Unfortunately, because of the heat of major challenges facing the Muslims, we find that emulating the Prophet (s) stops at trying to copy his image; i.e. the way he looked without focusing on the way he behaved as he applied the Qur’an to his character and his way of living. Many of us, especially those proclaimed leaders and Imams of the Muslims forget to teach the average Muslim to express his/her love of the Prophet by emulating his character.
Dr Michael Hart, a recognised author who was raised in a Christian family documented a research on the most influential 100 persons in history and chose the Prophet Muhammad (s) as the most influential man in the history of mankind. He wrote: “Prophet Muhammad was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both religious and secular levels.”
Today, I want to share with you what I call the 10 Golden Character Traits of the Prophet (s) that contributed to the astounding success of his mission as the last guide, messenger and prophet to mankind. In doing so, I hope and pray that we all will listen carefully and apply these traits to our way of living and that I will be the first to do so.
Before I do this, I want to define a term that is usually used by many of us; success. Many of us think that success is being rich, is being famous and the like. I define success as: “success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal.
Maulana Waheddiddin Khan, one of the prominent Indian scholars of Islam, wrote a wonderful biography of the Prophet (s) outlining these 10 golden rules of his character.
Rule 1: Start with a humble beginning – start from the possible to achieve what seems to be impossible
Many of us develop dreams of doing and accomplishing things, be it in community development, business or career. However, many of us also fail. From my observations of human nature, especially those who are intimidated by the success of others, I found that the main reason is that people want to grow fast and become big in the shortest period of time. In fact, this defies the laws of Allah. It takes time to grow a tree, it takes time to raise a child and it takes time to build things. There is no other way. Yes, we can expedite our progress but we cannot violate the fact that one has to develop experience and learn by starting small. This is exactly the example that was set by the behaviour of Prophet Muhammad (s).
So, he started his da’wah with what was possible and available to him at the time he was commissioned. He started, as revealed in the Qur’an with his most immediate family members and the members of his tribe and slowly worked his way out to the rest of Arabia and the world. Remember that had Allah willed, he would have done it in no time. But because he was the example for people to emulate, it took him 23 years of dedication, patience, perseverance and hard work without asking for recognition, gratification or a word of thanks.
Rule 2: ‘Easy does it’: Gradualism in change and not radicalism produces more lasting changes
Many people think that changing the government through revolutions and violence will help them reach power and hence will allow them to put in place the changes they want to implement. This approach was proven useless and futile by the approach of the Prophet (s) and the by the lessons of history.
As narrated by Aisha and recorded in Saheeh Bukhari, the first verses revealed in the Qur’an were those mentioning paradise and hellfire. It was not until 15 years later, when people′s hearts had softened, that specific commands to desist from adultery and drinking were revealed in the Qur’an. Al Sayeda Aisha makes the point that if these commands had been revealed in the beginning; the Arabs would have stoutly refused to give up either adultery or drinking.
This shows that the Islamic Shariah (jurisprudence) was built on the principle of gradualism. People’s hearts had first to be touched then their willingness to conform had to become apparent and only then when the prohibitions were introduced.
Implementing the Shariah does not mean using the whip or the gun. No good would ever come or has ever come of such a practice, particularly on an unprepared society.
Rule 3: There is ease in difficulty – to see advantage in disadvantage
Whenever one is faced with a problem he/she never despair. There is always a silver lining that presents itself to the true believers. When a calamity (musibah) strikes, the individual may proceed to follow one of two approaches:
The first and most followed approach is to feel down, stressed out, hopeless and completely helpless because they concentrate on the negative part of the difficult problem or dilemma or calamity one is facing. This is the approach of those who are not trained to resort to Allah and His infinite wisdom. They usually fail and are never noticed.
The second approach is that of those who believe in God, in the fact that there is always a silver lining to every test of difficulty presented by Allah.
Rule 4: Do not despair if all efforts fail to produce commensurate results, change your place of action – emigrate
In the early days of the Prophet’s mission in Makkah, his activities created a lot of antagonism and prompted his enemies – the rulers of Makkah – to eliminate him. At this time, the Prophet chose to avoid confrontation and decided to leave quietly to Madinah – the Hijrah that changed the course of history.
Hijrah was a strategy used by the Prophet to avoid confrontation and take a side step and a new route that will allow him and his companions to build for the future of an Ummah that changed the world. Such a strategic manoeuvre guaranteed keeping their mission alive until Makkah was opened up and brought within the fold of Islam.
Many of us Muslims, as well as many non-Muslims, are taught that immigration represents simply an event that took place in the life of the Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad (s). The understanding that we Muslims have of Hijrah is that a number of the companions migrated from Makkah to Madinah. The implication has the general sense in history of the movement of a primitive or semi-civilised people from one place to another, as a result of geographical or political factors.
But from the tone in which migration is discussed in the Qur’an, one comes to perceive that migration is a profound philosophical and social principle: Immigration offers many opportunities and vast resources; and is one of the highest levels of jihad and is rewarded accordingly.
All the 27 civilisations we know of in history – from the most recent civilisation of America, to the most ancient that we know of, the civilisation of Sumer, came into being on the heels of a migration. In each case, a primitive people remained primitive as long as it stayed in its own land, and attained civilisation after undertaking a migration and establishing itself in a new land. All civilizations are, then, born of the migration of primitive peoples.
From this aspect of the character and experience of the Prophet, we are urged never to allow ourselves to be enslaved on earth or reach the state of hopelessness. Immigrate.
Rule 5: Trust human nature – most people are basically good – challenge yourself to make a friend out of an enemy
The Prophet and his companions were exposed to all sorts of insults, provocative language, abuse and torture. At that time the Qur’an enjoined upon them to return evil deeds with good ones.
No matter how hostile a person may appear, he/she has a God-given basic nature and instinct for goodness and for truth-loving. So, we believers in God and followers of Islam should discipline ourselves as if beneath the surface of this antagonism, there lies – maybe – a hidden friend. So, the challenge of a true daiyah (propagator) of Islam or submitter is to make a friend out of an enemy.
This is what psychology calls the principle of positive reinforcement. The example of the Prophet and how he handled Umar Ibn Al Khattab illustrates this aspect of his character. Prophet Muhammad (s) did not ask Allah to destroy all Umar’s assets, take away his powers and make him invalid or to kill him. This is the approach of those who worship Allah as slaves, as Imam Ali said. The approach of the Prophet (s) was that of those who worship Allah as free, dignified people who want to make a difference in the world. He used to make a du’a to Allah: Ya Allah – the only One who can change people’s hearts, I ask You to change the heart of Umar and make him use Your gifts of power, wealth, assets and connections for the benefit of Islam and the Muslims.
Each one of us and our offspring should follow the same example of wishing to build and never wishing to destroy.
A Juma’a khutbah by Dr Yahia Abdul-Rahman in Texas, United States.
To be continued next week.
and then