Instinctive Sublimeness

Great; was the responsibility lying on the Apostle; publication of God's truth in its purity, inviting the people to betake the path of truth and virtue, guarding and guiding the nascent Islamic community and the cares and anxieties for the suffering humanity were the charges heavier than flesh and blood can bear. In between all these worries, stresses and strains we find the most sublime instincts of grace and goodness reflecting his worthiness and excellence of heart. In spite of his dauntless spirit of resolution and singleness of purpose which have always been the distinguishing features of the prophets, the Apostle of God could never forget those faithful friends and campanions who had accepted his mission in its initial stages and made the supreme sacrifice of laying down their lives in the battle of Uhad. He always used to talk about them, invoked divine blessings for them and not unoften paid a visit to them.

 

Such was this immortal love, with an element of the transcendent in it, that it had gone beyond the flesh and blood and penetrated the inanimate hills and stones and ravines where these brilliant spectacles of noble love and sacrifice had been enacted. His companions relate that they heard him saying, "This is the hill that loves me and I love it.''1 Anas b. Malik says that when the Messenger of God caught sight of the Uhad, he said, "This is the hill that loves me and I love it." Abi Humayd reports that he accompanied the Apostle while returning from Tabuk. When they came near Medina, the Prophet of God said, "This is Taba, and this is the hill which loves me and I love it."

 

Uqba tells that God's Messenger went to the martyrs of the Uhad and prayed for their salvation. Jabir b. 'Abdullah relates that when the martyrs of the Uhad were once mentioned to the Prophet he said, "I swear to God that I would have liked to be sleeping with these martyrs by the side of this hill." The Apostle had borne with equanimity the shock of Hamza's death, who had been his loving uncle as well as fosterbrother and had parted with his life fighting valiantly for the cause of Islam. He had also remained calm and composed on what had been done with Hamza's dead body. But, when he passed by the houses of Bani 'Abdul Ashhal while returning to Medina, he heard the lamentations over the dead. Overcome with the grief for the departed comrade, his eyes gave way to tears and he said, "But there are no women to mourn over Hamza!" But these instincts and emotions, howsoever noble and sublime and overflowing with the milk of human kindness, were never allowed by the Apostle of God to entrammel his mission or to disrupt the divine injunctions. Historians and biographers of the Prophet relate that when S'ad b. Mu'adh and Usayd b. Hudayr came back to the settlement of Bani 'Abdul Ashhal, they ordered their women to gird themselves and go and weep for Hamza. They did as they had been told and when the Apostle came he found them weeping at the door of his mosque. But, he told them, "May God have mercy on you, go back; your presence has been enough for my consolation." It has been narrated b~, another companion that on seeing the women the Apostle asked "What is it ?" When he was told that the Ansar had sent their women to weep over Hamza, he invoked God's mercy for the Ansar and paid compliments to them for their love to him but also added, "I did not mean that. I do not like lamentation over the dead." Thereafter the Apostle forbade mourning for the dead.

 

An occasion still more poignant it was when Wahshi, the slayer of Hamza, called upon the Apostle of God, The conquest of Mecca by the Muslims was deemed by the enemies of Islam as the darkest hour of their lives. A number of them had no hesitation in reaching the decision that it would now be well-nigh impossible for them to remain at Mecca; they decided to migrate to Syria, Yemen or some other place for the fear of their lives. Their friends, however, told them: "Woe to you, Muhammad peace be upon him does not kill anyone who enters his religion." Almost all these former enemies returned and embraced Islam. None of them had
the least speck of fear in his heart on appearing before the Apostle after pledging allegiance to Islam, nor did the Apostle say a word to cast any doubt on their sincerity or to terrify them. And so it happened with Wahshi also. The Apostle of God learnt from Wahshi, after he had accepted Islam, how he had killed Hamza. It was but natural that the Prophet was grieved and harrowed to know about the ghastly crime of Wahshi, but he did not allow his irritation to get the better of his responsibility as the Apostle of God. He neither refused to admit Wahshi to the fold of Islam nor had him slain for his crime. All he said to Wahshi was, "O man, hide your face from me and never let me see you again." Wahshi used to avoid the Apostle of God so that he should not see him, until the time arrived for the Apostle's departure.

 

These nobler emotions or tender feelings reflecting warm-heartedness of the Prophet were laid bare when he visited an old, dilapidated grave. Then, those with him found him in a turmoil, and he said, "This is the grave of Amina." This was long, long years after the death of the Apostle's mother."