A Critique of Professor Arnold G. Toynbee’s Understanding — Page 31
31 Messenger of Allah, “Why should I not cry? Your blessed body, has marks all over, from this bed that you lie on. The scarce contents of this small chamber seem to be all that you possess. The Chosroes and the Caesar should have their gardens and palaces to enjoy, and the Messenger of Allah should be in such circumstances. Alas! I cannot help crying. ” The Holy Prophet replied, “O Umar Ibn - e - Khataab! Is it not pleasing to you that the Caesars should have this world and we should have the Hereafter?” ( Muslim, Baab fit Eelaa wa e’tezaal - inNisaa, a book of the sayings of the Holy Prophet ). The pure and holy life of the Holy Prophet is full of hundreds of such incidents which bear testimony to his simplicity, his informality and his humility. Only a few incidents have been selected for presentation here. There is no comparison of all this to the lives and practices of the kings: the arrangements for their entertainment, excitement and their precious, showy glittering forms of dress. When we compare the Holy Prophet’s mode of living to that of the kings, do we find anything in the life of the H oly Prophet which comes even close? Can we find any king who could be compared in his behavior to the Holy Prophet? Do we find any example among them of the Holy Prophet’s humility and lowliness? On one hand, there are those possessing thousands of suits o f clothing; and on the other, we have one possessing a single cloth for wearing. Even, that is full of patches! The manner in which the kings address others, and in the manner in which they deal with them, are clear signs of self aggrandizement, arrogance, pride and conceit. The Holy Prophet