A Letter to a Dear One — Page 48
48 Letter to a Dear One slaves and slave-girls in the Hereafter? Say Subh ā nall ā h and Alhamdulill ā h 33 times each and All ā hu Akbar 34 times before going to bed. ’ In other words, be occupied in praising Allah. His daughter thus obeyed and gave up the wish to have a slave. Once the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) was distributing dates as alms. His two grandsons were playing nearby. One of them picked up one date and put it in his mouth to eat. The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) put his finger in the grandson’s mouth to take the date out and said that it was not proper for the children of Muhammad ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) to eat something out of what was meant for alms. Once a woman from a noble family of Quraish was proven guilty of theft. A judgment was passed to have her hands cut off. The nobility of Quraish sent a message pleading that in light of her lineage, would the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) lessen or pardon her punishment. The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) replied, “By God, in Whose hand is my life, even if my own daughter would commit theft, I would have her hands cut off. ” In late life, the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) had the only son called Ibr ā h ī m, who passed away. He bore Allah’s Will with patience and said that though his eyes wept and his heart was grieved but he would only say what the Lord liked and would never utter an expression that He did not like, although he grieved Ibr ā h ī m’s parting. It has been mentioned that when the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) was sent as an employee of © a ñ rat Khad ī ja (ra ñ iyall ā hu ‘anh ā ) on a trade expedition how well and gracefully had he carried out his duties. Treatment of Slaves The Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) did not keep slaves himself. However, if ever a slave came into his care, he would free him. In the early days, in Mecca, the Holy Prophet ( ” allall ā hu ‘alaihi wa sallam) had a young man from a noble family called Zaid as his slave. Zaid was made a prisoner in a war and consequently sold as a slave and ended up in the Holy Prophet’s ownership. This was in the early days of