MUHAMMAD THE IDEAL CHARACTER

~ 20 ~ the enemy forces deluged the Prophet with arrows, but his devoted followers made a ring around him and took the brunt of the arrows on their own bodies. Such devotion and veneration would make any man vain. They would engender a feeling of distinct superiority. But in the case of the Prophet, they did not have the slightest effect. His conduct was as unassuming as ever. Nor could biting criticism or provocation make him lose his balance. Anas tells of how a rustic approached the Prophet and pulled his mantle so hard that it left its mark on his neck. He asked the Prophet to give him two camel loads of merchandise, jibing that the goods belonged neither to him nor to his father. The Prophet replied that the rightful owner was God, and that he—the Prophet—was only His servant. He asked the rustic if he felt no fear at having behaved with such temerity. The rustic said he did not, knowing full well that the Prophet never returned evil for evil. At this the Prophet smiled and had one of his camels loaded with barley and another with dates, and then gave them both to the rustic.