Discover Islam

Part 14: Characteristic of the Prophet

Dress

His dress generally consisted of a shirt, tamad (trousers), a sheet thrown round the sholders and a turban. o­n rare occasions, he would put o­n costly robes presented to him by foreign emissaries in the later part of his life (Ahmed, Musnad, Hafiz Bin Qaiyyam).

His blanket had several patches (Tirmizi). He had very few spare clothes, but he kept them spotlessy clean (Bukhari). He wanted others also to put o­n simple but clean clothes. o­nce he saw a person putting o­n dirty clothes and remarked,

"Why can't this man wash them." (Abu Dawud, Chapter "Dress"). 

On another occasion he enquired of a person in dirty clothes whether he had any income. Upon getting a reply in the affirmative, he observed,

"When Allah has blessed you with His bounty, your appearence should reflect it." (Abu Dawud) 

He used to observe:

"Cleanliness is piety".

Mode of living

His house was but a hut with walls of unbaked clay and a thatched roof of palm leaves covered by camel skin. He had separate apartments for his wives, a small room for each made of similar materials. His own apartment contained a rope cot, a pillow stuffed with palm leaves , the skin of some animal spread o­n the floor and a water bag of leather and some weapons. These were all his earthly belongings, besides a camel, a horse, and an ass and some land which he had aquired in the later part of his life (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud). o­nce a few of his disciples, noticing the imprint of his mattress o­n his body, wished to give him a softer bed but he politely declined the offer saying,

"What have I to do with worldly things. My connection with the world is like that of a traveler resting for a while underneath the shade of a tree and then moving o­n." 

Amr Ibn Al-Harith, a brother in law of the prophet (pbuh), says that when the prophet died, he did not leave a cent, a slave man or woman, or any property except his white mule, his weapons and a piece of land which he had dedicated for the good of the community (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari).

He advised the people to live simple lives and himself practised great austerities. Even when he had become the virtual king of arabia, he lived an austere life bordering o­n privation. His wife Aiysha (ra) says that there was hardly a day in his life when he had two square meals (Muslim, Sahih Muslim, Vol.2, pg 198). When he died there was nothing in his house except a few seeds of barley left from a mound of the grain obtained from a Jew by pawning his armour (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Chapter "Aljihad").

He had declared unlawful for himself and his family anything given by the people by way of zakat or sadaqa (types of charity). He was so particular about this that he would not appoint any member of his family as a zakat collector (Sahah-Kitab Sadqat).

Daily Routine

On the authority of Ali, Tirmizi has recorded that the Prophet (pbuh) had carefully apportioned his time according to the demands o­n him for

1. offering worship to Allah
2. public affairs, and
3. personal matters. 

After the early morning prayers he would remain sitting in the mosque reciting praises of Allah till the sun rose and more people collected. He would then preach to them. After the sermons were over, he would talk genially with the people, enquire about their welfare and even exchange jokes with them. Taxes and revenues were also disrtibuted at this time (Muslim, Sahih Muslim Tirmizi, Sunan Tirmizi). He would then offer chaste prayers and go home and get busy with household work (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi). He would again return to the mosque for the mid-day and afternoon prayers, listen to the problems of the people and give solace and guidance to them. After the afternoon prayers, he would visit each of his wives and, after the evening prayers, his wives would collect at o­ne place and he would have his dinner (Muslim, Sahih Muslim). After the night prayers, he would recite some suras of the Quran and before going to bed would pray:

"O Allah, I die and live with thy name o­n my lips." 

On getting up he would say,

"All praise to Allah Who has given me life after death and towards Whom is the return." 

He used to brush his teeth five times a day, before each of the daily prayers. After midnight, he used to get up for the tahajjud prayers which he never missed even o­nce in his life (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari). He was not fastidious about his bed: sometimes he slept o­n his cot, sometimes o­n a skin or ordinary matress, and sometimes o­n the ground (Zarqani).

On friday he used to give sermons after the weekly "Jumma" prayers. He was not annoyed if anyone interrupted him during the sermons for anything. It is stated that o­nce, while he was delivering his sermon, a bedouin approached him and said, "O messenger of Allah, I am a traveler and am ignorant of my religion." The prophet (pbuh) got down from the pulpit, explained the salient features of Islam to him and then resumed the sermon (Tirmizi, Sunan Tirmizi).

On another occasion his grandson Husain, still a child, came tumbling to him while he was delivering a sermon. He descended and took him in his lap and then continued the sermon (Ibid).