Fruits of Good Manners

The Prophet was ‘the ideal’ da`iyah who practiced da`wah through observing the best of all manners; a matter which made many incline with their hearts towards him and urged them to willingly and lovingly sacrifice their own lives for him. Allah Almighty says,

{So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you.} (Aal `Imran 3: 159)

Truly, the Companions had a great love of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) so that many of the then contemporary observers were amazed by seeing such unprecedented love or any of its signs. It was during the Hudaibiyah Treaty when `Urwah ibn Mas`ud came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to negotiate with him and after he returned to the Quraishites he told them commenting on what he had seen as saying,

“O people! By Allah, I have been to the kings and to Caesar, Khosrau and An-Najashi, yet I have never seen any of them respected by his courtiers as much as Muhammad is respected by his companions…” (Al-Bukhari)

Many Companions sacrificed their lives for the protection of the Prophet during battles with their own free will and to the pleasure of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). They preferred that they would be slaughtered and that the Prophet would not be pierced with a thorn or hurt in any manner.

But, why was that? Why did the Companions feel that great love for him to the extent that they forsook their families, properties, wealth and everything for his sake? The answer to this is simple. They did so -and even much more- because they themselves were eyewitnesses of the great morals the Prophet enjoyed and represented during his entire life, even before receiving revelation from Allah the Almighty.

It was the good nature and noble character of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that made all people feel passionate toward him. Amazingly, many of his past enemies turned into intimate friends who loved him and would sacrifice their fathers and mothers for him as well.

As a man, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) witnessed the ups and downs of life: he went through richness and poverty, power and weakness, health and illness, and living away from home and stable settlement, etc. Notwithstanding, he was a prime example of the noblest of morals throughout. Therefore, Allah addresses him in the Qur’an saying, {And indeed, you are of a great moral character. } (Al-Qalam 68: 4)