Prophet Muhammad never took
revenge for any personal injury to himself. He did not take revenge even on his
deadly enemies and when they were all standing before him defeated and at
his mercy after the victory of Meccah, he asked them:“What do you think I am
going to do with you?” They said “a generous brother and a son of a generous
brother” he forgave them all “Go you are all free”. He was a true reflection of the Qur’anic
verse as he exemplified the teachings that were all therein stated. It is said
that the Prophet’s mercy was seen in its most glorious and most magnanimous form
in his forgiveness of his enemies at the height of his power and glory,
when he had the power to take full revenge on them and would have been fully
justified in doing so. But he forgave all his enemies and did not take
revenge on any of them. His most admirable and praiseworthy act, and it is
without parallel in human history, is that he never took revenge on anyone for
personal injuries to himself. It was reported by ‘A’ishah that the Prophet
that he never took revenge on anyone, on his own behalf, for anything(Muslim, 2327).It is easy to teach high
morals and lofty principles of love and mercy but quite another thing to practise
them. The most distinctive quality of the Prophet was that he not only
taught high principles to his people but also practiced them at a time when, as
mentioned above, he was at the height of his power,something no man had ever
done before him.He forgave those who had injured him, beaten him, abused him and
done everything to destroy him and his faith. He even forgave the man who had
injured his daughter, Zainab when she was leaving Meccah, an injury from which
she later died. All his deadly enemies, including Abu Sufyan, lkramah (son
of Abu Jahl)and many other chiefs of Meccah, were among those who benefited from
his forgiveness.
Medinah
Source: "Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), The Forgiving" by Ali Zohery (PhD)
“It is He who has sent among
the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and
purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom although they were before
in clear error”.
[Suratul Jumu'ah, verse 2]
Allah sent Rasulullah (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) to do four things:
1.Recite the verses of the
Qur’an
2.Teach the Qur’an
3.Teach the Wisdom (sunnah)
4.Purify his followers.
The Prophet
(صلىاللهعليهوسلم) nurtured his companions and taught them in such a way that the
whole of Arabia drastically changed in a matter of 23 years.He
had six amazing qualities of teachingthat
inshaAllah we can implement and follow as teachers, parents, siblings and any
other roles we have in our communities.
Mu’awiyah ibn Al-Hakam said, “I have never seen a teacher before
him (Prophet (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) or after him better in
teaching than he.”
The attributes of a good teacher:
1.Being concerned about the
goodness for students:In surah At-Tawbah, Allah
says, in the translation of ayah 128,“There has certainly come to you a Messenger
from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned
over you and to the believers is kind and merciful.”Rasulullah
(صلىاللهعليهوسلم) also advised Abu Dhar (رضياللهعنه), “I see that you are weak,
and I love for you like I love for myself, so if someone gives you a position
of leadership, don’t take it”.
2.Kindness: Rasulullah (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) said, “Allah is Kind
(Rafeeq) and He loves kindness, and confers upon kindness which He does not
confer upon severity, and does not confer upon any thing besides it
(kindness).” [Muslim] We see his kindness throughout his life (صلىاللهعليهوسلم), when he would pass by children
in the street he would play with them–unlike nowadays, where people think it is
righteousness to never smile. Anas ibn Malik (رضياللهعنه) narrated that whenever the Prophet (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) would pass by children he
would smile fondly and greet them. [Bukhari and Muslim].Anas also narrated, “I
served him for ten years, and he never said “uff” (an expression of disgust) to
me. He never said, ‘why did you do that?’ for something I had done, nor did he
ever say ‘why did you not do such and such’ for something I had not done.”
[Bukhari and Muslim].
