A Letter to a Dear One — Page 46
46 Letter to a Dear One incident about a most supreme and desirable act of a person: A person used to take a drink of milk for his elderly parents every evening. One evening he was delayed and his parents went to sleep. When the person got to his parents, he stood by their bedside all night; neither wanting to disturb their sleep nor wishing a break in their daily intake of milk. When they awoke in the morning, he offered them the milk to drink. (This is a part of a long Had ī th). The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) respected his wet- nurse Hal ī ma (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) and had great love for his foster brothers and sisters. In fact he treated the entire tribe of Hal ī ma (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) with kindness. His life was a model of excellence even before he was entrusted with Prophethood. His chastity, trustworthiness, care of the needy, hospitality and generosity were acknowledged. In his youth he was given the name of ‘Al-Am ī n’, which means the trustworthy. Treatment with Wife © a ñ rat Khad ī ja (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) was an affluent lady of Mecca. She had employed the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam), long before his Prophethood, for a trade to Syria. She was so impressed by his honest and trustworthy dealings that she sent a proposal of marriage to him. The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) accepted the proposal. At that time © a ñ rat Khad ī ja (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) was forty years old and the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) was twenty-five years old. After the marriage © a ñ rat Khad ī ja (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) entrusted all her wealth and all her slaves to the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam). He distributed that wealth among the needy and freed the slaves. © a ñ rat Khad ī ja (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) lived for around twenty-five years after her marriage. She gave birth to three sons and four daughters. The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) presented a model of excellence as a husband and father. Through his Traditions he taught to have social grace when dealing with women. He said, “The best of you are those who behave best towards their wives. ” © a ñ rat Ā ’isha (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) would say that the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) would talk about © a ñ rat Khadija (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) in such a way that she would not feel envious of any of his living wives as she would of the deceased © a ñ rat