[virtuecat]

Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)

His Moral Characteristics
He was very modest and never spoke with foul words,
and when he was in the presence of obscenity, he
would leave and rebuke it. He never raised his voice or
reacted to a bad deed inflicted upon him with another
bad deed. He was always pardoning and forgiving. He
never took revenge on anyone who oppressed him. He
never broke any of God’s commandments. When faced
with two options, he always preferred the easier one as
long as it did not go against God’s will. He was such a
modest person that he would help cook and clean the
house. He only talked about that which concerned him.
He treated people kindly and made them feel easy in
his company. He was generous with whatever he had.
He was very balanced in his character. If he sat with
someone, he would never leave before his guest left him
first. If someone gave him a hard time, he was patient
with them. Hence everyone liked his company. He was
very affectionate, never harsh or greedy. He never accepted
praise except what was reasonable.

Reformation of His Society
Prophet Muhammad brought about many changes
in his society:
• He was a champion for equal rights of women;
he removed the husband’s “ownership” of the wife.
He established the woman’s right to own property
as well as her right to inheritance. He defended her
right of choosing or refusing a man for marriage.
• He became a protector of orphans; he established
proper treatment for them. A common saying of his
was, “The best home is a home in which an orphan
is well treated, and the worst home is a home in
which an orphan is mistreated.” He forbade the
misuse of the inheritance of the orphan, ensuring
that they would receive what was rightfully theirs
when they came of age.

• He became an environmentalist. It was his practice
to assign a man from among his companions
to collect all of the trash at camping sights when
they were journeying.
• He forbade the overloading of any beast of burden.
He preached merciful treatment for all animals.
• He taught his followers to love and respect the
nature around them and instructed his followers
to plant even on the Day of Doom. He forbade the
destruction of nature, especially trees, even during
times of war.

His Early Life
In 570 AD, a child was born to a noble family
via the prophetic lineage of Ishmael, son of
Abraham, in Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula.
His name was Muhammad, “the praised one.”
He was orphaned at an early age; hence he understood
the plight of orphans and the underprivileged.
Muhammad grew to be a young man
with an outstanding character. God Almighty
protected him from the evils of the Arab way of
life such as drinking alcohol, fornicating, theft
etc. He was known as al-Amin, the trustworthy,
for people entrusted him with their valuables.
Even before Islam, Muhammad was interested
in the problems of his society and sought the
establishment of virtue in the society, such as
the prevention of injustices being perpetrated
against foreign traders.

Prophet-hood

At the age of 40, he received his first revelation from Allah
during the ninth month of the lunar calendar, Ramadan,
delivered by the Archangel Gabriel. The first message revealed
to him was “Read/recite in the name of your Lord,
who created you!” Hence Islam, the way of life Muhammad
was sent to teach, emphasized the acquisition and
the dissemination of knowledge since its inception.
Over a period of twenty-three years, he continued to receive
revelations. This message named the “Qur’an” by
Allah is addressed to all humanity and has a basic message;
belief in the oneness of Allah, the Creator; His angels;
His Messengers; His Books; The Day of Judgment;
and His Devine Decree over all of His creation.
The first believer was the Prophet’s wife, Khadijah, who is
respected as the “mother” of Muslims.
In the first thirteen years of his prophet-hood, he invited
people to abandon idol worship and to become a community
of monotheists. Unfortunately, as he delivered

this message, the Meccans saw him as a danger to their
way of life, idol worshipping. As he called for the rights of
the weak, he drew the anger and wrath of the strong. He
became the champion to the poor and oppressed.
In order to persuade him to abandon his message, all
sorts of schemes like bribery, torture and banishment
were used. Despite all these abuses, none of his followers
deserted Islam. In 622 AD, Muhammad received a
command from God to migrate to Medina, a city north
of Mecca. This event was so momentous that the Islamic
calendar begins with this migration (hijrah). In Medina,
Muslims became a cohesive society. More people from
every religion, tribe and race embraced Islam. People
from all parts were affected by outstanding character and
grace of the Prophet.
Ten years after the hijrah, Prophet Muhammad returned
to Mecca with an army of 10,000 men under the strict
order that no blood was to be spilt, no revenge was to be
taken. He respectfully rode into Mecca on the back of his
camel bowing so that his head nearly rested on her neck.
Upon his entering the city, he told its inhabitant: “I say
to you what the Prophet Joseph said to his brothers; ‘this
day, no reproach be cast on you. May Allah forgive you.
You are free.’”
The following year in the pilgrimage season, he gave his
farewell sermon in which he said:
We have put the ways of ignorance behind us now. We
must drop all ties with usury. There is to be justice and no
one should ever be oppressed; all men are equal regardless
of black and white, rich or poor, Arab or non-Arab.
The thing that distinguishes us from one another is piety;
there shall be no more paganism...
During this time, the following verse was revealed to him:
“This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed
My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a
religion…” (Qur’an 5: 3)


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