seige of Taif, for which he was naturally obliged to him. Soon after,
two charges were brought against Sakhar: one by Mughira of illegal
confinement of his (Mughira's) aunt and the other by Banu Salim of
forcible occupation of his spring by Sakhar. In both cases, he
decided against Sakhar and made him undo the wrong. (Abu Dawud, Sunan
Dawud, pg.80)

Abdullah Bin Sahal, a companion, was deputed to collect rent from
Jews of Khaibar. His cousin Mahisa accompanied him but, on reaching
Khaibar, they had separated. Abdullah was waylaid and done to death.
Mahisa reported this tragedy to the Prophet (pbuh) but as there were
no eye-witnesses to identify the guilty, he did not say anything to
the Jews and paid the blood-money out of the state revenues (Bukhari,
Sahih Bukhari Nasai).

A woman of the Makhzoom family with good connections was found guilty
of theft. For the prestige of the Quraish, some prominent people
including Asama Bin Zaid interceded to save her from punishment. The
Prophet (pbuh) refused to condone the crime and expressed displeasure
saying,

"Many a community ruined itself in the past as they only punished the
poor and ignored the offences of the exalted. By Allah, if Muhammad's
(My) daughter Fatima would have committed theft, her hand would have
been severed." (Bukhari, Sahh Bukhari, Chapter "Alhadood")

The Jews, in spite of their hostility to the Prophet (pbuh), were so
impressed by his impartiallity and sense of justice that they used to
bring their cases to him, and he decided them according to Jewish
law. (Abu Dawud, Sunan Dawud)

Once, while he was distributing the spoils of war, people flocked
around him and one man almost fell upon him. He pushed the men with a
stick causing a slight abrasion. He was so sorry about this that he
told the man that he could have his revenge, but the man said, "O
messenger of Allah, I forgive you." (Abu Dawud, Kitablu Diyat).

In his fatal illness, the Prophet (pbuh) proclaimed in a concourse
assembled at his house that if he owed anything to anyone the person
concerned could claim it; if he had ever hurt anyone's person, honor
or property, he could have his price while he was yet in this world.
A hush fell on the crowd. One man came forward to claim a few dirhams
which were paid at once. (Ibn Hisham, Sirat-ur-Rasul)