C. His Exemplary Life

Revîşi pâk gerek da’vî-i İslâm edenin^[1]

Eşrefoğlu Rûmî

The good and praiseworthy actions and behavior of the preacher are among the most important means used in the call to Islam and to Allah the Almighty. A preacher of Islam should be like a living book from which his audience reads the principles of Islam. In order to make the message of Islam reach the audience and be successful, its preacher should be a good example and apply the principles that he preaches to his own life. In other words, a preacher must have the characteristics of praiseworthy morality, consistency of speech and actions, and unity of knowledge and actions because human nature tends to accept seeing behavior and actions more than simply hearing about them. Put differently, Islam needs to be represented by actions rather than preached in words.[2]

In the verses below Allah the Almighty invites preachers of Islam to be exemplary people and wants their actions to not conflict with their words:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُوا مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ

“O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do? It is most hateful to Allah that you should say that which you do not do.” (al-Saff 61; 2-3)

اَتَاْمُرَونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنْسَوْنَ اَنْفُسَكُمْ وَاَنْتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ اَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ

“Do you enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (to practice it) yourselves, and yet you study the Scripture? Will you not understand?” (al-Baqarah 2; 44)

The words of those who do not have a strong personality and whose words are not compatible with their actions will not have any effect upon their listeners. Therefore, prophets and their followers have to be careful about the consistency of their words and actions. The Prophet Shu’aib (Jethro) (A.S.), who is also known as “the preacher to the prophets”, addresses his people as stated in the verse below:

“…I wish not, in opposition to you, to do that which I forbid you to do…” (Hud 11; 88)

Allah’s Messenger (pbuh), who was the most excellent exemplar in every aspect of his life, demonstrated this attribute perfectly.

Allah’s Messenger was so careful about living in accordance with his teachings that those who looked at him did not need anything else to be convinced that he was telling the truth and to acknowledge his prophethood. Abdullah b. Rawaha’s following line is a good statement of this reality:

لَوْ لَمْ تَكُنْ فِيهِ آياَتٌ مُبَيِّنَةٌ لَكَانَ مَنْظَرُهُ يُنْبِئُكَ بِالْخَبَرِ

“Even if he did not come with evident miracles, just looking at his blessed face, observing his morals and disposition give you satisfactory knowledge.” This is not an exact translation of the Arabic sentence!

This admirable attribute existed in the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) before his prophethood. He had lived a decent life for forty years and never been involved with the sins and ugliness prevalent in his society. This fact is referred to in the following verse:

“…I dwelt among you a whole lifetime before it (the revelation came to me). Have you then no sense?” (Yunus 10; 15-16)

These divine statements shed light on the life of Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) before his prophethood, and in a way it’s a warning of the Prophet’s (pbuh) saying:

“O Meccans who stubbornly and persistently oppose me! I was amongst you for forty years before I brought you the Qur’an. Is not my existence for such a long time amongst you enough to know how trustworthy I am and that the Qur’an is nothing but the word of Allah?”

Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) was the most superior one in munificence, most perfect one in modesty, most eminent one in nobility, most trustworthy one, strongest one in endurance, and the farthest one from all kinds of dissipation amongst his people. Al-amin (the most trustworthy one) was the Prophet’s second name. When he was twenty five years old, he was known in Mecca only by the name of al-Amin. (Ibn Sa’d, I, 121, 156) See how nicely Khadijah (r. anha) emphasized this characteristic of the Prophet (pbuh) in the following report:

“Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the poor and the destitute, serve your guests generously and assist those who are deserving and afflicted by calamity. You speak the truth. You are trustworthy. You have good morals.” (Bukhari, Bad’ul wahy, 1; Ibn Sa’d, I, 195)

In his first address on the hill of Safa Allah’s Apostle (pbuh) presented his exemplary life as his primary proof to persuade his listeners. He (pbuh) began his speech by asking:

“If I were to inform you that there were horsemen emerging out of the foot of this mountain, would you believe me?” and his audience replied:

“We have not experienced any lie from you.” As a result of this response our beloved Prophet (pbuh) began to convey them the message of Islam. (Muslim, Iman, 355; Ibn Sa’d, I, 200)

