The Manners of Allah’s messenger -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-
Author: Ustadz Said Yai, Lc, MA
The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- has noble manners. Therefore, as his followers, we have to take him as our role model. Below are several characteristics of his excellent manner, -may peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-.
The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was blessed with privileges of eloquence and beautiful rhetoric. He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was sociable, articulate, and short spoken, but with true meaning without artificial effort.
He was blessed with al jawami’ul kalim (brief sentences but loaded with meaning and wisdom), had wonderful pearls of wisdom, he also mastered the Arabic dialects, and spoke to each tribe according to their own dialect and language.
The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was a generous man, patient, who forgave people even when he had power, and was patient upon afflicted with misery. These are characteristics that Allah had planted in him. Every generous man must have his own mistake and wrong, but it was not the case of Allah’s messenger -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-, the more troubles he suffered, the higher his patience became.
‘Aisha -may Allah be pleased with him- said, “The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was not offered two choices but he would choose the easiest between them, as long as it doesn’t contain any sin. If it does, then he was the farthest man from it.”
The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- never took any revenge to anyone based on personal or worldly motives, but he would repay (other’s wrongdoing) to enforce Allah’s law. He was the farthest man from anger, and the fastest to please. His generosity -may peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- is incomparable. He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- would give alms as if he didn’t fear to become poor himself.
Ibn ‘Abbas -may Allah be pleased with him- said, “The Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was the most generous of men, and he was even more generous during the month of Ramadan, when angel Gabriel met him. Gabriel met him in every night during Ramadan, to teach him the Qur’an. His generosity -may peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- in spreading goodness was faster than the blowing of a strong wind.”
His courage, manliness, power, and heroism -may peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- at the time of facing the enemy were absolute. He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was the bravest man in facing many difficult situations.
‘Ali -may Allah be pleased with him- said, “Whenever the battle heated and the attacks blown full force, we sought shelter behind the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-, no one was closer to the enemy than him.”
Anas said, “One night the residents of Medina was surprised by a strange sound, and people were heading to its source. But the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- met them when he came back from the direction of the sound. He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- had presided them, riding the horse of Abu Thalhah which without saddle, on his neck was a hanging sword, he said, ‘Don’t be afraid! don’t be afraid!”
He was very shy and very cautious in preserving his sight.”
Abu Sa’id Al Khudry -may Allah be pleased with him- said, “He was very shy, more than a maiden in seclusion. Whenever he displeased of a thing, it would be known from his face.”
He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was a man who always lowered his gaze, he gazed down longer than above, and he gazed and also observed at the same time. He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- never spoke of a person about non commendable matter because of his shyness and dignity.
He didn’t want to speak of the name of a person he heard of doing something he dislike, instead he would say, “Why do some people do this and that?”
The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was the most fair of men, one who upheld honor, the most correct in his wording, and the most capable in keeping people’s trust. This qualities had been acknowledged by his friends and foes.
Before he was appointed as a prophet, he was known as Al Amin (the trusted one) and was made a judge during the time of ignorance. The Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was the most humble man, very far from arrogance. He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- prohibited his companions to stand in order to honor him (when he came to them) as what the other nations did to honor their kings. He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- visited the poor and sat with the needy, attended the invitation from slaves, and sat among his friends as if he was one of them.
‘Aisha -may Allah be pleased with her- said, “The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- knitted and sewed his own sandal, did chores with his own hands… He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was just like any other man in cleaning his own clothes and doing his own stuffs.”
He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was the best man in keeping his promise, liked to extend the family ties, a loving and caring man, the best man in socializing and in manners.
He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was the farthest man from despicable manner, he never spoke bad, or mocked others, he disliked cursing, never raised his voice in market, and he didn’t reciprocate evil deed with the like, but he forgave and let it go.
He wouldn’t let anyone walked behind him, and never distinguished himself from his slaves in food and drink, never said, “huh” or “ah” to his servants, and didn’t criticize them in whatever they did or didn’t. He was fond of poor people and liked to sit with them, visited their deceased ones, and didn’t look down to a poor because of his poverty.
In one of his journey, he -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- ordered his companions to slaughter a goat, and one of them said, “I’ll do the slaughtering.” Another one said, “I’ll skin it.” The other said, “I’ll cook it.” Then the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said, “I’ll prepare the firewood.” The companions said, “We are enough to do it,” but he said, “I know that you are capable of doing those tasks, but I don’t like you to single me out as special. Verily, Allah dislikes to see His slave to be regarded as special from his friends.” Then he -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- stood and gathered the firewood.
He -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- always been grateful of favors even if it was a little, never denounced anything, never criticize the food that he ate, nor praised it. He always kept his mouth shut except in things that benefit him, uniting his companions and didn’t break their unity, respected the figures of every tribes and delegated them to rule their people. He always asked about his companions, and asked them about their problems, praised their good deeds and approved it, reproached the evil and dishonored it; he was modest and he disliked to disagree, he was never stingy in conveying the truth and nor that he went overboard.
The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- didn’t sit or stand except in the state of reciting remembrances, and he didn’t sit on a special place.
When he visited some people who were sitting, he would sit at the remaining seat, and order people to do the same. People were delighted with his excellent and beautiful manners, thus it was as if he was their father, they got near to him in seeking for the truth and competing in obedience in order to obtain virtues in front of him…
The Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- was always happy and with excellent manners, he was soft spoken, his voice were never harsh nor loud, he didn’t disgrace people, he wasn’t a praiser, he always overlooked the things that he disliked, and he never desperate.
Those are the characteristics of Allah’s messenger -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-; aside from his beautiful features, he also possessed excellent manners. It is he who was the fittest to be our role model.
Footnote:
[1]. Summarized from the book “Ar-Rahiq Al-Makhtum” by Sheikh Shafiyur-Rahman Al-Mubarakfuri – May Allah have mercy on him.