The Prophet Muhammad: A Living Example Of Perfect Character

The Prophet ﷺ as a Living Guide

The Prophet ﷺ was sent with the Qur'an as a revelation, as a guide for mankind on how to reach Allah and how to worship Him. The Prophet ﷺ was sent along with the Qur'an as a living guide, as an example of how to apply the Qur'an into our life. We see that every role that the Prophet ﷺ took, he took it and he showed us perfection in that role.

In every single aspect — as a parent, as a teacher, as a leader, as a general — in every aspect, the Prophet ﷺ showed us perfection.

The Prophet ﷺ as a Teacher

If we look at the Prophet ﷺ as a teacher, we see what his students would say about him. There is the hadith of Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam as-Sulami رضي الله عنه. He mentions that as a new Muslim, he had come to Masjid an-Nabawi, and he was praying salah. At that time, he did not know that there was no talking allowed in salah. So somebody sneezed, and as a natural reaction, he said:

Then the people started to stare at him — فَرَمَانِي النَّاسُ بِأَبْصَارِهِمْ — the people started to stare at him and eye him down, trying to indicate to him that he was not supposed to be talking. And in a very harsh manner, their eyes were glaring at him.

He still did not understand. So he said:

"Why are you all staring at me?" Then the people tried to get the point across by beating their hands on their thighs, trying to make a noise to make him understand that he was not supposed to be talking. After that, he understood what was going on. But still, he felt hurt. He did not like the way that they corrected him.

After the Prophet ﷺ finished the salah, he took him to the side. He says that the Prophet ﷺ said, in a very kind manner:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 5, Hadith 1199)

"In this salah of ours, there is no talking of the people that is allowed. The salah is for glorifying Allah and reciting the Qur'an."

He then mentions:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 5, Hadith 1199)

"May my parents be sacrificed for the Prophet ﷺ. I have never seen a teacher, before the Prophet ﷺ nor after, who was more kind and a better teacher than the Prophet ﷺ."

We just can't help but take a lesson from this. Every single one of us has some people under us — either our kids, our students, different people that we are responsible for teaching. We see that the manner of teaching is not to yell and scream, and try to get the point across by continually saying the same thing again and again in a louder and louder manner, thinking that that is going to make the person understand. We see how we have to show kindness, get to the person's heart, and then share the message with them. They will understand in that manner. So we can take a lesson from this and put it into our lives.

The Prophet ﷺ at Home

Similarly, we see the embodiment of perfection in the Prophet ﷺ at the home level. Something we can take note of here is that having good character outside of the house is not as hard as it is inside the house.

We see that if a person has good character outside, people say: "This person is so beautiful in his character, I just love being around him." But then we see his wife — she's been able to spend all this time with him. People think she's so lucky. But she thinks, "I am spending a lot of time with him, but I don't know if it's very lucky or if you could say something else about it." Because why? He is different inside the house. He is violent, he is screaming — different qualities that you see inside the house that you don't see outside.

So let us see what the people of the household of the Prophet ﷺ would say about him. We see that Aisha رضي الله عنها, Ummul Mu'mineen رضي الله عنها, when al-'Atabi came and asked her what was the Prophet ﷺ's character, she — the wife of the Prophet ﷺ — said, "Did you not read the Qur'an?"

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 1733)

Everything in the Qur'an that tells you to be a good person, how a person should act — that is how the Prophet ﷺ used to act, how he used to behave. Not just outside, but inside the house as well.

We see another narration from Aisha رضي الله عنها where someone was asking her about the character of the Prophet ﷺ. She said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 25813)

That even though he was the greatest of all creations of Allah, the greatest man to ever walk the face of the earth, he used to act as if he was just like any other person. When he would come into the house, he would take care of himself. He would take the lice out of his clothing, he would milk the goat himself, and he would take care of his own things.

If anyone has the right to say, "Oh, I'm so tired, I've been outside the whole day doing this and that," it is the Prophet ﷺ. Taking care of all the affairs of the ummah, from the leaders of the people to the lowest of the people coming and telling him different matters, spending time teaching the people about the Deen of Allah, after receiving Wahi — all of that stress he is coming home with, and still, he is not just laying everything down and saying, "Take care of everything." No, he goes and takes care of his own matters.