The following example about the necessity of the consistency of words with actions of the preachers is also very remarkable. When the ruler of Umman received the Prophet’s letter inviting him to Islam, he asked for information about Prophet’s life. After receiving what he had requested, he said:

“Allah granted me the opportunity to know this illiterate Prophet. He would not order goodness unless he lives it first in his own life and he would not prohibit a wrong action unless he gave it up himself first. He will certainly be victorious. He cannot be stopped. He will certainly be superior and will not be left alone. He keeps his word and fulfills his promise.” Finally, he converted to Islam saying “I definitely accept that he is a prophet.” Then he composed a poem about his conversion addressing a Prophet’s emissary Amr b. As (r.a.):

أَتاَنِى عَمْرٌو بِالَّتِى لَيْسَ بَعْدَهَا مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْءٌ وَالنَّصِيحُ نَصِيحُ

فَياَ عَمْرُو قَدْ اَسْلَمْتُ ِللهِ جَهْرَةً يُناَدِى بِهَا فِى الْوَادِيَيْنِ فَصِيحُ

“Amr brought be such a truth that no truth exists beyond it. The adviser of that Truth is a true adviser. O Amr! I openly submit myself to Allah. An eloquent tongue is shouting my state in these valleys.” (Ibn Hajar, al-Isabah, I, 262)

When Abdullah b. Salam, a prominent Jewish scholar of the time, saw the Prophet’s face, he said: “This face cannot belong to a liar” and then converted to Islam. (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 42)[3]

Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) attached importance to the fact that his message be material rather than be abstract statements. According to the narration of Anas (r.a.) “Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) would want Muhajirs and Ansar to pray right behind him in order to see closely and learn (how to pray) directly from him.” (Ibn Majah, Salat, 44)

Again when he performed his pilgrimage, he demonstrated most of the rites while he was on his camel to let believers see easily and he said:

 “O People! Learn your rituals (by seeing me performing them), for I do not know whether I will be able to perform pilgrimage after this one.” (Ibn Hanbal, III, 318; Muslim, Hajj, 310)

Just as being an example in performing the acts of worship, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) became an actual criterion in abstaining from prohibitions. For instance, Allah’s Apostle had a gold ring and he used to wear it with the stone towards the inner part of his hand, and so the people had similar rings made for themselves. Later, the Prophet sat on the pulpit and removed his ring saying,

“I used to wear this ring and turn its stone towards the palm of my hand.” He then threw it away and said,

“By Allah, I will never wear it.” Therefore, all the people threw away their rings as well. (Bukhari, Aiman, 6)

Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) prepared the circumstances for the people he invited to Islam in order for them to see the living Islam and so make their decisions accordingly. Instead of gathering the captives of the battle of Badr in one place, he advised his Companions to host them one by one. The aim of this approach was to let the captives see closely how the Companions lived Islam, the beauty of Islam, and thus to let their hearts warm to the path of the truth. (Ibn Hisham, II, 288)

Similarly, the same aim was observed in the Companions’ hosting the members of foreign delegations separately. (Ibn Hanbal, III, 432) For instance when the delegation from Taif came to Medina, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) hosted them in the mosque to let them listen to the Qur’an, to see how believers peacefully pray in reverence. (Abu Dawud, Imarah, 26)

After teaching them Islam, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) would send the new converts back to their towns so that they could convey the message of Islam to their people through their exemplary lives. Malik b. Huwairth narrated:

“I came to the Prophet with some men from my tribe and stayed with him for twenty nights. He was kind and merciful to us. When he realized our longing for our families, he said to us,

“Go back and stay with your families and teach them the religion and tell them the things needed to be told.” Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) ordered us to do some more things some of which I still remember and others of which I do not. . Then he (the Holy Prophet) continued:

“Offer the prayer just as you saw me praying and one of you should pronounce the Adhan for the prayer when it is time is due and the oldest one amongst you should lead the prayer.” (Bukhari, Adhaan, 18)

Ottomans sent religious families with exemplary lives first to the lands they conquered following the custom of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). People who saw the believers’ sincere and peaceful lives embraced Islam in crowds. Today preachers of Islam have to apply the same method in delivering the message of Islam all around the world.