The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was the bravest and most courageous of all men, even though he was constantly targeted by the forces of evil from among men and jinn.
He proved this exceptional attribute of his time and again throughout his arduous prophet-hood mission.
He even supplicated to Almighty God to save him from cowardice, seeing it as a spiritual and also a physical disorder. He invoked God thus:
O Allah, I seek refuge with You from worry and grief, and I seek refuge with You from incapacity and laziness, and I seek refuge with You from cowardice and miserliness, and I seek refuge with You from being heavily in debt and from being overcome by men (Sunan Abi Dawud).
In passing, it should be observed that apart from cowardice, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also prayed against anything that can be disastrous for a person’s complete wellbeing, and that can incapacitate him from living a responsible, productive and enjoyable life.
In Islam, every person is to be an asset and a source of goodness, one way or another, in lieu of becoming a liability and a source of weakness as well as vice. Being a coward, certainly, is an impediment to the former and an express route to the latter.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was brave because he was on the right path; he was God’s chosen one; he was the final Messenger to mankind and so, had God, His angels and all His devout servants as his protectors and friends.
He preached, lived and embodied the absolute truth; he knew more than anybody else what actual bravery is, what it means to be brave, and how as well as why to be brave; he also understood more than anybody else how anomalous and ruinous cowardice may be, and why it was incompatible with a person whose purpose and mission in life transcended the vicissitudes of this transitory life.
With all these features on-board, the Prophet Muhammad did not recognize any form of fear associable with this world and its people as mere mortals. He was always in touch with Heaven. He resided on a higher plane of meaning and experience.
To him, fear was false and illusory. It existed only as an abstract concept, and was relative. It could force its limited and deceptive presence only in the actual absence of bravery and the truth.
The Prophet Muhammad only feared God, in the sense that he loved and respected Him most. He perfectly knew Him and was awestruck and captivated by His magnificence, beauty and majesty.
As a result, in everything he did, he humbly submitted to the Will and Power of God, fearing the consequences of not doing so. He was an example of God-consciousness and self-restraint.