3.Hikmah (wisdom):Hikmah is defined as saying the right thing at the right time to
the right people in the right manner. The Prophet (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) said, “Help your brother,
whether he is an oppressor or is oppressed.” A man inquired: “O Messenger of
Allah! I help him when he is oppressed, but how can I help him when he is an
oppressor?” He (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) said, “You can keep him
from committing oppression. That will be your help to him.” [Bukhari]. Another
example is the story of the bedoin who urinated in the masjid. SubhanAllah,
while all of the sahaba ran to admonition him and beat him, the Prophet (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) simply said, “Leave him
alone and pour a bucket of water over it. You have been sent to make things
easy and not to make them difficult.” [Bukhari]
4.Humilty and humbleness:Abu Rifa’a (رضياللهعنه) narrated that, “I came towards the Prophet
(صلىاللهعليهوسلم) while he was giving the
khutba. I said ‘O Messenger of Allah, an estranged man has come asking about
his religion, he does not know what his religion is.’ The Messenger of Allah
came towards me and left his khutba until he reached me, and was brought a
chair, I thought the legs were made of iron. The Prophet sat on it and started
teaching me from what Allah had taught him. Then he returned to his khutba and
completed it.” [Bukhari]
5.Openness – Saying “I don’t
know” if you don’t know the answer:Rasulullah (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) would only answer a
question if Qur’an had been revealed answering it, or he would wait for
revelation. Once, Jaabir ibn Abdillah (رضياللهعنه) came and asked the
Prophet (صلىاللهعليهوسل) about inheritance, and
Rasulullah (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) stayed quiet until Allah
(سبحانهوتعالى) revealed the ayah in
Surah an-Nisaa.
6.Speaking slowly:‘Aishah (رضياللهعنها) reported that the Prophet
(صلىاللهعليهوسلم) did not summarize his
speech, and he spoke in such a way that if one were to count his words, they
could be counted. [Bukhari] Anas ibn Malik also reported that Rasulullah (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) would repeat his words
three times.
These are only a few of the qualities of Rasulullah (صلىاللهعليهوسلم) as a teacher, indeed in him we have an excellent pattern–as Allah Himself says:
“There has
certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah anexcellent patternfor anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who]
remembers Allah often.” [Surah Ahzab, verse 21].
The Lessons And Examples that can be learned from his life:
If the believer is confident in his spiritual crusade, he will
not practice his actions secretly, instead he will make them public; and he
will not pay attention to the enemies of his call if he is sure that he can
surmount them, as Umar (radiallahu 'anhu) did in his emigration. Such attitude,
that of being strong enough coupled with the potency of his conviction will
frighten Allahs enemies and put fear in their hearts. There is no doubt that
had he Makkahns united, they could have beaten Umar (radiallahu 'anhu), but
Umar's bravery put fear in the soul of each and everyone of his enemies. Each
was afraid that if he were to attempt in stopping Umar (radiallahu 'anhu), his
mother would then be bereaved of him, and the evildoers are misers in terms of
giving up their lives as they greatly valued their existence in the world. When the wrongdoers give up hope of resisting the call for truth
and reform, and when the believers escape from their hands to become free from
injustice, such people scout all means to kill the reformer. This is with the
hope that by killing him, they would get rid of the person and and thus
terminate his movement. This is the mentality of the evil enemies of reform in
every epoch. We have seen and witnessed similar actions in our own lives.
The truthful soldier, who is sincere to the movement, is willing
to sacrifice his life in order to protect his leader. In the safety of the
leader is the safety of the movement itself. And in his death follows its
defeat, destruction, weakness and disintegration. Ali's (radiallahu 'anhu)
heroism on the night of the Prophet's emigration, may Allah be pleased with
him, sleeping in the Prophet's bed and sacrificing his own life for that of the
Messenger's (peace be upon him), is a spark of the bravery within him. It was
not a remote possibility for the swords of the young men of the Quraysh to fall
upon his head in lieu of his gesture of covering-up for the Messenger's (peace
be upon him) escape. Ali (radiallahu 'anhu) did not mind that for it was enough
for him that Allah's Messenger, the Prophet of the nation (peace be upon him)
and leader of the movement, escapes unscathed for the benefit of Islam and to
the dismay of its enemies.
The fact that the polytheists trusted Allah's Messenger (peace
be upon him) with their possessions, even though they were fighting against him
and insisting upon his death, is an evidence that the enemies of the mission,
deep in their hearts, believed in the righteousness, honesty, and nobility of
the reformer. They believed that he was better off than them in his behavior
and that his heart was purer than theirs. But the insensitivity or indifference
of their hearts, their stubbornness, and their resolute grip towards their
errant customs and beliefs aptly known as resistance to change lured them to
fight against him, harm him and finally conspire to kill him.
