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THE
MILDNESS AND FORBEARANCE OF GOD’S MESSENGER
Mildness is another
dimension of the character of God’s Messenger, upon him
be peace and blessings. He was a bright mirror in which
God reflected His Mercy.
Mildness is a reflection of compassion.
God made His Messenger mild and gentle, not harsh and
stern. Due to his mildness, God’s Messenger gained many
converts to Islam and surpassed numerous obstacles on his
way to ultimate victory.
After the victory of Badr, the Battle of
Uhud was a severe trial for the Muslim community in
Madina. Although God’s Messenger was of the opinion that
they should face the enemy on the outskirts of Madina, the
majority of the Muslim army urged him to go out into the
open for a pitched battle. When the two armies met each
other at the foot of Mount Uhud, God’s Messenger
positioned fifty archers in the pass of ‘Aynayn and
ordered them not to leave their place without permission,
even if they saw that the Muslims had won the victory
decisively.
The Muslim army, one third of the enemy
in number and equipment, had almost defeated the Makkan
polytheists at the beginning of the battle. Seeing the
enemy fleeing the battlefield, the archers forgot the
Prophet’s command and left their positions in pursuit of
them. However, Khalid ibn Walid, the cavalry commander of
the Makkan army, saw this and, riding round the mountain,
attacked the Muslim army from behind. The fleeing enemy
soldiers turned back, and as a result, the Muslims, caught
in the cross-fire, experienced a reverse. More than
seventy Muslims were martyred and God’s Messenger was
wounded. He might have reproached those who urged him to
come into the open for a pitched battle and the archers
who left their place contrary to his orders. But he did
the reverse and showed leniency to them. The Qur’an
says:
It was by the mercy of God
that you were gentle to them; if you had been harsh and
hard of heart, they would have dispersed from about you.
So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult
with them in the affair. And when you are resolved, then
put your trust in God; surely God loves those who put
their trust (in Him). (Al ‘Imran, 3.159)
This verse shows, besides the need for
leaders to be mild and lenient to those who make
well-intentioned mistakes, the importance which Islam
attaches to consultation in public administration.
The mildness and forgiveness of God’s
Messenger was a reflection of God’s Names, the All-Mild,
the All-Clement and the All-Forgiving. God does not stop
providing for people despite their rebellion or unbelief.
While the vast majority of people disobey Him either in
unbelief and explicit or implicit association of partners
with Him or transgression of His Commandments, the sun
continues to send them its heat and light, clouds come to
their aid with their tears – rain – and the earth
never stops feeding them with its various fruits and
plants. This is because of the Clemency and Forgiveness of
God Almighty, which God’s Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings, reflected through his compassion, mildness
and forgiveness.
Like the Prophet Abraham, whom he used
to say that he resembled, God’s Messenger was mild,
imploring, clement and penitent (Hud, 11.75), and also
gentle to believers and full of pity and compassionate for
them (al-Tawba, 9.127). Abraham, upon him be peace, was
never angry with people, however much they tormented him.
He wished for good even for his enemies. He implored God
and shed tears in His Presence. Since he was a man of
peace and salvation, God made the fire into which he was
thrown cool and safe for him (al-Anbiya’, 21.69). Like
him, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings,
was never angry with anybody because of what was done to
him. When his wife ‘A’isha, may God be pleased with
her, was made the object of a slander, he did not think to
punish the slanderers even after ‘A’isha was cleared
by the Qur’an. Bedouins often came to his presence and
behaved impolitely, but he did not even frown at them.
Although extremely sensitive, he always showed forbearance
towards everybody, whether friend or foe. His sensitivity
was such that if, for example, a needle pierced his
finger, it would give him more pain than others feel when
speared. Despite this, he tolerated all the impudence of
people.
As recounted earlier, he shared out the
spoils of war after the Battle of Hunayn, when a man named
Dhu l-Huwaysira objected, saying: ‘Be just, o
Muhammad!’ This was an unforgivable offence against the
sacred character of a Prophet whose role was to establish
justice in the world. Unable to endure such offences
against God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, ‘Umar reacted: ‘Let me kill this hypocrite,
o God’s Messenger!’ But the Messenger did nothing
other than say:
Who else will show justice
if I am not just? If I do not show justice, then I have
been lost and brought to naught.38
According to another version, he said:
If I am not just, then, by
following me, you – the people – have been lost and
brought to naught.39
In addition, he implied that that man
would later take part in a seditious movement, which came
true during the Caliphate of ‘Ali. Dhu l-Huwaysira was
found dead among the Kharijites killed in the Battle of
Nahrawan.
