Gems From the Messenger of Allah ﷺ

In his book, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, Shaykh Abū’l-Ḥasan al-Nadwī says about the Prophet ﷺ:

“He was the most open, easy-going, and generous of people. He would joke with his companions, interact and talk with them, play with their children and sit them on his lap. He would answer the call of the free and the slave, the slave-girl and the indigent. He would visit the sick in the farthest corners of Madina and accept the excuses of people when they excused themselves. He was never seen with his legs outstretched amongst his companions so as not to constrain them by doing so.”

`Abd Allah ibn Hārith (may Allah be pleased with him) said about him, “I have never seen anyone smile more than the Prophet ﷺ.”

He then narrated a hadith from al-Tirmidhī. Below is the translation of the hadith and the translation of some commentary on that hadith.

From Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Jābir ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“I sat with the Prophet ﷺ more than a hundred times; his companions would recite poetry and relate stories about how things were in jāhiliyyah (before they accepted Islam). Meanwhile, the Prophet ﷺ would be silent and sometimes he would smile.”¹

While explaining this hadith in Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī, al-Mubārakfūri says:

“Of the things they talked about was how one of them would say, ‘Nobody’s idol was more beneficial to them than mine was to me!’ They said, ‘How’s that?!’ He said, ‘I made my idol out of a mixture of date and animal fat, and then when we were struck with hunger I would eat it day after day!’ Another example is when one of the Companions said, ‘I saw two foxes come and climb to the top of my idol and then urinate on its head. I said to myself, ‘What kind of god lets two foxes urinate on its head?!’ Then I came to you, O Messenger of Allah, and accepted Islam.’”

In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, it is narrated by Simāk ibn Ḥarb:

“I said to Jābir ibn Samurah, ‘Did you use to sit with the Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘Yes, a lot. He would not rise from the place where he prayed fajr until the sun would rise, then he would get up; they used to talk, and recall things from al-Jahiliyyah and laugh; and the Prophet ﷺ would smile.’”

Imām al-Nawawi says in his explanation of Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:

‘This hadith is evidence that it is recommended to make dhikr after the morning prayer, and to stay in the same place while doing so (unless there is a reason not to). Al-Qāḍī (referring to Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ) said, “This is sunnah and the early generations and people of knowledge would practice it. They would devote that time to dhikr and duʿāʾ until sunrise.” The hadith is also evidence of the permissibility of relating narrations about al-Jahiliyyah and other previous nations.”

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger of Allah, the one who was sent as a mercy to the entire universe; and may we be united with him in Paradise so we may sit with him the way the Companions did. Amīn!

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