The Prophet in the Quran

Humanitarian Feeling It has been recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, how once, when the Prophet had borrowed some money from a merchant in Madinah, the latter came to him to demand the repayment of his debt. He was rude and bitter in his manner. He even went to the extent of saying that all those belonging to the family of Abdul Muttalib (the Prophet’s grandfather) kept deferring payment of their debts. The Companions became angry on hearing such harsh, uncalled for words from him, and wanted to beat him. But the Prophet stopped them from doing so. He said: “Leave him alone. For a creditor has a right to demand payment, even though he may be harsh in doing so.” (Sahih alBukhari, Hadith No. 2306) This incident tells us of the feelings of the Prophet in controversial matters: he did not think only in terms of his own self but was ever willing to make full concessions to the other party. No doubt, the merchant’s manner of speaking was contrary to all the norms of decent behaviour. He attacked the Prophet’s honour and prestige, saying things, which were sure to provoke his people. But the Prophet, owing to his high sense of justice, ignored all the unpleasantness. Instead of giving in to his own feelings, he made concessions to the feelings of the other party. Overlooking all the insulting aspects of the matter, he thought only of the right of the creditor to demand repayment of his debt. Trust in Realities In 6 A.H., after lengthy negotiations, a treaty was arrived at between the Prophet of Islam and the idolators. When the articles of the treaty were finalized, the Prophet started dictating them. Ali ibn Abi Talib began committing them to paper, but when the Prophet dictated these words: “The following is the text of a pact reached by Muhammad, the Prophet of God and Suhayl ibn Amr,” Suhayl, the non-Muslim delegate of the Quraysh, took offence at this. He said: “The source of contention or the cause of hostility between us is due to the very fact that we do not believe that you are a prophet of God. If we accepted you as a prophet, then all opposition would cease on its own.” He then asked the Prophet to dictate instead: “This is a pact reached by Muhammad ibn Abdullah.” Ali said that he could not erase the words “Muhammad the Prophet of God.” So, the Prophet himself deleted those words arid then asked Ali to write instead “Muhammad, son of Abdullah.” The real status of the Prophet of Islam was that he was the Prophet of God: his entire mission rested on this claim. Erasing the words ‘Messenger of God’ was like erasing one’s own actual identity, which was a very delicate matter. It amounted to giving the impression that he himself was in doubt of his own identity. That is why Umar Faruq, in a state of great agitation, came to Abu Bakr and said: “Is he not the Prophet of God?” (Seerah ibn Kathir, pp. 320-21) Yet the Prophet of Islam did not attach importance to any of these things, the reason being that he had risen so high that he was able to penetrate the veils of appearances; he lived in the sphere