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Chapter XI: Living and Character of the Prophet (cont.)

CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF PROPHET

AH praise is due to God who created the universe and taught.
His greatest Prophet Muhammad (P.H) the best good manners, purified his character and conduct and adopted him as His friend. He gives grace to follow the Prophet to one who wishes to make his character and conduct beautiful. He deprives one to follow whom he wishes to destroy. Open good conduct is the fountain of secret good conduct . The movements of the bodily limbs are the results of thoughts of mind and the external actions are the result of character and conduct. To make efforts in recognizing God and the acquisition of wonderful secret powers are the fountains of actions. The light of this secret power is expressed outwardly and makes the body beautiful and gives rise to good attributes after removing evils. The man who has got, not fear in mind, has got not fear expressed in his bodily limbs. The beauty of the conduct of prophethood is not expressed in a man whose mind is not illumined with the light of God. I intended to gather together in this chapter the ways of the life of his ways in the first and second parts of this book, I do not wish to repeat them here.

(1) PROPHETS LEARNING THROUGH THE QURAN

The Prophet used to invoke and pray to the Alimighty God to grant him good manners and good treatment with the people and to adorn him with good character and conduct. He use to say in his invocation : O God, make my constitution and conduct good. He used to pray : O God, save me from bad character and conduct. Acceptance of his prayer is seen in the following verse.
Invoke me, I will respond to you-2:186 . God revealed the Quran on him and through it He taught him good manners. His character is the Quran. Hazrat Sa'ad reported : Once I went to Ayesha and her father and asked them about the character and conduct of the Prophet to which Ayesha replied : Don't you read the Quran ? I said : Yes. She said: The character of the Messenger of God is the Quran. His conduct is expressed in the following verse : Take to pardon enjoin good and turn away from the illiterate. God says: God enjoins justice, kindness, giving charity to the relatives and prohibits indecencies, evils and

208 The Book of Wordly Usages Vol-II

rebellion-16:90. God says : Have patience at the disasters that befall on you. It is a difficult task. God says : It is difficult to have patience and to forgive.

God says : Pardon and forgive them. God loves the doers of good. God says : Don't you like that God should forgive you ?
God says: Remove evil with what is good, as a result the enmity that exists between you and him will be removed and he will become your friend. God says: Those who appease their wrath, those who pardon people, God loves the doers of good. God says :
Give up conjectures in most cases, as some conjecture is sin.
Don't spy and don' t back-bite one another.

Source: Imam Al-Ghazali, Ihya Ulum al-Din (Revival of the Islamic Sciences)
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