As mentioned on previous pages, both Bukhari and Muslim, through the transmission of al-Zuhrī, narrate from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: "The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most generous of people. He was especially more generous during the month of Ramadan. At that time, Jibrīl would come to him, and they would recite the Qur'an together. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was more generous than the blowing wind, performing much good."
In this hadith, the generosity of the Prophet is likened to the generosity of the wind that brings benefit everywhere. Just as such a wind continuously brings benefit without interruption, so too was the generosity of the Messenger of God—constant and uninterrupted, reaching everyone.
Bukhari and Muslim also narrate from Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh:
"Whenever anything was asked from the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), he never said no."
Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, through the transmission of Ibn Abī ʿAdī, narrates from Anas:
"Whenever something was asked from the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) for the sake of Islam, he would certainly give it. A man came to him and asked for something. He ordered that a large number of the zakāt sheep between two mountains be given to him. The man, after taking the sheep, returned to his people and said:
– O my people! Become Muslim, for Muhammad gives gifts to people without any fear of poverty."
Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, through the transmission of ʿAffān, also narrates from Anas:
"A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and asked for something. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him some of the sheep between two mountains. The man, after taking the sheep, returned to his people and said:
– O my people, become Muslim. Become Muslim, for Muhammad gives gifts to people without any fear of poverty.
A man would come to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) with no other desire than worldly gain, but before evening, that person would come to love his religion more than the world and all that is in it."
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) would give so generously to those whose hearts were only weakly attached to Islam, in order to win their hearts and bind them to Islam, so that they might win the hearts of others and thus bring them into Islam. Indeed, on the day of Ḥunayn, he distributed a great amount of camels, sheep, gold, and silver to the "muʾallafa al-qulūb" (those whose hearts are to be reconciled). However, he gave almost nothing to the Anṣār and the Muhājirūn. Instead, he gave the spoils to the muʾallafa al-qulūb, whose hearts he wished to incline to Islam, leaving the other Muslims without spoils. For Allah had placed wealth and goodness in their hearts. To the group of Anṣār who criticized this distribution and asked about its wisdom, he consoled them by saying:
– Are you not pleased that people return with sheep and camels, while you return with the Messenger of God among your men?
They replied:
– We are pleased, O Messenger of God.
He also gave to his uncle ʿAbbās, after his entry into Islam, the wealth brought from Bahrain and placed before him in the Prophet's Mosque. His uncle ʿAbbās said:
– O Messenger of God, give me wealth. On the day of Badr, I paid the ransom for myself and for ʿUqayl.
– Take it, then.
ʿAbbās opened his garment and had the wealth poured into it. When he tried to stand and carry it away, he could not lift it, so he said to the Messenger of God:
– Help me lift this wealth.
The Messenger of God replied:
– No, I cannot.
– Command the Companions to help me.
– No.
ʿAbbās then took out some of the wealth and left it on the ground, but still could not lift the remainder. He asked the Messenger of God again for help, and when he refused, he asked that the Companions be ordered to help, but he did not do so. Finally, ʿAbbās took out more of the wealth, left it, and was able to carry the rest out. As he was leaving the mosque, the Messenger of God looked at him and was struck by the greed in his eyes.
I say: ʿAbbās was a strong, tall, and robust man. The wealth he carried was at least 40,000 dirhams. Allah knows best.
Bukhari narrates this incident in his Ṣaḥīḥ, in the chapter on the virtues of ʿAbbās, and relates it in connection with the following verse:
"O Prophet, say to those captives who are in your hands, 'If Allah knows [any] good in your hearts, He will give you [something] better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.'" (al-Anfāl 8:70)
On previous pages, it was also narrated from Anas b. Mālik, the servant of the Messenger of God:
He said:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most generous and the bravest of people. How could it be otherwise? He was the Messenger of Allah, created with the most perfect attributes. He relied on what was in the hand of the Mighty and Majestic Allah, Who informed him of the truth in His noble Book with the following clear verse:
"Why do you not spend in the way of Allah while to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth?" (al-Ḥadīd 57:10)
"And whatever thing you spend [in His cause]—He will replace it; and He is the best of providers." (Sabaʾ 34:39)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), whose word was true and confirmed, whose promise was fulfilled, once said to his muʾadhdhin Bilāl: "O Bilāl, spend, and do not fear that the Owner of the Throne will decrease your wealth." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said in another hadith:
"Every morning, two angels descend. One says: 'O Allah, compensate the one who spends in charity.' The other says: 'O Allah, destroy the wealth of the miser.'" In another hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to ʿĀʾisha: "Do not withhold your wealth, lest Allah withhold from you. Do not tie the mouth of your purse, lest Allah tie it for you."
