Shafaqna English- In these essays, Dr. Ali Shariati presents Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a transformative leader whose life embodied justice, compassion, and social change, offering a fresh perspective that goes beyond conventional historical narratives.
The Prophets Domestic Life
With all this greatness, while he enters his house, his wives see in his countenance an ordinary good husband alone. What kind of a person he is that outside his home, emperors are afraid of him, he is tough and wields so much power and has such a great spirit. But, as he enters his house, his wives, the same women who used to fear their husbands and fathers used to seize him by the collar, call him names, and tease him. They reproach him tauntingly by saying: “What kind of life is this that you are leading? Look how other people live, what kind of house they have, how their daughters live, how their wives live ! Is this the house that you have built for us’?” According to the narrations of Abu Hurayrah, month after month passes and no smoke rises out of his kitchen. When they wished to be indulged in luxury, they used to take seeds of the dates and knead them with dates (even then no cooking!) till they were softened. He too liked them very much, and whenever he wanted to fill his stomach lavishly, he ate them. This was the kind of life, house, and furniture he had.
In Europe a person delivered a speech on the topic “The Prophet, his loves and wives”. I also delivered a speech as a rejoinder to what he had uttered on this topic. I said: What kind of a home did the Prophet have? It was a room made of mud, which he built himself. Half of the room was covered by a mat and the remaining by sand. The sand was brought from the desert and changed every few days, so that it would not become dirty. The house made of mud walls belonging to his favorite wife Ayesha, is also furnished in the similar manner. This all the furniture that a great emperor possesses. And how did he behave with those wives? In relation to his wife and family he is no longer a Prophet of God. Once Umar’ objected: “How you spoil them!” Hafsah’ was afraid of ‘Umar, but the Prophet had made her cheeky ‘Umar used to ask his daughter: “What is the matter? Why are you so proud?” Hafsah, a widow, was ill-tempered and ugly. No one would marry her. ‘Umar made every effort to find a husband for her, but he was unsuccessful. In order to unburden him of his responsibility, the Prophet sought her hand in marriage. This ugly, ill-tempered widow always created a sorry fight for the Prophet and always embarrassed the Prophet by her shouting. The Prophet adjusted to her and their whole life, they lived together compatibly. It is after all an amazingly rare quality to show such great patience, courtesy and humility towards others.
Muhammad: The Friend of the Oppressed
He is the only friend of the widows, the homeless and the strangers whom he saw in the streets of the city the persons whom nobody greets with a salaam, and nobody bothers to return greetings. Sometimes, when passing he sees that these strangers, shepherds and paupers who are seated on the ground have spread a cloth laying their humble meal upon it, consisting of bread suitable for a camel only, they invite him to join them, and he eagerly sits down and shares their food. He is not posing for photographers to click their cameras. No, not at all. He sits and chats with them amicably and makes friends with them. He invites them to honor him by coming to his home for supper that evening.
He comes lower and lower, as if there is no one humbler in Madinah. Returning from (the battle of) Banu Mustalaq. (This is really terrific at such a time when the values prevalent were all aristocratic ones.) Among the inhabitants of Madinah nobody was left except old women, the crippled and children, for all the warriors had gone to the battlefront, and now the army was returning home They all went to receive the triumphant soldiers, under the command of the Prophet. All the women, children, families, old and elderly persons and respectable citizens of Madinah and those who stayed behind had formed rows. An obscure laborer, who had been shoveling when he saw the Prophet and the holy fighters advancing, hid himself behind the crowd, humbly watching from a corner. He did not consider himself to be worthy enough to come forward to offer his greetings. (He thought of himself as a non-entity, not a personage to come forward and salute the warriors; no, he felt he should watch from a distance only). When the Prophet saw that the people have come to greet him and formed rows, he unmounted his horse and passed through the rows of the people, shaking hands with everyone.
He happened to see the laborer at the farthest end behind all the people. Breaking through the line he advances towards him. This person became nervous, (What? Is it possible’?) he had not prepared himself for such a thing. He threw aside his shovel and offered his hand. The Prophet was shocked to feel something rough like a stone in his hand. Wondering he asks, “What has happened to your hand?” The laborer says: “Nothing! I work with a shovel. I am a worker, a laborer, my hands have become calloused, mud-covered and dried.” The Prophet was visibly moved, as to why he did not realize the cause of the hardness of this hand from the beginning. He feels compelled to compensate for his omission. He expresses this feeling by holding the worker’s hand, kissing it and raising it high in front of his army, declaring: “This is the hand that will not be touched by the fire.” What an extraordinary person! A strange phenomenon!
Now look, they want to analyze the revelation in terms of physics, and discover what color it is. It is actually something else and has come from another place! When and from what time? From which period, and what conditions? The great French Revolution is not known to him, and he has not read Victor Hugo, etc…. civilization flourishes in Iran and Rome. They enjoyed the fruits of education and culture, but you know what kind of values they had. In India, which had a great culture three thousand years prior to this event, even today, in the twentieth century, while the workers, after completing their day’s work want to take wages from the employers in the evening, they carry a bowl with them, so that the employer may drop coins in it and his hand may not touch the untouchables’ hands. This is an idea newly introduced in the modern world that the aristocratic values should be discarded. But was not conceived in the tribal and traditional agricultural society. Then try to understand what has happened. Here is a gentleman well- versed in English, is modern, knows Europe and the world, but still lacks such values. The world is governed by such a value system.
Here is the Prophet, who considered the kissing of the hands a sign of infidelity, yet kissed the hands of only two persons: The hand of a lady-Fatimah and the hand of a laborer.
Part of series: The Visage of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by Dr. Ali Shariati