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THE
MODESTY OF GOD’S MESSENGER
In
social life each man has a window called status through
which he looks out to see others and be seen. If the
window is built higher than his real stature, he tries,
through vanity and giving himself airs, to stretch himself
up to be seen taller than he really is. If the window is
set lower than his real stature, he must bow in humility
in order to look out, to see and be seen. Humility is the
measure of a man’s greatness; just as vanity or conceit
is the measure of low character.1
God’s
Messenger had a stature as high as to touch the ‘roof of
heavens’, so he had no need to be seen. Whoever
‘travels’ in the ‘realm of virtues’, he sees him
before every created being, including angels. He is, in
the words of Said Nursi, the noble aide-de-camp of God,
and he lowers himself to stay in the world for a while so
that people might find the way to God. Since he is the
greatest of mankind, he is the greatest in modesty - the
greater one is, the more modest he is.
God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, never regarded
himself as greater than anybody else. No one could
distinguish him among his Companions except for his
radiant face and attractive person. He lived as the
poorest of them, dressed like them, sat among them and ate
with them, as he did with slaves and servants. Once, a
woman saw him eating and remarked: ‘He is eating as if
he were a slave.’ God’s Messenger responded to her,
saying: Could there be a better slave than me? I am a
slave of God.2 He was once serving his
friends, when a Bedouin came in and shouted: ‘Who is the
master of this people?’ The answer of God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, was such that, besides
introducing himself, it also expressed a substantial
principle of Islamic leadership and public administration:
The master of the people is the one who serves them.
In the words of ‘Ali, ‘among people, he was one of
them’. When he reached Quba accompanied by Abu Bakr
during Hijra, some people of Madina who had not seen him
before, tried to kiss the hands of Abu Bakr because,
outwardly, there was no sign to distinguish the Prophet
from Abu Bakr.3
In
the construction of the Mosque in Madina after the Hijra,
he carried two sun-dried bricks while everybody else
carried one.4 In the digging of the ditch
around Madina to defend the city in the Battle of the
Ditch, the Companions bound a stone around their bellies
because of hunger, but God’s Messenger himself bound
two, because he was more hungry than anybody else.5
Once, a man saw him and, due to his awe-inspiring
appearance, began to tremble out of fear. The Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, calmed him, saying:
‘Brother, don’t be afraid! I am a man, like you, whose
mother used to eat dry bread.’6 Again, a
woman suffering from insanity pulled him by the hand and
said: ‘Come with me and do my housework.’ God’s
Messenger went with the woman and did the work.7
As reported by ‘A’isha, mother of believers, God’s
Messenger patched his clothes, repaired his shoes and
helped his wives with the housework.8
Although
his modesty elevated him to ‘the highest of the high’,
he regarded himself as an ordinary servant of God. Once he
said: No one can enter Paradise by his deeds. When
asked whether he could not either, he answered: I
cannot either, but for the Mercy of God.9
His
Companions attempted to do nothing without consulting him
or getting his permission or approval. Once, ‘Umar came
to him and asked his permission to go for minor
pilgrimage. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, gave him permission and made this request:
Brother, include me in your supplications. ‘Umar
rejoiced so much at that that one day he was to say later:
‘If the worlds had been granted to me that day, I would
not have felt the same happiness.’10
In
addition to the other virtues of the Prophet, upon him be
peace and blessings, his humility was one of the greatest
qualities. As he attained a higher rank each and every
day, he increased in humility and servanthood to God. His
servanthood is prior to his Messengership, as we mention
in the declaration of faith: I bear witness that there is
no god but God; I also bear witness that Muhammad is His
servant and Messenger. He preferred being a Prophet-slave
to being a Prophet-king.
He
was once sitting with the Archangel Gabriel, and said to
him: For days, I haven’t eaten anything. No sooner had
he uttered this than an angel appeared and asked: ‘O
Messenger of God, God greets you and asks: “Do you wish
to be a Prophet-king or a Prophet-slave?” Gabriel
advised him: ‘O Muhammad, be humble towards your
Lord!’ Humility was in fact indispensable to the
character of God’s Messenger, and he answered: I wish
to be a Prophet-slave.11
God
praises his servanthood and mentions him as a servant in
several verses of the Qur’an:
When
the servant of God stood up in prayer to Him, they
(the jinn) were well nigh upon him in swarms (to
watch his prayer). (al-Jinn, 72.19)
In
challenging unbelievers to bring the like of only a single
sura of the Qur’an; God also mentions him as a servant:
And
if you are in doubt concerning that which We have
sent down on Our servant, then bring a sura of the
like thereof, and call your witnesses beside God if
you are truthful. (al-Baqara, 2.23)
After
the death of Khadija and Abu Talib, God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, became convinced that he
could no longer stay in Makka with any hope of victory or
security. Before things became too critical, he went to
Ta’if in search of a new base for his faith, but he
received there the worst kind of welcome. At a time when
he felt himself without support and protection, God
manifested His Mercy perfectly and honored him with the
Ascension, raising him to His Presence. While narrating
this incident in the Qur’an, God mentions him, again, as
His servant to show that God’s Messenger deserves
Ascension through his servanthood:
Glory
be to him, Who carried His servant by night from the
Holy Mosque to the Furthest Mosque, the precincts of
which We have blessed, that We might show him some
of Our signs. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.
(al-Isra’, 17.1)
Humility
is the most important aspect of the servanthood of God’s
Messenger, who declared:
Whoever
is humble, God exalts him, and whoever is haughty,
God abases him.12
‘Ali
describes the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings:
God’s
Messenger was the most generous of people in giving
out and the mildest and the foremost of them in
patience and perseverance. He was the most truthful
of people in speech, the most amiable and congenial
in companionship and the noblest of them in family.
Whoever sees him first is stricken by awe of him but
whoever knows him closely is attracted to him
deeply, and whoever attempts to describe him says:
‘I have, either before him or after him, never
seen the like of him, upon him be peace and
blessings’.13
1.
Said Nursi, Letters 2,315.
2. Haythami, Majma‘, 9.21.
3. I. Hisham, 2.137.
4. Buhari, 1.111; Muslim, 2.65; Semhudi, Wafa’,
1.237; I. Sa‘d, 1. 240.
5. Tirmidhi, “Zuhd,” 39.
6. I. Maja, “At‘ıma,” 30; Haythami, 9.20.
7. Qadi ‘Iyad, al-Shifa’, 1.131, 133.
8. Tirmidhi, Shama’il, 78; I. Hanbal, 6.256.
9. Bukhari, “Riqaq,” 18.
10. Ibn Ma’ja, “Manasik,” 5; Tirmidhi,
“Da‘awat,” 109; Abu Dawud, “Witr,” 23.
11. I. Hanbal, 2.231; Haythami, 9.18.
12. Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal, 3.113; Haythami,
10.325.
13. Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 3880.
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