Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 451
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 451 became the object of persecution. On one occasion, an outsider sought help from the Meccans in respect of the recovery of a sum of money owed to him by Abu Jahl. ‘Those whom he approached directed him cynically to the Holy Prophet, who immediately accompan ied the man to Abu Jahl’s house and knocked at his door. Abu Jahl, amazed at seeing Muhammad before him, admitted the claim. The Holy Prophet then asked him to discharge his obligation, which he promptly did. When Abu Jahl later appeared before his fellows , they jeered at him and taunted him with having submitted meekly to Muhammad’s demand. He said he had been so awed that he could not help himself. Even during the Meccan period the widow, the orphan, the needy, the wayfarer, the slave and the distressed were the objects of the persecuted Prophet’s special care and concern. At Medina he continued his simple ways and austere habits. For days together h is hearth remained unlit. He and his subsisted on a meagre diet of dates or parched ground barley. Sometimes water alone sufficed. He had but one change of clothes. His dwelling was of the simplest and barest. He slept on a leather sack filled with twigs a nd branches of trees. He never slept in a bed; never ate bread made out of ground flour; never ate his fill. At night, between the prescribed services, he spent long hours in prayer. He stood so long in the course of these prayers that sometimes his feet became swollen. On one occasion Aisha was moved to venture a mild protest against such prolonged devotion. The Holy Prophet answered, ‘Aisha, God has been so profuse in bestowing His bounties upon me that it behoves me to be the most grateful of His servants. ’ The character of his domestic life