– S. Sulaiman Nadwi

He was a generous person by his very nature, Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the most generous of people in charity, but he was generous to the utmost in the month of Ramadan. It never happened that Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked for anything and he said: No.

Once a person came to him and he saw a large flock of sheep and goats. He requested him to give him the flock and he gave that to him. He came to his tribe and said: O People! Embrace Islam. By Allah, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) donates much as if he does not fear want. Once a person asked something. He said: I have nothing to give now. Come along with me and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was also with him. He said: When you do not have anything, what is your responsibility to give? Another person who was also present there said”: O Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) go on giving and do not fear as Allah will fulfil your wants. He (the Holy Prophet) smiled cheerfully.

His generosity knew no bound. Whenever any person came to him and he had some wealth, he gave him out of it. Otherwise, he made promise. This habit had made the public so bold that once a bedouin came exactly at the time of prayer and caught hold of his shirt and said: I need some ordinary thing. I fear lest I should forget it, so please arrange it. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went with him and said his prayer after fulfilling his want.

Sometimes he bought a thing from a person and after paying price, presented that thing to him. Once he bought a camel from Hadrat ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and then gave it to ‘Abdullah b. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) there and then. A similar incident has been mentioned about Hadrat Jabir(may Allah be pleased with him).

He did not take even an ordinary food or drink without sharing it with his companions. In a battle one hundred and thirty companions accompanied him. He brought a goat and got it sacrificed and ordered to roast its liver. When it was ready, he got it distributed among all the companions and he kept the share of even those who were not present there. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not take rest and remained perturbed unless and until he distributed the things which came in his possession. Umm-i-Salama, the mother of the faithful reported: Once the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entered the house and his face had undergone a change. I enquired: O Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! Are you feeling well? He said: The two dinars which I received yesterday are lying on my bed as it was evening (and I could not distribute them). Abu Dharr reported: I walked with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the afternoon and we were looking at the Uhud. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Abu Dharr! I said: Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), I am here at thy beck and call. He said: What I desire is that Uhud be gold with me and three nights should pass and there is not left with me any dinar but one coin which I would keep to pay debit.

If anything was in the house in the form of cash or coins, he did not go to his house for rest unless it was given his charity. Once the chief of Fadak loaded corn on four camels and sent to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Hadrat Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) sold the corn in the bazaar and paid off the loan which was due to be paid to the Jew. Then he informed the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He enquired: Has anything been left behind? Bilal replied: Yes. Some of them. He said: Unless they are disposed of I shall not go to my house. Hadrat Bilal said: What can I do? None is there who need them. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) spent the night in the mosque. On the next day Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said: O Messenger of Allah! Allah has relieved you (of your responsibility), that is, all that was left has also been distributed. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) thanked Allah and went to his house. 

Similarly, on one occasion he went back to his house immediately after the ‘Asr prayer as against his routine and then came out at once. The people were surprised. He (the Holy Prophet) said: It occurred to me in the prayer that I have left some gold in my house and I was afraid lest it should remain (undistributed) in the house, so I went to my house to ask them to give the same to the needy. After distributing the spoils of the battle of Hunain, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was returning when the news reached the bedouins that he (the Holy Prophet) was going to pass by that way. They rushed to him from the neighboring places to request him to donate them out of the booty. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood up behind a tree to avoid the multitude but the bedouins caught hold of his mantle and as a result of the struggle his mantle fell from his sacred body into their hands. He said: Give my mantle back. I swear by Allah, if I had camels equal to the number of leaves on the trees of the jungle, I would have given to you all and you would never find me avaricious, or a liar or a cowardly person.

The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had proclaimed that if any person in debt died he should be informed about him and he would pay the debt of that person and in case he leaves any inheritance that would go to his legal heirs and he (the Holy Prophet) had no concern with it. Once he was sitting in a meeting of his companions; a bedouin came and said pulling the end of his mantle: Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), these things neither belong to you nor to your father. Give me (of these things) equal to the load of a camel. He got his camel loaded with barley and dates.

Once kharaj (tribute) was received from Bahrain; such a large amount was not received even in Dar-ul-lslam. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered to place this sum in the mosque. When he entered the mosque, he did not even cast a glance at it. After the prayer he began its distribution. He gave to him whosoever came before him. He gave to Hadrat ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) who had become poor after the battle of Badr so much that he could hardly lift. Similarly, he continued to donate to other people till he was empty-handed and he stood up shaking-off his clothes. 

It is a law in Islam that if any free slave dies, his inheritance goes to his master. Once such a servant of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) died. The people carried his inheritance to him. He enquired: Does any native of him live there? They said: Yes, Thereupon he said: Hand over all these things to him.

One day some Ansaris demanded something from him. He gave them. Then they again demanded and he again gave them. Then as long as he had things in his possession he gave them till he had nothing to give; but despite this they came and demanded, whereupon he said: Whatever comes in my possession, I shall not keep it with me.

Sacrifice and Devotion

The most prominent feature of his character was sacrifice for others. He had an intense love for his children and he loved Hadrat Fatimah Zahra (may Allah be pleased with her) so dearly that when she came, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood up out of love for her and kissed her forehead and vacated his seat for her. But she was passing her time in the house in extreme poverty. She had no maid-servant. She worked the hand-mill, filled the leather water-bag herself and brought it to her house. The palms of her hands had sores on account of working the hand-mill and the water-skin had made marks on her body. Once she came to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) but she hesitated to demand anything due to utmost regard for him but ‘Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) spoke on her behalf and requested him to spare one of the maid-servants who had come as a result of the battle. He said: Arrangement is still to be made for the people of Suffa. Unless that is done, I cannot give my attention to anyone else. According to a Tradition, the daughters of Hadrat Zubair and Hadrat Zahra (may Allah be pleased with them) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and after speaking about their poverty and straitened circumstances, requested to give them one or two maid-servants out of the maidservants which had come as a result of the battle. He said: The orphans of the battle of Badr have already made a request before you. Once Hadrat ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) requested for something. He said: It is not possible to concede your request and leave the people of Suffa in this miserable condition so that they should suffer the pangs of hunger. Once a woman presented a mantle to him. As he was in need of it, he accepted it from her. In the meanwhile a person came and said: What a nice mantle? He took it off and handed over the same.