Now, let us start the instances that illustrate the thrust of this presentation with the story of Abu Hurairah, one of the great companions of the prophet. Abu Hurairah, out of hunger, fainted and couldn’t stand up, so, the Prophet (SAW) saw him and now called him, ‘Abu Hurairah what’s the problem?’ But he could not talk, he simply raised his garment and revealed a stone that was tied to his stomach out of hunger.
The prophet smiled, raised his own garment and Abu Hurairah saw two stones, out of hunger. Abu Hurairah got his energy immediately and he stood up! That’s a great man, he doesn’t give palliative, he shares your trouble, he doesn’t remove subsidy, I’m not criticizing anybody! He looks at what people are already suffering, he shares their suffering, he does not want to lead them only to make them breath, he wants to breath with them! That’s the Prophet for you (SAW)!
Now, we move to Makkah to examine the response of a great woman to this prophet. At early 20 before he became a prophet, he was working with Khadijah, the richest woman in Makkah who was also 15years older than him, so, she was confidently his boss.
But before he came, men had been working for Khadijah and they had been making money out of her, yet her money was growing! When Muhammad (SAW) came, the money multiplied because the profit and sales he was making were multiple than what other people had been making. Thus, she felt that it must be the particular article he was selling and the place where he was selling the article must have been responsible for the huge profit, so, she started rotating him, making him do what others have been doing, but the same result – huge sales, huge profit. Khadijah discovered that this is a great man! This is an exceptional man! This is a rare manager of men and material resources, she, therefore, made him head of the human resources department of her business and everything went smoother than when the owner was doing it.
By the time Muhammad (SAW) was 25, Khadijah was 40, she resolved to marry him. That’s a response! It’s not a reaction! If it was going to be a reaction, the woman would use her emotion to say, ‘me, marrying my manager, who is 15years younger!’ She didn’t look at this, but she responded, she didn’t react! The response was, ‘no wonder he’s great, he’s from Ashimiyy section of the Qurashy, the best and the greatest member of the families in Makkah.’ Her problem is, ‘will they marry her?’ ‘Will the family of the prophet, being an orphan, allow him to marry her?’
The second problem, will her parents allow her to marry into a family that is greater? Will she not be considered as his slave? Will they not oppress her because the family value was more important than wealth? So, she made her father drunk, wrote a letter of acceptance of the proposal from the family of Muhammad and made him (her father) sign the letter. The following morning, she went to thank him for signing the agreement of marriage. The father protested, but he couldn’t deny his own signature. That was how she tricked her family to make marriage work.
Thereafter, she gave the letter to Muhammad (SAW) to take to his uncle. He didn’t know what was inside, so, the uncle couldn’t do anything but to start arranging for sodaqah (bride price) and then they paid bride price appropriate for a woman of that status. And the marriage was consummated. If we now say that Khadijah gave Muhammad all her wealth, we’ll be making a mistake, she handed over the business to him as a better manager and this is what should not be taken as reference. You can’t marry a rich woman and except her to give you all her wealth! It won’t happen because you don’t have the quality of Muhammad (SAW), and she doesn’t have the quality of Khadijah.
The prophet was a great man, Khadijah was a great woman, so, she recognized him. Only a great person recognizes a great person! A person that’s not great will not see anything great in a great person!
The second issue in Makkah to be examined is the response of people. Let us see the initial response of Abu Lahab, who said to the Prophet, Tabatyadaaka (Woe betide your hand!) and Allah responded in Surah Al-Masad (Chapter 111 of the Holy Qur’an). The people said this man is mad (mojnuun), how can he be combining all the 360 gods into one invisible God? It’s madness! He’s either a soothsayer or a mad person! And Allah responded: “Nun. By the pen, and all that they inscribe! You are not, by the grace of your Lord, O Prophet, touched with madness” (Q68V1-2).
Greatness displays certain unreasonable, irrational, inexplainable behavior that a lesser mind will consider as madness. So, it’s a miracle. The life he was living was a life of miracle, so, it can’t be interpreted by the lesser mind except by magic. So, he was accused of living a magical life.
Indeed, everything about a great man presents magic, wonder, enigmatism, everything that is not normal!
Another classical instance was how Abubakar responded to the Prophet during Isra’i wal Miraj. He was not there. The prophet went far from climbing Al Buraq from Masjid Haram to Masjid Al-Aqsa and from there to heaven. And before the daybreak, he was back. When he met the people, they doubted him they said it was not possible. They were like saying, ‘this must be another lie! You’ve been lying before, we’ve only been tolerating you, because those lies were making sense, but this doesn’t make any sense! So, they asked him to prove and he did by telling them about things he saw in Jerusalem, but they became more confused, so, they went to Abubakar. Many of those who had believed him stop believing because of this miracle, the miracle of the night journey. But Abubakar said we were never there when Angel Jibril usually came to him, so, if he said he went to the heavens then he did! Then Abubakar became known as As-Siddiq (the truthful). He submitted to the information, he accepted the information without question, so, he was the first to believe him in something extraordinary.
Indeed, the acceptance of Islam by Abubakar as the first adult man, the acceptance of Khadijah as the first human being and his wife, the acceptance of Islam by Alli are indicative of the fact that only great people associate and get close to great people. And unless a great person does not personally interact with another great person, he may hate him, but once they personally and closely interact, he will change his mind. That’s what happened to Umar bn Khattab, who later became the second Khalifah after the death of the prophet and presided the affairs of the Muslim world for ten years.
Indeed, the Quranic accounts about the greatness of the Prophet are simply inexhaustible and his (SAW) indelible marks on the sand of times will remain refreshing till the end of time. May the blessings and benediction of Allah (SWT) continue to be showered on the noble soul of the Prophet. “Indeed, God and His angels pronounce blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe! Pray for God’s blessings upon the Prophet, and salute him with a worthy salutation of peace!” Q33V56.
•Prof AbdulAzeez is Chief Imam, University of Abuja. He spoke via zoom at the Special Ta’alim organized by the Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN) marking the 1445AH birthday anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) on September 27, 2023.
