The Seal of Prophets - His Personality and Character — Page 24
24 The Seal of Prophets Chapter 4 The Prophet’s View on Justice The Holy Prophet sa was a man of strict and absolute justice. However, his justice was complemented with a balancing sense of perfect kindness. In the Battle of Badr, one of his uncles Abbas, while fighting on the side of the idolaters, was arrested by the Muslims. Like other prisoners, his hands and feet were also bound against a pillar in the mosque, but rather too tight. The Holy Prophet sa , whose home was adjacent to the mosque, could not sleep at night, distressed at hearing his sobs and cries. When this was reported to his companions present in the mosque, they loosened Abbas’s ties. After a while, when the Holy Prophet sa couldn’t hear any moaning, he became worried and enquired as to why the sounds had stopped. Somebody said that the ties of Abbas had been relaxed. He said: “If you have done this to Abbas do the same to every prisoner”. This having been done he could at least rest in peace. This is how he showed his kindness without compromising justice. Once a daughter of a prominent Arab chieftain was caught stealing; her name was Fatimah, the same as that of the Holy Prophet’ s sa daughter. This matter was being disputed outside the house of the Holy Prophet sa and some people were asking for mercy as she was the daughter of a powerful chief. They persuaded Osamah ra , the son of a liberated slave of the Holy Prophet sa , whom the Holy Prophet sa loved so much, to intercede on her behalf. He proceeded to do so. But this annoyed the Holy Prophet sa so much that the vein on his forehead darkened