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Spirit of Islam Issue 35 November 2015
The Prophet lived
in such awe of God
that he was always
a picture of humility
and meekness.
'
Eclipses of the sun and moon are not due to the death of any
human being; they are just two of God’s signs. When you see an
eclipse, then you should pray to God.
'
On one of his journeys, the Prophet asked his Companions to roast
a goat. One volunteered to slaughter the animal, another to skin it,
and another to cook it. The Prophet said that he would collect wood.
“Messenger of God,” his Companions protested, “we will do all the
work.” “I know that you will do it,” the Prophet replied, “but that would
amount to discrimination, which I don’t approve of. God does not like
His servants to assert any superiority over their Companions.”
So humble was the Prophet himself that he once said:
'
By God, I really do not know, even though
I am God’s messenger, what will become
of me and what will become of you.
'
(Hadith of Al Bukhari)
One day, a Companion, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari
was sitting next to a Muslim who was black.
Abu Dharr addressed him as “black man.” The
Prophet was very displeased on hearing this,
and told Abu Dharr to make amends “Whites
are not superior to blacks,” he added. As
soon as the Prophet admonished him, Abu
Dharr became conscious of his error. He cast himself to the ground in
remorse, and said to the person he had offended: “Stand up, and rub
your feet on my face.”
The Prophet once saw a wealthy Muslim gathering up his loose garment
to maintain a distance from a poor Muslim sitting next to him. “Are you
scared of his poverty clinging to you?” the Prophet remarked.
Once the Prophet had to borrow some money from a Jew by the name
of Zayd ibn Sa’nah. A few days before the date fixed for the repayment
of the debt, the Jew came to demand his money back. He went up
to the Prophet, caught hold of his clothes, and said to him harshly:
“Muhammad, why don’t you pay me my due? From what I know of the
descendants of Muttalib, they all put off paying their debts.” Umar ibn
al-Khattab was with the Prophet at that time. He became very angry,
scolded the Jew and was on the point of beating him up. But the Prophet
just kept smiling. All he said to the Jew was: “There are still three days
left for me to fulfil my promise.” Then he addressed Umar, “Zayd and
I deserved better treatment from you,” he said. “You should have told