MUHAMMAD THE IDEAL CHARACTER

~ 6 ~ wife of one of the leading merchants in Makkah and when the Prophet married her, he found that a vast field of business in Arabia and beyond was thrown open to him. He now had every opportunity to lead a successful and contented life. But this was not to be. For the Prophet attached no importance to worldly affluence and deliberately chose a path which ran counter to it. Before his marriage he had earned his livelihood in a variety of ways, but now he gave up all these occupations and plunged into the quest for truth and reality. He neglected, too, to keeping up social relations, made no efforts to gain eminence, and instead, would wander in the hills and caves, absorbed in the profoundest of thoughts. He would ponder over the mysteries of creation, of life and death, of good and evil, and try to find order and light amidst chaos and gloom. Often he used to repair to the loneliness of a cave on Mount Hira, and stay there till his meagre supply of food and water was exhausted. He would go back home only to replenish his supplies, then would return to the solitude of nature to pray and meditate, struggling to find answers to the questions which surged through his consciousness.