As related by Anas ibn Malik, a Jewish
woman offered a roasted sheep to God’s Messenger after
the conquest of Khaybar. Just before he took the first
morsel to his mouth, God’s Messenger stopped and told
the others at the meal not to eat of it, saying: This
sheep tells me that it is poisonous. Nevertheless, a
Companion, named Bishr, died immediately after he took the
first morsel. The Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, sent for the woman and questioned her on why
she tried to poison him. The woman replied:
If you are really a Prophet, the poison
will not affect you. If you are not, I wanted to save
people from your evil.
God’s Messenger forgave the woman for
her conspiracy to kill him.40
While the Prophet was once returning to
his house after talking to his Companions in the mosque, a
Bedouin pulled him by the collar and said rudely: ‘O
Muhammad! Give me my due! Load up these two camels of
mine. For you will load them up with neither your own
wealth nor the wealth of your father.’ To this
impertinence, God’s Messenger gave the response, without
showing any sign of offence: Give that man what he
wants!41
Zayd ibn San’an narrates:
Once, God’s Messenger borrowed some
money from me. I was not yet a Muslim then. I went to him
to collect my debt before its due time, and insulted him,
saying; ‘You the children of ‘Abd al-Muttalib, are
very reluctant to pay your debts!’ ‘Umar became very
angry with this insult of mine and shouted; ‘O enemy of
God! Were it not for the treaty between us and the Jewish
community, I would cut off your head! Speak to God’s
Messenger politely!’ However, God’s Messenger smiled
at me and, turning to ‘Umar, said: Umar, pay the man his
debt! And add to it the amount of twenty gallons because
you have frightened him!
‘Umar relates the rest of the story:
‘We went together. On the way, Zayd
spoke to me unexpectedly: ‘O ‘Umar! You got angry with
me. But I have found in him all the features of the Last
Prophet recorded in the Torah, the Old Testament. However,
there is this verse in it: ‘His mildness surpasses his
anger. The severity of impudence to him increases him only
in mildness and forbearance.’ In order to test his
forbearance, I uttered what I uttered. Now I am convinced
that he is the Prophet whose coming the Torah predicted,
so, I believe and bear witness that he is the Last
Prophet.’42
The mildness and forbearance of God’s
Messenger sufficed for the conversion of Zayd ibn
San’an, who was one of the Jewish scholars of the time.
God’s Messenger himself was extremely
meticulous in practising the religion. Nobody could
imitate him in performing supererogatory prayers. Despite
being sinless, he spent more than half the night praying
in tears, and sometimes fasted two or three days
successively. Every moment, he took a further step towards
the ‘praised station’ set for him by God. However, he
was very tolerant towards others; in order that his Umma
should not be put under a heavy burden, he did not perform
the supererogatory prayers in the mosque. When a complaint
was circulated about an imam (prayer leader) because he
prolonged the prayer, the Prophet climbed the pulpit and
said:
O you people! You cause aversion in
people from prayer. Whoever among you leads a prescribed
prayer should not prolong it, for there are among you
people who are sick or old or who are in urgent need.43
Once his congregation
complained to God’s Messenger about Mu’adh ibn Jabal
that he prolonged the night prayer. His love for Mu’adh
did not prevent the Messenger from reproaching him,
saying, Are you a trouble-maker? Are you a troublemaker?
Are you a trouble-maker?44
The mildness and forbearance of God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, captured the
hearts and preserved the unity of the Muslims. As stated
in the Qur’an, if he had been harsh and hard-hearted,
people would have dispersed from about him. But those who
saw him and listened to him were endowed with Divine
manifestations to the extent that they attained the rank
of sainthood. For example, Khalid ibn Walid was the
general of the Quraysh who caused the Muslims to
experience a reverse in the Battle of Uhud. However, when
he was not included in the army that went out for a
military campaign on the day following his conversion, he
was upset and sobbed.
