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Characteristics of Prophet Muhammad
peace and blessing be upon him
The Muhammadan Asceticism
Asceticism means self-denying and to live a very simple life. The Prophet said, ‘Lead an ascetic life by loving Allah; Turn away from what the people have by loving the people’. Muhammad, God’s blessing and peace be upon him, was the most ascetic person to the extent that asceticism became one of his virtuous characteristics.
The following incidents show that great disposition and confirm it:
1. He said in the Books of Traditions, ‘If I had like so and so gold, it would not please me to keep it at my home for three nights but if it is a debt, then it is all right’. This is the strongest sign of the Muhammadan asceticism.
2. When Omar entered Muhammad’s house and found him lying on a mattress of fiber, he (Omar) said, «O Messenger of Allah! Kisra and Ceaser sleep on so and so and you sleep on so and so?» The Prophet said, ‘O Omar! I have nothing to do with this life world. I am like a traveler who sits in the shadow of a tree to rest, then he leaves it and goes on his way’. That was the strongest sign of the Muhammadan asceticism.
3. His Lord proposed to turn al-Akhshabain (two well- known mountains in Mecca) to gold and silver for him (for the Prophet). That proposal was after the Prophet’s return from at-Ta’if when he was so sad, wounded and oppressed. But, the Prophet said, ‘No my Lord. When I am satisfied I thank and praise You. When I am hungry, I call and beseech You’.
4. The greatest sign of the Muhammadan asceticism is his repeated request: ‘O God! Make the food of the family of Muhammad subsistence (the minimum necessary to support our life)’. By subsistence he means without increment or decrement. He also said, ‘Little amount that suffices is better than much which diverts. The little which suffices is better than the numerous which diverts and deluges’.
5. When the Messenger of Allah, God’s blessing and peace be upon him, died, A’i’sha said, «When the Messenger of Allah died, there was nothing in my house to be eaten except one loaf of barely in one of my roofs. Besides, when he died, his armor was pawned (pledged) to a Jew in return for thirty measures’.
To think of these incidents, the truth becomes clear and that the true asceticism is the real nature of the beloved Muhammad. He is the one who said, ‘This life world is the house of the one who has no house. It is money of the one who has no money. It is for it that the one who has no mind gathers his money».
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