The Phenomenon emotion in the normative conduct and precedents of the Noble Prophet (s)

Those to whom the people said, ‘All the people have gathered against you; so fear them.’ That only increased them in faith, and they said,’ Allah is sufficient for us, and He is an excellent trustee.’ So they returned with Allah’s blessing and grace, untouched by any evil. They pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is dispenser of a great grace. (3:173-174)

These verses and lessons have nurtured Muslims to the extent that, under the auspice of God’s help and by dint of putting their trust in Him, they are able to change trying times into opportunities.

In books of history, the heroism of the Prophet’s companions have been narrated in the most splendid manner. Take the following historical narrated s an example: Zamira ibn Sa’id quotes his grandmother, who was giving water to Muslim soldiers during the Battle of Uhud, as saying:

I heard the Prophet of God say “The position of Nasiba daughter of Ka’b is higher than the position of so and so and Bahman.” He was referring to a woman who was fighting bravely and fiercely. She had tied a piece of cloth around her stomach and finally suffered thirteen wounds. When this woman was on her death bed, I was one of the people bathing her, so I counted her wounds d found out that they were thirteen wounds in all. She would say, “I was looking at Ibn Qami’ah while her shoulder was hit and this was the worst wound she had-a wound she would treat for one year. Then the Prophet’s caller called, “Forward to Hamra’ al-Aswad!” this woman covered her wounds with her cloth but was not able accompany the Prophet’s companions because of the intensity of the blessing (Wqaidi, vol. 1, p. 270).

The Prophet’s valor and zeal was so great that he is reported to have said, “I swear upon Him who control my life that if no one accompanies me I will go by myself.” (ibid., vol. 2, p. 327).

One of the most splendid summits of this story is that the Noble Prophet (s) ordered his caller to announce. “The Prophet of God calls on you to search your enemies out and only those people who took part in the battle yesterday should accompany us.” In response, Sa’d ibn Khzir, who had suffered seven wounds and was intending to treat them, said, “We have heard and we obey God and His Prophet!” Then he got his sword and did not wait for the treatment of his wounds.

When the Prophet’s call reached the ears of two wounded Muslims, one of them said to the other, “I swear upon God that we will be losers if we do not accompany the Noble Prophet (s) even in one war.” And thus, while carrying each other on their shoulders in turns, they accompanied the Noble Prophet (ibid., p. 335).

2) After War of Hawazin

Here we will reflect on the Prophet’s manner of dealing with the state of weakness that arose among some Muslims following his distribution and apportionment of the booty and spoils of Bain Hawazin. The Noble Prophet (s) gave a large portion of these spoils to the migrants from Mecca who had participated with him in this war at the beginning of their Islamic life and who had fought against the unbelievers despite the fact that they themselves were the leaders of the unbelievers; this generous bestowal was, in fact, socially and politically motivated as he was trying to win their hearts and show them the different between the profit-seeking life of the Age of ignorance and the dignified life of Islam. The hypocrites among the Ansar (the Helpers, or the Muslims of Medina) spread [malicious] rumors that the Noble Prophet (s) was favoring his relives. These rumors produced state of weakness among the Ansar and produced wave of questions and anger.

The Noble Prophet (s) found it hard to bear his condition in a society that he was just beginning to establish and which was to be the cornerstone of his great apostolic mission to the world. For this reason, he gathered them together and this conversation took place between them: the Noble Prophet (s) said, “O group of Ansar! What are these words I have heard from you and what is this you have taken to heart? Were you not lost and God guided you? Were you not in need and God made you self-sufficient? Were you not enemies of one another and God inclined your hearts to one another?“ the Ansar replied, “Yes, O prophet of God! Do whatever you want and give whomever you want.” The Noble Prophet (s) said, “Why don’t you answer me, O group of the Ansar?” The Ansar said “What response should we give of Prophet of God? Whatever God and His Prophet do is right.” The Noble Prophet (s) said:

I swear upon God that if you had wanted you could say the following (and you would be speaking the truth and I would believe you): “all people called you liar and yet we believe in you; all people deserted you but we make haste to help; you were driven from your home were homeless, but we provided you with refuge and gave you shelter; you were poor and we obviated your needs….

After these words, he (s) added:

O group of the Ansar! Now you have set your eyes on trifle of worldly things and some people have tied their Islam to it but I have brought you Islam. Will you be happy to earn sheep and camels but revert with the Noble Prophet (s) to the old covenant? I swear upon He who controls Muhammad’s life that if there had not been the Hijrah (the migration from Makkah to Medina), I too would have been one of the Ansar and if other people followed another path I would have followed the path of Ansar. O God! Have mercy on the Ansar and their children and their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren.

Here the Ansar were greatly affected and their emotions were aroused and, while crying, announced that they were pleased with the Prophet’s manner of distribution and apportionment of the booty and spoils. (Ibn Hisham, p. 142).

This sensitive condition had the lest conformity with their ideological backgrounds and also with their experience of the relatively long presence of the Noble Prophet (s) and their opinion of the Noble Prophet (s) as the most just and informed person.

In order to prevail over this condition, there are two types of solutions: the first is a long term solution, namely putting emphasis on belief and removing all flaws of weakness of the human soul; the other is concentrating on the issue [at hand]. The second solution mainly depends on emotional aspects, because the Noble Prophet (s) said to them, “O group of the Ansar! Will you be happy to earn sheep and camels but revert with the Noble Prophet (s) to the old covenant?” Before these words he has praised them and their position regarding the prophethood and their ideological viewpoint and aroused their sentiments ad feelings that so much that they too were influenced and, while crying, announced that they were happy and pleased with the Prophet’s manner of distributing and apportioning the booty and spoils.