Like Khalid, Ikrima and
‘Amr ibn al-‘As were among those who did great harm to
God’s Messenger and the Muslims. When they believed,
each became a sword of Islam drawn against unbelievers.
Ibn Hisham, the brother of Abu Jahl, converted to Islam
shortly before the death of God’s Messenger, upon him be
peace and blessings. He became so sincere a Muslim that
just before his martyrdom at the Battle of Yarmuk two
years after the death of God’s Messenger, he did not
drink the water that Hudayfa al-‘Adawi offered him,
asking him to take it to the one lying nearby groaning for
water. He died, having preferred his Muslim brother over
himself.45
Those people attained high ranks in the
enlightening atmosphere of God’s Messenger, upon him
peace and blessings. They were included among the
Companions, those regarded and respected as the most
virtuous people after the Prophets by almost the whole
body of the Muslim Ummah since the earliest days of Islam.
In order to explain their greatness, Said Nursi, the great
Muslim revivalist of the twentieth century, says:
I had been wondering why even the
greatest of saints like Muhyi al-Din ibn al-‘Arabi are
unable to attain the rank of the Companions. One day God
Almighty enabled me to perform in prayer a prostration,
which I have succeeded in doing only once during my life.
I concluded that it is impossible to attain the ranks of
the Companions because all the prostrations of the
Companions were like that in meaning and merit.46
It was God’s Messenger who brought up
the Companions. It is enough to establish the greatness of
the Companions that they succeeded despite their small
number in conveying Islam to the farthest areas of Asia
and Africa within a few decades, and Islam was rooted in
those areas so deeply that, despite the concerted efforts
of the global enemy powers for centuries backed with all
kinds of machinery and technological facilities, to remove
it from the surface of the earth, it continues to gain new
momentum every passing day and is the sole alternative for
the future salvation of humankind. The Companions, may God
be pleased with them all, developed from the wretched
state of the pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance to being guides
and teachers of a considerable part of mankind until the
Last Day, and the vanguard of the most magnificent
civilization of history.
God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, was a man of absolute balance. His universal
compassion did not prevent him from executing Divine
justice, and his mildness and forbearance did not go to
extremes of overlooking any breach of Islamic rules or
self-humiliation. For example, in a military campaign,
Usama ibn Zayd threw an enemy soldier to the ground. When
he was about to kill him, the man confessed belief.
However, judging that confession to be due to fear of
death, Usama killed the man. When informed of the
incident, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, became so angry with Usama that he reprimanded
him severely, saying: Did you cleave his heart open and
see (whether his confession of belief was due to fear of
death)? He repeated this so many times that Usama said
later: ‘I wished I had not yet become a Muslim on the
day I was scolded so severely.’47
Likewise, one day, Abu Dharr got angry
with Bilal and insulted him, saying: ‘You, the son of a
black woman!’ Bilal came to God’s Messenger and
reported the incident in tears. The Messenger reproached
Abu Dharr, saying: Do you still have a sign of Jahiliya?
Repentant of what he did, Abu Dharr lay on the ground and
said: ‘The head of Abu Dharr will not be raised (meaning
he will not get up) unless Bilal put his foot on it to
pass over it.’ Bilal forgave him and they were
reconciled.48
Such was the brotherhood and the
humanity Islam created between once savage people.
38. Muslim,
“Zakat,” 142, 148; Bukhari, “Adab,” 95,
“Manaqib,” 25.
39. Bukhari,
“Adab,” 95; Muslim, “Zakat,” 142.
40. Bukhari,
“Hiba,” 28; Abu Dawud, “Diyat,” 6.
41. Abu Dawud,
“Adab,” 1; Nasa’i, “Qasama,” 24.
42. Suyuti,
al-Khasa’is, 1.26; I. Hajar, al-Isaba, 1.566.
43. Bukhari,
“‘Ilm,” 28, “Adhan,” 61.
44. Muslim,
“Salat,” 179; Nasa’i, “Iftitah,” 71; Bukhari,
“Adab,” 74.
45. Hakim,
Mustadrak, 3.242.
46. Said Nursi,
Sozler, Istanbul, 1986, 459.
47. Muslim,
“Iman,” 158; I. Ma’ja, “Fitan,” 1.
48. Bukhari,
“Iman,” 22.
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