Continuation of the chapter "The Chapter on Being Open with People": Continuation of the explanation of the hadith of 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with both of them): (
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The Shaykh : أخبرني عن صفة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في التوراة قال : فقال : أجل ، والله إنه لموصوف في التوراة ببعض صفته في القرآن: يا أيها النبي إنا أرسلناك شاهداً ومبشراً ونذيراً وحرزاً للأميين أنت عبدي ورسولي سميتك المتوكل، ليس بفظ ولا غليظ ولا صخاب في الأسواق، ولا يدفع بالسيئة السيئة ولكن يعفوا ويغفر، ولن يقبضه الله تعالى حتى يقيم به الملة العوجاء بأن يقولوا لا إله إلا الله ويفتحوا بها أعيناً عمياً وآذاناً صما وقلوباً غلفاً He asked me to describe the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Torah. He said: Yes, by Allah, he is described in the Torah with some of his description in the Qur'an: O Prophet, indeed We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good news and a warner, and a protector of the unlettered. You are My servant and My Messenger; I have named you al-Mutawakkil. He is not harsh, not rough, and not loud in the markets. He does not repay evil with evil, but he pardons and forgives. And Allah the Exalted will not take him until he establishes through him the crooked religion by saying, "There is no god but Allah," and opens thereby blind eyes, deaf ears, and sealed hearts..
Our discussion of this hadith in the previous lesson reached the phrase: "I have named you al-Mutawakkil". We mentioned, with some elaboration and detail, that the fact that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was named by his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) as al-Mutawakkil does not mean that he abandoned work and taking the means that lead to the provision Allah has written for him. We spoke about this in some detail, and now we continue with the commentary on the remaining parts of this hadith.
It is said that the Torah describes the Messenger (peace be upon him) with the aforementioned and following attributes. Among these is that he (peace be upon him) is not harsh, not rough, and not loud in the markets. This is part of what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) described him with in some of these phrases when He (Mighty and Majestic) said:[Ali 'Imran 3:159] This attribute, meaning that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was not harsh or rough-hearted, is natural for him (peace and blessings be upon him) as long as he was described in the Qur'an by the words of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): It is not among the noble morals for a Muslim man who emulates and follows the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to be harsh and rough, because if he were so, people would be repelled and disperse from around him. Therefore, Allah the Exalted informed about this reality that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) possessed, which is that he was tender-hearted, merciful, and gentle with his companions, and even with his enemies at times. We have previously mentioned the story of that Jew who came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was in his gathering in his house and greeted him with a greeting that, in common parlance, was booby-trapped—a greeting that contained an insult to him (peace and blessings be upon him) when he said: "As-sam 'alayk" (Death be upon you), O Messenger of Allah. He mumbled it in his speech so that some people might understand it as "As-salam" (Peace), but he actually meant "As-sam 'alaykum" (Death be upon you), and "as-sam" is death. It is self-evident that this was not hidden from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), so he replied to him with the shortest answer: "Wa 'alayk" (And upon you). But Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who heard their words and realized their intention to curse the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with evil and death, could not control herself or restrain her anger; rather, she rushed to say: "And upon you be peace, curse, and anger." Then, when the Jew left the gathering of the Messenger (peace be upon him), he turned to her and said: I have answered him with my saying "And upon you." If he intended that bad meaning that came to our minds, then I have given him the answer and made it clear to him that we are awake and alert, and that falsehood does not deceive us. And if perhaps he did not mean that speech, but rather "as-sam" just reached our ears that way, then we have also answered him without aggression and without injustice. This is one of the effects of the Messenger (peace be upon him): he was not harsh or rough, even with disbelievers who had a covenant and appointments between him (peace be upon him) and them. It is even more fitting that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) not be harsh or rough with his companions. We mentioned in the previous lesson some stories that confirm his gentleness (peace be upon him) with his companions, such as the story of Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami when he spoke during the prayer. Then, when the Messenger (peace be upon him) came to him, he did not hit him, did not curse him, did not mock him, and so on, but rather taught him that nothing of people's speech is appropriate in prayer.
Similarly, the story of that Bedouin who urinated in the mosque; his companions also objected to it. The Messenger (peace be upon him) was not harsh or rough with him, but rather was merciful and tender to him. This is a reality: if the Messenger (peace be upon him), as described in the Torah, was not harsh or rough, then the history of his life (peace and blessings be upon him) confirms this attribute completely. As for his saying: "and not loud in the markets", this means that the Messenger (peace be upon him) was at the peak of calmness, so he was far from the morals of the common people and sellers who raise their voices in the markets, as the Shalafi and their like do today. This is the meaning of his saying: "and not loud". "Sakhb" (loudness) is raising the voice with intensity, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) was not like that, but rather, as we mentioned, he was tender, soft, and refined. This is the meaning of his saying: "and not loud in the markets".
Our discussion of this hadith in the previous lesson reached the phrase: "I have named you al-Mutawakkil". We mentioned, with some elaboration and detail, that the fact that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was named by his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) as al-Mutawakkil does not mean that he abandoned work and taking the means that lead to the provision Allah has written for him. We spoke about this in some detail, and now we continue with the commentary on the remaining parts of this hadith.
It is said that the Torah describes the Messenger (peace be upon him) with the aforementioned and following attributes. Among these is that he (peace be upon him) is not harsh, not rough, and not loud in the markets. This is part of what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) described him with in some of these phrases when He (Mighty and Majestic) said:
And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you.
ولو كنت فظاً غليظ القلب لانفضوا من حولكAnd indeed, you are upon a great character
وإنك لعلى خلق عظيمO Aisha, gentleness has never been in anything except that it adorned it, and harshness has never been in anything except that it disfigured it. She said: O Messenger of Allah, did you not hear what he said? He said to her: Did you not hear what I said?
يا عائشة ما كان الرفق في شيء إلا زانه وما كان العنف في شيء إلا شانه قالت : يا رسول الله ألم تسمع ما قال ؟ قال لها : ألم تسمعي ما قلتُ ؟Similarly, the story of that Bedouin who urinated in the mosque; his companions also objected to it. The Messenger (peace be upon him) was not harsh or rough with him, but rather was merciful and tender to him. This is a reality: if the Messenger (peace be upon him), as described in the Torah, was not harsh or rough, then the history of his life (peace and blessings be upon him) confirms this attribute completely. As for his saying: "and not loud in the markets", this means that the Messenger (peace be upon him) was at the peak of calmness, so he was far from the morals of the common people and sellers who raise their voices in the markets, as the Shalafi and their like do today. This is the meaning of his saying: "and not loud". "Sakhb" (loudness) is raising the voice with intensity, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) was not like that, but rather, as we mentioned, he was tender, soft, and refined. This is the meaning of his saying: "and not loud in the markets".