The Prophet's Manners towards Servants, Weak and the Poor

has history ever known a servant praising his master in the way the servant of the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did?

anas, may allaah be pleased with him, said amazing yet truthful words about the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam; he said: “i served the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, for ten years and he never said to me “uff!” (a word of displeasure) or said to me for something:

why did you do such and such?” or, “why did you not do such and such?” [al-bukhaari and muslim]

a noteworthy point: anas served the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, for ten years, not ten days or ten months. it is indeed a long period that must have included times of happiness, sadness, and anger and other such varied emotions of every human being. despite all such different moods, the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, may my father and mother be sacrificed for him, never rebuked or blamed him for anything. rather, he would reward and treat him gently and kindly. in addition, he would fulfill his needs and the needs of his family and invoke allaah the almighty to do everything that is good for them.

it was narrated that anas, may allaah be pleased with him, said, “my mother said to the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ‘o messenger of allaah, please invoke allaah on behalf of your servant.’ he said: ‘o allaah, increase his wealth and children, and bestow your blessing on whatever you give him.’" [al-bukhaari and muslim]

it was narrated that ‘aa’ishah, may allaah be pleased with her, said, “the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, never beat a servant nor a woman. he never beat anyone with his hand except when he was fighting in the cause of allaah the almighty.” [al-bukhaari and muslim]

it was also narrated that ‘aa’ishah, may allaah be pleased with her, said, “whenever the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was given the choice of one of two matters, he would choose the easier of the two, as long as it did not involve sin, but if sin was involved, he would not approach it. the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, never took revenge (over anybody) for his own sake but (he did) only when the sacred ordinances of allaah the almighty were violated, in which case he would take revenge for the sake of allaah.” [al- bukhaari and muslim]

in fact, the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, paid very careful attention to servants. he would express interest in the personal affairs of his servants, help them whenever they needed help, visit them whenever they were sick, and ask them about their condition. it was not something accidental; rather, he would be truly concerned for them and followed up on their affairs. he did not wait for them to ask him for something; instead, he would give before anyone asked him. it was narrated that rabee‘ah ibn ka‘b, may allaah be pleased with him, the servant of the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked me one day: “ask me for something that i may give you.” so i asked the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to give me some time so that i may think this over. he said: “take your time.” so i began to think thoughtfully about the matter and finally said: “this world is going to come to an end one day, so why should i not get something which will benefit me in the everlasting life of the hereafter? then i presented myself before him. so he asked me: “what do you wish for?” i said, “o messenger of allaah, please intercede for me with your lord the almighty to save me from the hell-fire. he asked me: “who has advised you thus?” “no by allaah, o messenger of allaah!” i said, “no one has advised me. i thought well about the matter and was guided to choose what is permanent and lasting against what is temporary and perishable.” then he said: “then help me (fulfill this wish) for you by performing many prostrations.” [ahmad and at-tabaraani; al- albaani: hasan]

the prophet's concern was not confined to his muslim servants only but to his non-muslim servants as well such as what he did with the jewish boy who was serving him. it was narrated that anas, may allaah be pleased with him, said, “a young jewish boy used to serve the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and he became sick. so the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, went to visit him. he sat near his head and asked him to embrace islam. the boy looked at his father, who was also sitting there; the latter said to him, ‘obey abul-qaasim (i.e., the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.’ the boy thus embraced islam. the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, then came out saying: ‘praise be to allaah who saved him from the hell-fire.’" [al-bukhaari]

moreover, although the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, always had grave matters on his mind that required his full attention and time, but he would do his best to fulfill the needs of the weak and needy. it was narrated that ‘abdullaah ibn abi awfa, may allaah be pleased with him, said, “the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not disdain walking with the widow and needy people and help them.” [an-nasaa’i; al-albaani: saheeh (authentic)]

it was narrated that anas, may allaah be pleased with him, said, “a woman who was partially deranged said, ‘o messenger of allaah, i want something from you. he said: ‘see on which side of the road you would like (to stand and talk) so that i may do what you need.’ he stood aside with her on the roadside until she got what she needed.” [muslim]

allaah the almighty, the most truthful says (what means) describing him: {and indeed, you are of a great moral character.} [quran 68:4]

these were just a few of the numerous pearls and a drop in the ocean of the incredible magnanimous manners of the finest man ever, muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. i hastened to collect them as a simple contribution in concise words so that we may get acquainted with some of the wonderful aspects of the life of the master of mankind who only loved what is true and right: muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.