Exemplary Conduct

When she arrived, the Prophet had a miswak17 in his hand. “If it wasn’t for fear of retribution on the Day of Judgement,” he told the maid, “I would have hit you with this miswak.” But, even this mildest of punishments was to be eschewed. The men taken prisoner in the Battle of Badr were the Prophet’s bitterest enemies, but his treatment of them was still impeccable. One of these prisoners was a man named Suhayl ibn ‘Amr. A fiery speaker, he used to publicly denounce the Prophet to incite people against him and his mission. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab suggested that two of his lower teeth be pulled out to dampen his oratorical zeal. The Prophet was shocked by ‘Umar’s suggestion. “God would disfigure me for this on the Day of Judgement, even though I am His messenger,” he said to ‘Umar. This is meant by the world being a planting- ground for the hereafter. One who realizes this fact lives a life oriented towards the hereafter—a life in which all efforts are aimed at achieving success in the following, eternal world; a life in which real value is attached—not to this ephemeral world—but to the life beyond death. One becomes aware that this world is not the final destination; it is only a road towards the destination, a starting-point of preparation for future life. Just as every action of a worldly person is performed with worldly interests in mind, so every act of God’s faithful servant is focused on the hereafter. Their reactions to every situation in life reflect this attitude of looking at every matter from the perspective of life after death and of how it will affect their interests in the next