Behaviour Towards Children

Muhammad was always very kind to children. Amr ibn Said quoted Anas as saying, "I have never seen anyone act more kindly towards children than God's Messenger. His son Ibrahim was being suckled in the neighbourhood of Medinah. He would go, accompanied by us, and enter the house which was full of smoke, the child's foster-father being a blacksmith. He would take him and kiss him and then go back."

 

It was his practice, whenever he came back from a journey, to let the children, who met him on the way, ride before and behind him and he always greeted them first. One day Khalid bin Said came to him with his little daughter, Hasna, who was wearing a red dress. Muhammad said, "Sana." She had been born in Abyssinia and in their language, Hasna was called San i, and he called her Sana in that context. He had a seal of prophethood at his back and it looked like a lump. She began to play with it so Khalid told her off but Muhammad stopped him and let her play.

 

Anas said, "I never prayed behind an Imam who was more brief or more perfect in his prayer than God's Messenger. If he heard a baby crying, he would shorten the prayer for fear that the mother might be distressed." Abu Qatada reported God's Messenger as saying, "When I begin the prayer, I intend to make it long, but I hear a baby crying and shorten the prayer, being aware of the Mother's emotion because of the crying."'

 

He used to kiss children and loved them very much. Once he was kissing children when a Bedouin came and said, "You love children very much. I have ten children and I have never kissed one of them." Muhammad replied, "What can I do if God takes away love from you?". Jabir bin Samra, one of his companions, reported an incident of his childhood. "Once I offered the prayer with God's Messenger. After the prayer, when he went towards his house, I went with him. We were joined by more boys, and he kissed them all and me too." When he was entering the town of Medinah, after emigrating from Makkah, some young girls of the Ansar were singing with joy in front of their houses. When he passed by, he said, "O girls! You love me." All said, "Yes, O God's Messenger." Then he said, "1 love you also. Yusuf bin Abdullah said that when he was born his parents took him to God's Messenger for his blessing; he suggested the name, Yusuf, and put him in his lap. He patted him on the head and prayed for the Blessings of God for him.'

 

To sum up, Muhammad was very kind and affectionate to children. He loved them and always treated them with immense kindness and gentleness.