A Simple Guide to ISLAM
Muhammad – The Prophet of Islam
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According to the French philosopher, Voltaire (1694-1778), “No
one is a hero to his valet.” The reason for this is that a valet has
access to a person’s private life, and in private life no one is
perfect. Those close to a person usually do not hold him in such
high esteem as those who are further off. That is why they cannot
come to think of him as a hero. But as Soren Smith has written,
this does not hold true for the Prophet of Islam. History shows that
the closer one came to him, the more one was taken by his fine
qualities.
Here are a few incidents which illustrate that the Prophet of Islam
always practised what he preached to others.
Once when the Prophet was at home with his wife, Umm Salamah,
he summoned the maidservant for some errand, but she seemed to
take a long time in coming, Seeing signs of anger on the Prophet’s
face Umm Salamah got up to see what had happened to the girl.
She opened the curtain and saw her playing outside with the goat’s
kids. She called to her once again, and this time she came. The
Prophet was holding a tooth-stick at the time, “If I had not feared
the retribution of Judgement Day, he said to the girl, “I would have
hit you with this tooth-stick.”
It happened that a woman of Madinah, who used to clean the
mosque, passed away. She was black-skinned and mentally
deranged and there were few to perform her funeral. Those who
came to it did not think it proper to inform the Prophet. When he
finally heard about it, he asked to be informed of the death of any
Muslim in future, irrespective of his or her status. And he
performed the funeral service later.
