The Prophet in Makkah

loftiest human values. An average Arab had just one source of income—his camel. But if he had guests, he would sacrifice this invaluable beast to provide them with food. If a victim of oppression took refuge with an Arab in his tent, he knew he had a friend who would give his own life to defend the wronged. Even plunderers did their looting in a chivalrous manner. If they wanted to snatch the clothes and jewellery of a tribe’s womenfolk, they would not allow themselves to grab them off the women’s bodies with their own hands: instead, they would tell the women to hand over their valuables, and they would look in the opposite direction so that they did not catch sight of them while they were taking off their clothes. It would be misleading to think of the desert Arabs as pure simpletons who knew nothing. On the contrary, they were brilliant, alert people, quick to penetrate a matter’s depths. Seven Muslim converts came to the Prophet from a particular tribe. They told him that they had learnt five things during the ignorance that preceded Islam. They would adhere to these principles unless the Prophet gave them other instructions. The Prophet then asked them what characteristics they had inherited from ignorance. “Thankfulness in times of affluence,” they answered, “and patience in times of difficulty. Steadfastness on the field of battle and resignation to fate. We learnt not to rejoice over another’s setbacks, even if one’s enemy was afflicted.”