Muhammad: The Ideal Character
MUHAMMAD The Ideal Character
~ 14 ~
became his prime objective, and his fear of hell, of
which likewise he gave warning to others, knew no
bounds. His inner agitation would repeatedly
manifest itself in his invocations and sincere
repentance. How his way of life differed from that
of his contemporaries can be inferred from certain
incidents, which we narrate below.
Umm Salamah, a wife of the Prophet, tells of how,
when the Prophet was visiting her house, he once
called the maidservant. The girl did not make her
appearance, so Umm Salamah pulled back the
curtain to reveal the maidservant idling away her
time outside. The Prophet was annoyed. Showing
the maidservant the little switch he held in his
hand, he told her that had it not been that he feared
divine retribution on the Day of Judgement, he
would have struck her with it. Even the mildest of
punishment was to be eschewed for fear of God.
The prisoners of war taken captive at the battle of
Badr (Ramadhan, 2.A.H.) were amongst his bitterest
enemies. Nevertheless, he made sure that they were
given the best of treatment. Among them was
Suhail ibn Amr who was a fiery speaker and in the
