Exemplary Conduct

EXEMPLARY CONDUCT T he Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was born in Arabia on 22 April A.D. 570 and died on 8 June A.D. 632. He was a very handsome and powerfully built man. His childhood indicated the sublime and dynamic personality that was to emerge. As he grew up, the nobility of his personality used to affect anyone beholding him, but he was so soft-spoken and of such a genial disposition that anyone coming into close contact with him would learn to love him. A perfectly balanced personality—tolerant, truthful, perspicacious and magnanimous—he presented the highest example of human nobility. According to Daud ibn Husayn, he became known as he grew older as the most chivalrous among his people, tolerant and forbearing, truthful and trustworthy, and always a good neighbour. He would stay aloof from all quarrels and quibbles and never indulged in foul utterances, abuse or invective. People even left their valuables in his custody, knowing he would never betray them. His unimpeachable trustworthiness won him the title of “al-Amin,” a faithful custodian, an unfailing trustee. When he married at age twenty-five, his uncle Abu Talib performed the marriage service. “There is no one to compare with my nephew, Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah,” he