Brotherhood: Foundation of Islamic Civilization

the rock bottom foundation of islamic civilization is human brotherhood, a brotherhood under which man does not become truly human until he has loved for his brother what he loves for himself and implemented this love by deeds of goodness and mercy without weakness or servility. a man once asked muhammad, "which islam is better?" muhammad answered, "that you give food to the needy and that you greet those whom you know as well as those whom you don't." he opened the first sermon he delivered in madinah with the statement, “whoever can protect his face from the fire even with a basket of dates, let him do so; and whoever does not find even that much, then let him do so with a good word, for the good word brings a reward ten times greater than itself.” in his second sermon he said, "worship god and do not associate any being with him. fear and revere him as he ought to be feared and revered. be true unto him by saying always the best than can be said. love one another in the spirit of god. god is displeased whenever his covenant is violated." by this and like exhortations, muhammad used to counsel his companions and preach to the people in his mosque, leaning against one of the date trunks supporting the ceiling. later on, he ordered a pulpit of three steps to be made for him, the first to stand upon when delivering a sermon and the second to sit down upon.

the brotherhood which muhammad made the cornerstone of islamic civilization did not rest on his preachings alone. it was embodied in its highest perfection in his deeds and concrete example. true, he was the prophet of god, but he consistently refused to adopt any of the appearances of power, authority, kingship, or temporal sovereignty. he emphatically repeated to his companions, "do not praise me as the christians have praised the son of mary, for i am but the servant of god. rather, call me the servant of god and his prophet." once, he arrived at a gathering of his companions leaning on a stick and they all rose up in respect for him. he said, "do not stand up for me as the persians do in aggrandizement of one another." whenever he joined his companions, he always sat at the edge of the space they occupied. he used to joke and mix with them, to talk to them about their own affairs, to pamper and coddle their children, and to answer the call of freeman, slave, maid servant and destitute alike. he used to visit the sick in the farthest district of madinah, to take the initiative in greeting whomever he met, and to stretch his hand in welcome to his visitors. no man came to visit muhammad and found him in prayer but he shortened his prayer, .attended to his visitor and returned to his prayer after the visitor had left. he was the most charitable of people, always smiling in the face of everyone except when revelation came to him or when he delivered a speech or a sermon. in his home, he felt no superiority over the members of his family. he washed his own robe and mended it by his own hand. he milked his own goat, repaired his own sandals, attended to himself and to his camel, ate with his servant, and fulfilled the request of the weak, the oppressed and the destitute. whenever he found somebody in need, however lowly or plebeian, he preferred to attend to him first rather than to himself or to his family. that is why he never saved anything for the morrow, and when he died his shield was in possession of a jewish pawnbroker as lien for a loan made to muhammad to spend on his family. he was exceedingly modest and extremely loyal. when a deputation from the negus of abyssinia arrived to see him, he rose to serve them. his companions sought to stop him, but he said to them: "the abyssinians were kind to our companions when they went to their country; i would like to treat them likewise and reward them." he was so loyal to khadijah that whenever she was mentioned he gave her the best of praises so that `a'ishah used to say, "i have never been jealous of a woman as i have been of khadijah for all that i have heard the prophet praise her." once when a woman came to him, he rose to greet her, spoke to her gently, and attended to her pleas; people asked him who she was. he answered, "she used to befriend us in the days of khadijah; loyalty to one's friends is of the faith." indeed, he was so compassionate and gentle that he did not mind his grandsons' playing with him during his prayer. once, he even prayed while umamah, his granddaughter through zaynab, sat on his shoulders and had to be put down when he prostrated himself.