1/14/2022

by Eman Ahmed

I’m going to talk about three characteristics of the Prophet (saw) today: smiling, his honesty, and his open mindedness to others’ opinions.

Now all of us know that Prophet Mohammad (saw) is the greatest role model. His sunnah is something we should all strive to try and follow. He remains, to this day, an example of strength, kindness, courage, love, devotion, and faith— along with other adjectives that don’t even fully encompass his whole character. From everything he’s done for the sake of Allah (swt) and all of his moral characteristics, he is the greatest guide on how to act and behave.

The Sunnah of Smiling

Let’s begin, of course, with Prophet Mohamad’s (saw) smile and the honestly behind it. It was narrated that his face was smiling and glowing almost all the time.

Being honest

He was well known, well before the Quran came down and Allah (swt) sent his message through angel jibreel, as ‘As sadiq al ameen’ roughly translated as ‘the truthful, the trustworthy’. Even before he was even a messenger, he was well known as one of the most truthful people, so that when the message came down, people could not doubt him and say that he was a liar because why would he lie now when he has never done that before. There are many examples of prophet (saw) and of his honesty, let me tell you one:

People who did not even believe in his message or Allah (swt) still did not doubt his trustworthiness and still entrusted the prophet (saw) with their most prized possessions.

Aisha rA said that the ‘prophet (saw) instructed Ali rA to stay behind in Mecca so that he could return all of the valuables he was entrusted with from the people. Ali rA stayed for three days and three nights to deliver everything that was entrusted to the Prophet (saw) and caught up to him (saw) after completing his deliveries. There was nobody in Mecca (including his enemies) who feared for their possessions if it was left with Prophet Mohammad (saw) due to his reputation of being honest and trustworthy. His principled honestly was so evident back then that his reputation has preceded him even thousands of years later.

Open-Mindedness

Another great characteristic of the prophet (saw) was his openness to other’s opinions and ideas, this is called (mabda’ as-shura). The nominal usage of the word ‘shura’ is commonly understood as mutual consultation.

An example of this comes In the Battle of Badr, where the Prophet (saw) chose a certain location for the battle and a companion asked him if the location was an order from Allah (swt). The Prophet (saw) said that it was not an order, but based on his own opinion and experience. The companion then told the prophet (saw) if it was not an order, this location isn’t the right place and thought they should change the location. The Prophet (saw) took the companion’s opinion which helped them in the end (they won this battle— but of course because of many different decisions as well).

Because of this, Allah (swt) sent down the ayah in Surat Imran (verse 159) ordering us to take opinions and consult with others. Then when you make a decision, put your trust in Allah (swt). While the message was sent directly to the Prophet (saw), it means we should all follow Allah (swt) order just as he did.

In addition, the companions were allowed to express their opinion regularly to the Prophet (saw) and gave the Prophet space to make the decision with all the information at hand.

This teaches us to interfere and express our opinions and let other people tell us theirs. It is important to stay open-minded to those around you, as you may receive insight you wouldn't have considered on your own.