Exemplary Conduct

First, he made mention of the greatness of God. Then he went on to say: By God, as you sleep, so will you die, and as you awaken, so will you be raised after death: you will be taken to account for your deeds. Good will be rewarded with good and evil with evil. And, for all eternity, the good will remain in heaven, and the evil will remain in hell. One who goes against the times in his personal life faces difficulties at almost every step, but these difficulties are not injurious. They may wound one’s feelings but not one’s body. At the most, they are a test requiring quiet forbearance. But the position is quite different when one makes it one’s mission to oppose convention publicly— when one starts telling people what they are required to do and what not to do. The Prophet was not just a believer; he was also entrusted with conveying the word of God to others. This latter role brought him into a headlong collision with his countrymen. All forms of adversity— from the pain of hunger to the trepidation of battle—were inflicted on him. Yet throughout the twenty-three years of his mission, he always remained just and circumspect in his actions. It was not that he had no human feelings in him and, therefore, incapable of bitterness; it was simply that the fear of God governed his conduct. Three years after the Prophet’s migration to Madinah, Makkan opponents mounted an assault on Madinah, and the Battle of Uhud occurred. In the beginning, the