PROPHET MUHAMMAD—PART II

'It is no concern of yours whether He will forgive or punish them. They are wrongdoers.' (THE QURAN 3: 128) This admonition was enough for the Prophet and his anger subsided. Crippled with wounds, he started praying for the very people who had wounded him. Abdullah ibn Mas’ud later recalled how the Prophet was wiping the blood from his forehead, and at the same time praying: 'Lord, forgive my people, for they know not what they do.' (Hadith of Muslim) Biographies of the Prophet are full of incidents of this nature, which show his life to be a perfect model for mankind. They show that we are God’s servants, and servants we should remain in every condition. Being God’s humble servants, we should always remain in a state of trepidation before our Lord and the life Hereafter. Everything in the universe should serve to remind us of God. In every event we should see the hand of the Almighty, and, for us, every object should portray God’s signs. In all matters of a worldly nature, we should remember that everything will finally be referred to God. Fear of hell should make us live humbly among our fellows, and longing for Paradise should impress on us the significance of this world. So conscious should we be of God’s greatness that any idea of demonstrating our own greatness should appear ridiculous. No criticism should provoke us and no praise should make us vain. This is the ideal human character, which God displayed to us in the conduct of His Prophet. o Second Best Try, try by all means, to achieve the very best, but when you feel that you can only get the second best, then accept it gracefully. The Prophet was not just a believer; he was also entrusted with conveying the word of God to mankind.