Holy Prophet (S.A.W)´s Qualities

Some Outstanding Qualities of the Holy Prophet(pbuh)

(1) Honesty and Truthfulness:

• All the people in Makkah appreciated and recognized his honesty and truthfulness and used to call him Al-Sadiq, The Truthful and Al-Amin – The trustworthy.
• Hazrat Khadija married him because of his qualities of honesty and trustworthiness.
• Even the bitterest enemies of Islam, Abu Jahl and Abu Sufyan, admitted that Muhammad (PBUH) was not a liar; they just thought that what he said, they did not deem to be right and so they opposed him.
• When he started preaching Islam publicly for the first time and asked. “O Quraish! If I say that an army is advancing on you from behind the mountain, would you believe me?” They all unanimously said: “Yes, because we have never heard you tell a lie.”
• He practiced these qualities all through his life, no matter what the circumstances were and this was acknowledged by all, even those who were hell-bent to eliminate him one-way or the other.
• The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: “Truth leads to piety and piety leads to Jannat. A man persists in speaking the truth till he is enrolled with Allah as a truthful. Falsehood leads to vice and vice leads to the Fire (Hell), and a person persists on telling lies until he is enrolled as a liar.” (Al-Bukhari & Muslim)

(2) Humility and Modesty:

• The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: “Allah has revealed to me that you should humble yourself to one another. One should neither hold himself above nor transgress against another.” He practiced it to an extent that he disliked if anyone stood up when he entered a room, for he never wished to be treated as a ruler.
• When Hazrat Ayesha was asked what did Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) used to do inside his house, she said: “He used to keep himself busy helping members of his family and when it was time for salat, he would get up for prayer.” (Al-Bukhari)
• It shows how humble and modest the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was because he never deemed it as an insult and indignity when he extended his cooperation to women in household affairs.
• When he entered Makkah as a conqueror, he exhibited humility, gentleness and modesty and not pride, arrogance or self-conceit, in line with what has been commanded in the Holy Quran:
• “And walk not on earth with conceit and arrogance.” (17:37)
• “And turn not your face away from men with pride, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allah likes not any arrogant boaster.” (31:18)
• The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
“Every religion has a distinctive quality and the distinctive quality of Islam is modesty. (Ibn Majah)…. Modesty is part of faith, and faith is in Paradise and indecency is from evil and evil is in Hell.”(Ahmad and Tirmizi)
• All the Messengers of Allah practiced and preached humility. The Holy Quran says:
• “Before thee we sent (messengers) to many nations, and we afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity, that they might learn humility.”(6:42)
• “And be kind and humble to the believers who follow you.” (26:215)
• The Holy Prophet (PBUH) not only himself lived a simple, modest life but taught his followers to be humble, kind and courteous to all.

(3) Fulfillment of Promises and Honoring the Covenants:

• The Holy Prophet (PBUH) always fulfilled his promises, so much so that people used to keep their valuables with him for safe keeping. He was so meticulous in it that when he secretly migrated to Medina to avert the murder plan of the Quraish, he left Hazrat Ali behind so that he could return the trusts that people had left with him.
• When the Holy Prophet (PBUH) wrote a letter to Heracleus, the Caesar of the Byzantine Empire, inviting him to embrace Islam, the Roman Emperor checked up the credentials of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) from Abu Sufyan who, like him, happened to be in Palestine at the given point of time. What a tribute it is to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) that even his worst enemy confirmed to Heraclius that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) had never broken his promise and that allover he was reputed to be a trustworthy and truthful person.
• It certainly speaks of the perfection of character when we visualize the Holy Prophet (PBUH) returning Abu Jandal, a Muslim from Makkah, who escaped prison and managed to reach the place where the Treaty of Hudaibiya was being written, to the enemies saying:
“O Abu Jandal ! Be patient, we can not break the treaty. Allah will soon find a way for you.”
• The same he did when he disallowed two of his Companions to participate in the Battle of Badr because they had pledged to the Makkahns that they would not fight on the side of the Muslims while seeking release from them.
• The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
• “For everyone who breaks his covenant, there will be a flag on the Day of Judgment, and it will be said: `This is (proof of) betrayal by so and so.” (Muslim).
• “Allah Almighty said: “I will contend against three (types of) people on the Day of judgment: A person who has made a covenant in My Name and then has broken it……..” (Al-Bukarhi)
• “Whoever possesses these four characteristics is a hypocrite; and anyone who possesses one of them in fact possesses a trait of hypocrisy until he gives it up: When he is entrusted (with something), he proves dishonest…. When he makes a covenant, he breaks it….”. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
• By his personal example, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) set an example for all mankind. The Holy Quran says: “O you who believe! Fulfill (all) obligations.” (5:1)…. “And fulfill the covenant, for the covenant shall be questioned about.” (17:34)

(4) Forgiving others’ Offences:

• Allah, the Exalted, says:
• “Let them forgive and Passover (the offence). Do you not desire that Allah should forgive you?” (24:22)
• “Repel evil with that which is best.”(23:96)
• A great quality of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was that he never took revenge from anyone, so much so that he forgave even his bitterest enemies. When he conquered Makkah, the city where he and his followers were subjected to ruthless torture, humiliation, insults, boycott and persecution for thirteen long years, he pardoned everyone by granting general amnesty to all, something which hardly has any parallel in world history.
• When the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was maltreated at Taif, the angel of mountains greeted him and said:
• “O Muhammad, Allah listened to what your people had said to you so that you may give me your orders. If you wish I will bring together the two mountains that stand opposite to each other at the extremities of Makkah to crush them in between.” But Allah’s Messenger said: “I rather hope that Allah will raise from among their descendents people as will worship Allah the One, and will not ascribe partners to Him (in worship).” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim).
• In the Battle of Uhd, when the face and head of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) were bleeding, his Companions asked him to curse the enemies, but he said that he was not sent to curse but to invite people to the path of Allah.
• Only a man of his sterling personality could have forgiven Wehshi, who killed Hazrat Hamza in the Battle of Uhd or Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan, who had torn out and chewed Hazrat Hamza’s liver.
• Whenever he dealt with any situation, he always kept in view the commands of Allah who says:
• “Show forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the foolish.” (7:199)
• “So overlook (O Muhammad) their faults with gracious forgiveness.” (15:85)
• “And Verily, whosoever shows patience and forgives, that would truly be from the things recommended by Allah.” (42:43)