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