So as people who have responsibilities at home, we see, okay, these are the different responsibilities I have, but when I come to the house, I should see how I can take care of myself and be a helpful person. Because we shouldn't say, "Oh, I'm the man." The manliest of all men — the one who embodies the embodiment of manhood, the Prophet ﷺ — we see how he acted, and we should take that lesson and put it into our lives as well.

Testimony of His Family and Neighbors

Safiyyah رضي الله عنها, another wife of the Prophet ﷺ, mentions that on their ride back from Khaybar, the Prophet ﷺ was riding on the conveyance with her. She was nodding off, and the Prophet ﷺ was giving her a comfortable position, setting her position properly. She said, "I have never seen anybody with as good a character as the Prophet ﷺ." The statement in itself is so great, but then we have to understand who it is coming from — the person from the household of the Prophet ﷺ, the person who has seen his inside and outside. So we should understand it at a much, much deeper level.

Similarly, Zayd ibn Thabit رضي الله عنه, the neighbor of the Prophet ﷺ, mentions that he used to be the neighbor of the Prophet ﷺ, and that once someone asked him about his character. He said, "I have never seen anybody with as good a character as the Prophet ﷺ." Again, somebody who had a close relationship with the Prophet ﷺ is telling you about how he was.

How He Treated Every Individual

Every single person who used to interact with the Prophet ﷺ would really feel, "I am the most special person to the Prophet ﷺ. There is no one more important to him than me." Because of how he used to pay attention to them, and how he used to give love to them.

The Sahaba mention that when anyone used to reach out to him or try to speak to him, he would lend an ear to that person. He would not turn away from that person until that person was completely finished — until the person himself felt, "Okay, I've said everything I needed to say, let me back off." The Prophet ﷺ would not make that person feel, "Oh, I need to go, I'm so busy." He would give them his full attention.

And when he would shake a person's hand, he would fully shake that person's hand, and until that person took their hand away, the Prophet ﷺ would not pull his hand away. We can imagine if a very famous Muslim individual comes, every single person wants to shake his hand — he is not going to be able to shake everybody's hand completely, he is going to try to pull his hand away and run. But this is not how the Prophet ﷺ was. The most famous of all people, the most important of all people, the Prophet ﷺ used to treat every normal person like they were the most important person of everybody.

So we should take these lessons home and see how we can apply them in our lives.

Lessons for Our Homes This Winter Break

Right now at this time of the year, winter break is coming upon us. Many of us will be at home more than we are at other times of the year. We are going to be around our family members. So we should see how we can build the kind of relationship that the Prophet ﷺ had with his family members. We can see how to put that into our own lives when we go home.

Reading Seerah Together

Some lessons we can take and try to implement: in our homes, the men are supposed to pray in the masjid, as is understood from the hadith. Anytime that a person is not able to make it to the masjid, the family should pray collectively together. And after the salah is done, we should try to spend at least a few minutes every single day — or at least a couple of times a week — sitting together and reading about the Prophet ﷺ. Reading the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ.

As a family, we can learn how the ideal family is supposed to be, how the ideal Muslim is supposed to be, and we are all learning together. Every single person will reflect on that in their own life and try to be a better person. In a household where every single person is trying to be better, trying to be selfless, and trying to be like the Prophet ﷺ — how can that household not be happy? How can that household not have peace?

On top of that, we see that the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ brings sakinah, it brings blessings into the home. Sometimes different homes are on fire — different people are always screaming at each other, there is no peace. But we can see how to bring peace into the home by bringing the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ into the home and reading the Qur'an.

In Surah al-Ahzab, Allah says:

It is so important to read the hadith and the Qur'an in your home that Allah is addressing the believing women: "Remember what is recited in your homes of the verses of Allah and wisdom." And we look at the ayah before it, where Allah says:

To remove the evil and vice from the people of the household. This is a lesson for us to do islah of our hearts, to create peace in the house. What do we do? We read the Qur'an in the home. We sit together and collectively make dhikr every single day. Just sit for some time and read the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. You will see the barakah that comes into your home. You will see the nur and the happiness which will come upon people.