Abdul Muttalib, chieftain of the Quraysh, had ten sons who were
all worthy and outstanding, but Abdullah was the noblest and most prominent
among them. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 108) Abdul Muttalib wedded him to Amina,
the daughter of Wahb Ibn Abdu Munaf, who was the leading man of Bani Zuhra. She
(Amina) was the most excellent woman among the Quraysh in birth and stature at
that time. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 110).
Muhammad peace be upon him was born after the death of his
father. Before his birth, Amina witnessed many an omen foretelling a great
future for her son. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, p. 158
The Prophet peace be upon him was born on Monday, the 12th of
Rab'i-ul Awwal (1) in the year of the Elephant. Certainly, it was the most
auspicious day in the history of mankind.
Thus, Muhammad peace be upon him was the son of Abdullah Ibn
Abdul Muttalib, Ibn Hashim, Ibn Abdul Munaf, Ibn Qusayy, Ibn Kilab, Ibn Murra,
Ibn Kab Ibn Luayy, Ibn Ghalib, Ibn Fihr, Ibn Malik, Ibn al-Nadr, Ibn Kinana,
Ibn Khusayma, Ibn Mudrika, Ibn Ilyas, Ibn Mudar Ibn Nizar Ibn Maadd, Ibn Adnan.
The parentage of Adnan is further traced to Ismail Ibn Ibrahim
peace be upon him(2) by Arab genealogists. After the birth of Muhammad peace be
upon him Amina sent someone to inform his grandfather. He came, looked at the
baby lovingly and took him to the Kaba where he praised Allah and prayed for
the infant. Abdul Muttalib then gave him the name Muhammad, which means, He who
is praised. The Arabs were surprised at the unfamiliar name (3) given to the
newborn babe by Abdul Muttalib. (Ibn Hisham, pp. 159-60)
Peace and
blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad and upon all prophets came before him. Here
is his sermon:
"O People, listen well to my words, for I do not know
whether, after this year, I shall ever be among you again. Therefore, listen to
what I am saying to you very carefully and take these words to those who could
not be present here today.
O People, just as you regard this month, this day, this city as
Sacred, so regard the life and property of every Muslim as a sacred trust.
Return the goods entrusted to you to their rightful owners. Treat others justly
so that no one would be unjust to you. Remember that you will indeed meet your
LORD, and that HE will indeed reckon your deeds. God has forbidden you to take
usury (riba), therefore all riba obligation shall henceforth
be waived. Your capital, however, is yours to keep. You will neither inflict
nor suffer inequity. God has judged that there shall be no riba and that all
the riba due to `Abbas ibn `Abd al Muttalib shall henceforth be waived.
Every right arising out of homicide and blood-killing in
pre-Islamic days is henceforth waived and the first such right that I waive is
that arising from the murder of Rabi`ah ibn al Harith ibn `Abd al Muttalib.
O people, the Unbelievers indulge in tampering with the calendar
in order to make permissible that which God forbade, and to forbid that which
God has made permissible. With God the months are 12 in number. Four of them
are sacred, three of these are successive and one occurs singly between the
months of Jumada and Sha`ban. Beware of the devil, for the safety of your
religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in
big things, so beware of following him in small things.
O People, it is true that you have certain rights over your women,
but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your
wives only under God's trust and with His permission. If they abide by your
right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat
your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed
helpers. It is your right and they do not make friends with anyone of whom you
do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste...
O People, listen to me in earnest, worship God (The One Creator of
the Universe), perform your five daily prayers (Salah), fast during
the month of Ramadan, and give your financial obligation (zakah) of your wealth. Perform Hajj if you can afford
to.
All mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over
a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no
superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by
piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and
that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a
Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and
willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.
Remember, one day you will appear before God (The Creator) and you
will answer for your deeds. So beware, do not stray from the path of
righteousness after I am gone.
O People, no prophet or messenger will come after me and no new
faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O People, and understand words,
which I convey to you. I am leaving you with the Book of God (the Quran) and my
Sunnah (the life style and the behavioral mode of the Prophet). If you follow
them you will never go astray.
All those
who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again;
and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me
directly. Be my witness O God, that I have conveyed your message to your
people."
