The life of the Holy Prophet of Islam — Page 20
kindness, which created a constructive effect upon his people. His wife Khadijah had made him a present of a young slave named Zaid Ibn Harith, who had been brought as a captive to Mecca and sold to Khadijah. When Zaid’s father heard that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) possessed Zaid, he came to Mecca and offered a large sum for his ransom. Whereupon Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Let Zaid come here, and if he chooses to go with you, take him without ransom; but if it be his choice to stay with me, why should I not keep him?” Harith agreed to this proposal of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He had no doubt that his son would not make a decision other than to go with him. The father did not know that Prophet of Islam had given him love more than the parents, and that his son would give preference to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) over his parents. Zaid, being brought into the presence of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), declared that he would stay with his master, who treated him as if he were his only son. Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) no sooner heard this than he took Zaid by the hand and led him to the black stone of Kaaba, where he publicly adopted him as his son, to which the father acquiesced and returned home well satisfied. Henceforward Zaid was called the son of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Marur bin Suwaid relates: “I saw Abu Dharr Ghaffari, the Companion of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), wearing clothes exactly similar to those worn by his slave. I inquired of him the reason for this and he said: During the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) I once taunted a man with his mother having been a slave. Upon this the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) rebuked me and said: “You still seem to entertain pre-Islamic notions. What are slaves? They are your brethren and a source of your power. God in His wisdom confers temporary authority upon you over them. He who has such authority over his brother should feed him with the kind of food he himself eats; clothe him with the kind of clothes he himself wears and should not set him a task beyond his strength and should himself help him in whatever he is asked to do. ” On another occasion the Prophet said: “When your servant cooks food for you and sets it out before you, you should ask him to sit down with you to eat or at least to partake of a portion of it in your company, for he has established a right in it by working on it. ” (Sahih Muslim) Abu Masud Al-Ansari was a companion of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), he once beat his slave, and Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) admonished him in the following words, which are narrated by Abu Masud himself. He said: I was beating my slave with a whip when I heard a voice behind me, “Understand Abu Masud,” but I did not recognize the voice due to intense anger. He (Abu Masud) reported: As he came near me, I found that he was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he was saying, “Bear in mind, Abu Masud. Bear in mind, Abu Masud. ” He (Abu Masud) said, I threw the whip from my hand. Thereupon he (the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Bear in mind, Abu Masud, verily Allah has more dominance upon you than you have upon your slave. I then said, I would never beat my servant in future. (Sahih Muslim) Abdullah ibn ‘Umar talks about forgiveness of the slaves as he heard from the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) of Islam: An A‘rabi (desert Arab) came to the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, O Messenger of Allah, how many times should I forgive my slave every day? The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied: Seventy times. (Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud) TRUTHFULNESS