In a sound hadith, the Prophet narrated that the Exalted Allah said:
"O son of Adam! Spend, and I will spend on you." How could the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not be the most generous and the bravest of people? He relied upon Allah and had tawakkul (reliance upon God) to a degree unmatched by anyone else. He trusted in Allah's provision and help, believing that his Lord would assist him in all matters. He sought help from Him. Even before and after his prophethood, and before his migration, he was a refuge for the poor, widows, orphans, the weak, and the destitute. As his uncle Abū Ṭālib expressed in his famous ode, previously cited:
"No people have ever left behind a lord and master who protected honor as you do.
You are not harsh or quick-tempered in speech.
The affairs of your people are entrusted to you.
You are fair-skinned and fair-faced.
Because of your face, prayers for rain are made. You are the guardian of orphans, the refuge of widows. The Hāshimites seek refuge in you to avoid destruction. They are in blessing and bounty by your side."
As for the humility of the Prophet, Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, through the transmission of Ḥammād b. Salama, narrates from Anas:
"A man said to the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him):
– O our master, son of our master!
– O people! Say what you wish, but let not Satan deceive you or make you slaves to your desires. Truly, I am Muhammad, the son of ʿAbdullāh. I am the Messenger of Allah. By Allah, I do not wish for you to exalt me above the rank to which Allah has raised me," he said.
Muslim narrates from ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising the son of Mary. I am only a servant. So say: 'The servant of Allah and His Messenger.'"
Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, through the transmission of Yaḥyā b. Shūba, narrates from al-Aswad:
"I asked ʿĀʾisha:
– What did the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) do at home, with his family?
– He was occupied with the affairs of his family. When the time for prayer came, he would go out to pray."
Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, through the transmission of Hishām b. ʿUrwa, narrates from a man:
He asked ʿĀʾisha:
– What did the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) do at home?
– He would mend his clothes, repair his sandals, and do similar tasks." Al-Bayhaqī, through Abū al-Ḥusayn b. Bushrān, narrates from ʿUmra:
I asked ʿĀʾisha:
– What did the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) do at home?
– The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was like any other man. He would inspect his clothes for lice, milk his sheep, and serve himself."
Ibn ʿAsākir, through Abū Usāma, narrates from ʿUmra:
"I asked ʿĀʾisha:
– How was the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) among his family?
– He was the gentlest and most generous of people. He laughed and smiled often."
Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī, through Shuʿba, narrates from Anas:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) engaged much in dhikr (remembrance of God), spoke almost nothing vain, rode a donkey, wore woolen clothes, and accepted the invitation of a slave. On the day of Khaybar, you should have seen him riding a donkey whose bridle was made of palm fiber."
Al-Bayhaqī, through ʿAbdullāh b. Abī Awfā, narrates:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) engaged much in dhikr, spoke very little of vain things, prolonged the prayer, and shortened the sermon. He did not hesitate to walk with a slave or a widow, and would remain with them until their needs were met."
Al-Bayhaqī, through Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥāfiẓ, narrates from Abū Mūsā:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) rode a donkey, wore woolen clothes, tied up sheep in the pen, and honored guests and fulfilled his duties." This is rare in this form.
Muḥammad b. Saʿd narrates from Sahl, the freedman of ʿUtba, who was a Christian from Muraysīʿ living in his uncle's cell:
"One day, I opened a book belonging to my uncle and began to read. I found a paper written in a different hand, in which the following description of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was written:
"He is neither tall nor short. He has fair skin. He has two braids, and there is a seal between his shoulder blades. He sits on his buttocks with his knees upright and binds his knees with his hands. He often sits in this manner. He does not accept charity. He rides a donkey and a camel. He milks sheep and wears patched shirts. Whoever does such things is far from arrogance. He is of the lineage of the Prophet Ismāʿīl. His name is Ahmad."
When my uncle saw me reading his book, he beat me and said:
– Why did you open and read this book? I replied:
– It contains the description of Muhammad. But my uncle said:
– He has not yet come."
Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, through Ismāʿīl, narrates from Anas:
"I have never seen anyone more merciful to children than the Messenger of God."
In his work "al-Shamāʾil," al-Tirmidhī, through Maḥmūd b. Ghailān, narrates from Ashʿath b. Sulaym:
"My aunt told us that her uncle said: 'Once, I was walking in Medina.
Someone called from behind:
– Lift your garment. Doing so is more suitable for cleanliness and your garment will wear out less quickly.
I turned and saw that it was the Messenger of God who said this.
– O Messenger of God, this is a worthless (melḥa) garment. It does not matter if it drags on the ground, I said.
He replied:
– Would you not like to follow me? I looked at his garment, and its hem reached halfway down his legs." The hem of ʿUthmān's garment also reached halfway down his legs, and he would say: "The hem of my companion, the Messenger of God, was only this long."
Anas b. Mālik said:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) often wore a veil. His garment resembled that of an oil presser who extracts oil from olives."
This hadith is strange and has some irregularity. Allah knows best.
Bukhari narrates from Anas:
"The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by children playing and greeted them."