Eating Together

Another lesson which we can all try to implement is that when it comes to mealtimes, one thing we can try to do is sit together and eat together. Why? Because this creates barakah. There is a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ where he says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Hadith 5133)

"The food of one person suffices two people; the food of two people suffices four; and the food of four people suffices eight." What do we understand from this hadith? That one person by himself would be able to finish that whole meal. But when another person joins, there is an extra barakah that comes into that food, and there is an extra amount that suffices for everyone eating there. So we see the barakah of eating together, and we can all try to make that a habit in our house for whatever meals people are available for.

Normally in a household, it is like a hotel. If you go to a hotel, every single room has different people staying in it — no one comes together to eat. Well, in a household, everyone is family, but still everyone takes their food and eats in their own room, works in their own room, sleeps in there, and does everything just by themselves. But we can try to create this familial bond by sitting together and eating together.

Putting Down the Phones

And another thing is that even though some houses have the meal together, every single person's mind is in a different place. Every single person is separated, even though they are sitting so close to each other. Why? Because of the cell phones in every single person's hand. The father might be sitting next to the mother, who is sitting next to the child, but every single person is hundreds of miles apart — the father is looking at something going on in India, the mother is looking at something going on in Europe, and the child is looking at something going on somewhere else. Every single person's mind is in a different place.

But if we try to create a no-phone environment — just put the phone down for a little bit and sit together — we will see what kind of fruitful conversations come about, conversations we have never had with each other before. And this will create that relationship between the father and the child that we observe in the Prophet ﷺ's life.

The Prophet ﷺ and His Daughter Fatimah

In the Prophet ﷺ's life, he was so close to his children, and he used to respect and honor them. We see the hadith of Fatimah رضي الله عنها — she mentions that when she used to enter upon the Prophet ﷺ, he would get up from his place, he would welcome her, he would kiss her and hug her, and he would make her sit where he was sitting. What a beautiful relationship between a father and his daughter.

And it was not just one way. When the Prophet ﷺ used to visit Fatimah رضي الله عنها, she would do the same — she would get up from her spot, embrace the Prophet ﷺ, and make him sit in her spot, out of honor, respect, and love. So we can all look to the epitome of the relationship that should exist between parents and children, and we can try to emulate that in our lives.

The Prophet ﷺ's Generosity and Supporting the Masjid

Another aspect of the Prophet ﷺ is his generosity. He used to always, always be giving and giving and giving.

With this in mind, alhamdulillah, all the way from Lincoln, Nebraska, some of our dear brothers have come with a mission to try and expand their masjid. One of the brothers was telling me earlier that their masjid has a thousand people come for Salat al-Jumu'ah, but the capacity of the masjid is no more than 500. So they have many, many people praying outside. And if we check the weather right now, you will see that it is close to Chicago weather — in the 30s and 40s. So imagine what kind of weather those people are praying Salat al-Jumu'ah in.

With this understanding and this concern, we can appreciate how much importance the Prophet ﷺ placed on building a masjid. The very first thing he did when he came to Quba was build a masjid there. And when he came to Madinah, he put so much effort into building the masjid. Why? Because the masjid is the center of the community. The masjid is where every single person's iman gets rejuvenated, pumped up high, and they can get connected to their deen again.

So with this understanding in mind, we should all open our hearts and open our wallets. Inshallah, on our way out, we can try to give as much as we can and support the cause.

Jazakumullah khayran. وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

Announcements

The fundraising dates are Saturday, Sunday and Monday — December 20th, 21st and 22nd.

Additionally, there is a special program tonight after Salat al-Isha with Mufti Azim regarding preparing for Umrah. As many people will be going for Umrah during the break, Mufti Azim has taken his time to conduct this session inshallah after Salat al-Isha. If you will be going for Umrah, it is very important that you attend. This is an informative seminar regarding the practical and spiritual aspects of this life-changing journey.

Additionally, as mentioned in the khutbah, the Islamic Center of Lincoln, Nebraska is raising funds for an expansion of their masjid. Please visit the booth outside the archway entrance and donate generously. This is a very highly needed expansion project. We ask you all to open your hearts and open your wallets and please donate generously.

Jazakumullah khayran.