Wisdom of The Holy Prophet — Page 5
5 It was necessary, therefore that a detailed record of the words and deeds pf one who was sent by Allah "as a mercy for the worlds" should be preserved for the benefit of later generatipns, for he had been divinely appointed a perfect exemplar for mankind. "Surely }OU have in the Messenger of Allah an excel lent exemplar for him who fears Allah and the Last Day and who remembers Allah much". (33: 216). To serve as an examplar for mankind the Holy Prophet's life was bound to be multi-faceted. History bears witness that during the comparatively brief period of his Min istry, the Holy Prophet was called upon to assume a multi plicity of roles and to discharge a variety of heavy respon sibilities. It was also necessary that a complete picture of his mode of life, of that which he taught, the manner in which he illustrated the values that he propounded should also be easily availabe. This need has been filled by the narrators and compilers of Hadith, to whom not only the Muslims but all those who are interested. in upholding moral and spiritual values, owe a heavy debt of gratitude. In this volume, a humble effort has been made to present some features of the personality of the Holy Prophet as illustrative of certain moral and spiritual values. The material available is so plentiful that the difficulty has been what to seh,ct. The· effort has been deliberately confined to certain aspects of social relations, touching only inci dentally upon others. Where no other indication is given, the Hadith sets out the words of the Holy Prophet as spoken directly or as reported indirectly. One or two matters may call for a word of explana tion as to the perspective in which certain expressions arc employed. The Holy Prophet often used the expression 'brother' as meaning a fellow Muslim pr fellow human being. He laid stress on a particular aspect having regard tc· the person to whom he was speaking so that when he de-