A Letter to a Dear One — Page 47
Muhammad Zafrulla Khan 47 Khad ī ja (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ). If a friend of © a ñ rat Khad ī ja (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) came to visit, the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) would stand up and spread his cloth for her to sit on. If there were ever a gift or something that he would distribute, he would always send © a ñ rat Khad ī ja’s friend a share. Affection with Children The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) treated all children with immense affection. He was once kissing his grandsons when a nomad asked, ‘O Prophet of God, do you kiss children?’ The Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, Yes , at which the nomad said that he had so many children but he had never kissed them. The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) replied if Allah had hardened the nomad’s heart then what could the Prophet do. Many times during the position of prostration in sal ā t, the Holy Prophet’s ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) grandsons, © a ñ rat Hasan and © a ñ rat Husian (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anhum ā ), would climb on his shoulders, but he did not ever mind it. However, this affection was well within its limits. It is a well- known fact that the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) dearly loved his daughter © a ñ rat F ā tima (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ). However, he would always enjoin her to do good deeds for in the Hereafter; he told her, she would not be asked as to whose daughter she was, rather what her actions had been. Once, upon arriving home, © a ñ rat ‘ Ā ’isha (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) said, “F ā tima (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) had come by and had something to say to you. I asked her to stay over but she went back home. ” Thereupon the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) went to © a ñ rat F ā tima’s (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) house and asked what was the matter. © a ñ rat F ā tima (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) said to the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) that she had developed blisters on her hands due to grinding grain with stone, and would it be possible for her to have a slave-girl to do that job for her. This is the daughter of Allah’s beloved, the apple of the eye of the Seal of all the Prophets—imagine, she did not have any help in her home! When she asked her father for a slave-girl to save herself from the toil that gave her blisters on her hands, her father replied, ‘Why do I not tell you something which is better for you than