The Prophet as a Man: Taking Things Easy

[PsychoDad]

Salaam Aliekum

An important thing the Prophet (peace be upon him) wanted Muslims to realize is that they must not set themselves hard tasks that they might not be able to fulfill. This applies particularly to worship. In their devotion and the comfort they achieve through worship, people might often set themselves such tasks, committing themselves to their fulfillment under all circumstances. The Prophet wanted them to take things easy and keep them flexible. It is often the case that a person who commits himself to the fulfillment of certain duties when he is young and in full vigor might not be able to fulfill them when he is older. Hence, the Prophet advised them to moderate their targets.

Abdullah ibn Amr was one such young man who accepted Islam in its early days. He used to fast many days on end, in a voluntary act of worship. When the Prophet heard of this, he went to see him. Abdullah reports: “My fasting was mentioned to the Prophet, so he came to see me at my place. I gave him a cushion made of hide and filled with fiber to sit on, but he sat on the floor and kept the cushion between us. He asked me: Is it not enough for you to fast three days each month? I said: Messenger of God! (implying that it was too little). He increased the figure time after time, suggesting five, seven, nine and eleven. Each time I made the same reply. He then said: There can be no better fasting than to follow the Prophet David who used to fast half of his days. Therefore, fast on alternate days.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad and Al-Nassaie.)

This Hadith sets the pattern that often happens with young people who are dedicated to their faith. In their idealism and keenness to achieve what is best, they try to excel their peers and elders by spending much time in worship, or fasting as many days as they can. The Prophet insisted always on moderation. Hence, when he heard that Abdullah fasted very often he did not wait until he saw him; he went to visit him. The visit indicated to Abdullah that there was an important matter the Prophet wished to speak to him about.

Abdullah was a young companion of the Prophet who embraced Islam in its early days in Makkah. He was one of the most learned of the Prophet’s companions, reporting more than one thousand Hadiths. When the Prophet visited him, he welcomed him, giving him a cushion to sit on, but the Prophet preferred to sit on the floor so that he would be with his companion at the same level. As the Prophet approached the subject of his visit, he suggested that Abdullah should fast three days each month. This is a reasonable way of earning rich reward, because God rewards a good action with at least ten times its value. Thus, fasting three days earns the reward of fasting the whole month. If this is maintained as a habit, one earns the reward of fasting all the time. But Abdullah felt that was too little. The Prophet increased the number by two each time, and Abdullah kept asking for more. Then the Prophet stopped at the maximum that no one should exceed, which is to fast on alternate days. Abdullah did that. But later when he was an old man, he expressed his regret that he did not act on the Prophet’s advice. The reason was that he felt that it was a commitment he made to the Prophet and he did not wish to go back on it. Had he done so, he would still be within his right, but he felt that he should honor what he said to the Prophet.

On every occasion the Prophet behaved as one of his people, wanting to share with them whatever they were doing. However, he was also keenly aware that his position as God’s Messenger gave his actions a special status. This is clear in the following Hadith reported by Abdullah ibn Abbas: “The Prophet came to the place where people were given water to drink. His uncle, Al-Abbas, said to his son: Fadl! Go to your mother and fetch the Prophet a drink from there. The Prophet, however, said to him: Give me a drink. Al-Abbas said: Messenger of God! They put their hands in it. He told him to give him a drink, and he drank it. He then went to Zamzam as people were working there bringing up the water and doing the work. The Prophet said to them: Continue as you are, because you are doing fine work. By God, had it not been for fear that people would take away your role, I would have come down with you, putting the rope over my shoulder.” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Ahmad.)

The first thing we note in this Hadith is the Prophet’s desire to be treated like all his companions. When his uncle, Al-Abbas, who was supervising the distribution of water to pilgrims instructed his son to go and fetch him a drink from his nearby home, the Prophet insisted that he would drink like all people. His uncle mentioned that people placed their hands in it, and that their hands might not be that clean. Still the Prophet would drink from the same water as other people did.

Serving Zamzam water to pilgrims was a privilege and an honor that belonged to the Hashimite clan of the Prophet. Hence, when he saw his cousins working on that, he praised their work and told them that it would earn reward from God. He would have liked to share in that honor, but he feared that people would then consider it a Sunnah and they would compete with the Hashimites in doing it. Therefore, he preferred to keep it safe in their hands, without giving it any religious aspect.

This was the Prophet’s constant policy: Appearing like one of his people, speaking easily to all, making sure that they would be with him at their ease, speaking to him as they would speak to their friends and relatives. Abdullah ibn Masoud reports: “A man came to speak to the Prophet, and he was shaking of fear. The Prophet said to him: Calm down! I am not a king. I am only the son of a Qurayshi woman who used to eat dried meet.” (Related by Ibn Majah and others.)

The man speaking to the Prophet felt in awe of him. He was God’s messenger and the head of state. People often dread meeting presidents, ministers, and holders of high position. The Prophet noticed that and wanted to give him reassurance. He thus reminds the man that he was equal to him, as he was the son of a woman from Quraysh. He further stressed his humility, mentioning that his mother used to eat dried meat, like other women of her social position.




Compiled from various sources.

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. thank you for posting this information

the fact that the Beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)always always showed he was human is very important, for we are showen a way to live, one that we can try our best to achieve, not something that is beyond us.