THE PROPHETIC BEAUTY

Here is a condensed recollection, a kind of verbal icon, of that Prophetic صلي الله عليه وسلم . (It’s paraphrased from a passage by Imam Al Ghazali, in book 19 of his Revival of the religious sciences, ihya ulumuddin) “The Messenger of Allah صلي الله عليه وسلم was the mildest of men, but also the bravest and most just of men. He was the most restrained of people; never touching the hand of a woman over whom he did not have rights, or who was not his mahrom. He was the most generous of men, so that never did a gold or silver coin spend the night in his house. If something remained at the end of the day, because he had not found someone to give it to, and night descended, he would go out, and not return home until he had given it to someone in need. From what Allah gave him, he would take only the simplest and easiest foods: dates and barley, giving anything else away in the path of Allah. Never did he refuse a gift for which he was asked. He used to mend his own sandals, and patch his own clothes, and serve his family, and help them to cut meat. He was the shyest of men, so that his gaze would never remain long in the face of anyone else. He would accept the invitation of a freeman or a slave, and accept a gift, even if it were no more than a gulp of milk, or the thigh of a rabbit, and offer something in return. He never consumed anything given in sadaqa (endowment). He was not too proud to reply to a slave, or a pauper in rags. He would become angered for his Lord, never for himself; he would cause truth and justice to prevail even if this led to discomfort to himself or his companions. He used to bind a stone around his waist out (because) of hunger. He would eat what was brought, and would not refuse any permissible food. If there were dates without bread, he would eat, if there was rough barley bread, if there was only yogurt, he would be quiet satisfied with that. He was not sated, even with barley bread, for three consecutive days, until the day he met his Lord, not because of poverty, or avarice, but because he was contented.”

“He would attend weddings, and visit the sick, and attend funerals, and would often walk among his enemies without a guard. He was the most humble of men, and the most serene, without arrogance. He was the most eloquent of men. He was afraid of nothing in this world. He would wear a rough Yemeni cloak, or a wooden tunic; whatever was lawful and was to hand, that he would wear. He would ride whatever was to hand: sometimes a horse, sometimes a camel, sometimes a mule, sometimes a donkey. And at time he would walk, (never) without head cover or a turban or a cap. He would visit the sick even if they were in the farthest part of Medina (the city where the Prophet lived). He loved perfumes, and disliked foul smells.”

“He maintained affectionate and loyal ties with his relatives, but without preferring them to anyone who was superior to them. He never snubbed anyone. He accepted the excuse of anyone who made an excuse. He would joke, but would never say anything that was not true. He would laugh, but not uproariously. He would watch permissible games and sports, and would not criticize them. He ran races with his wives. Voices would be raised around him, and he would be patient. He kept a goat, from which he would draw milk for his family. He would walk among the fields of his companions. He never despised any pauper for his poverty or illness; neither did he hold any king in awe simply because he was a king. He would call rich and poor to Allah, without distinction.”

“In him, Allah combined all noble traits of character; although he neither read nor writes, having grown up in a land of ignorance and deserts in poverty, as a shepherd, and as an orphan with neither father nor mother. But Allah Himself taught him all the excellent qualities of character, and praiseworthy ways, and the stories of the early and the later prophets, and the way to salvation and triumph in the hereafter and to joy and detachment in the world, and how to hold fast to duty, صلي الله عليه وسلم .

(taken from the book "Islam,and the Glorious Ka'bah" )