Prophet Muhammad, A teacher to mankind (1/2)

“In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful It is He Who has sent amongst the Unlettered an apostle from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom,- although they had been, before, in manifest error.”

(Surah Al-Jumaa, verse - 2)

A vast corpus of individual narratives, consisting of supposed eye-witness accounts of Muhammad’s every act, his orders, prohibitions, recommendations, approval or disapproval, covers every conceivable aspect of personal, private, domestic, public, political, commercial, military, fiscal and administrative, as well as strictly religious, activity undertaken hour by hour, day by day, week in, week out, year after year of the twenty three years of his public ministry. All that he had ever been seen to do, or heard to say, or reply when questioned had, it was claimed, been reported by one or other of his inner circle and immediately taken up, talked about, analysed, checked, stored, memorized and preserved and then handed on to any who had been absent by those who had been present to see, here and record.

The Prophet as Teacher does not need justification, since all prophets are meant to be teachers in the first instance, and the Qur’an itself has talked the function of the Prophet Muhammad as “To teach them the book and wisdom and making the grow in purity.”

He was a born teacher, endowed with pleasant appearance. He was of medium size, with a bright face and pleasant voice-which is commented on frequently in the hadith- and it was said to carry further than those of other people. He was meticulous about maintaining his clean, tidy appearance and pleasant fragrance. He was highly sociable man. He used to smile more than anybody else at his Companions, and would sometimes even laugh until you could see his back teeth. He showed more interest than others in what they said, as he mingled among them. If anyone was sitting with him or negotiating with him on any matter, he would give anyone sitting around him a share of his attention, and each one of them would believe that no one else was getting more of his attention than himself. He respected the sensitive of everybody, as once Prophet was sitting in a gathering with a young boy on his right and the elders on his left. A bowl of milk was presented to the Prophet. He sipped some, and then, in respect to the rule of passing dish to the person on the right, which conflicted in this situation with respect for the elders on the left, he asked the boy: ‘would you allow me to give it first to the elders?’ He replied: ‘No, I won’t give up my opportunity to drink after you to anyone.’ Here the Prophet exemplifies respect for the rules of etiquette, and for the young boy as well as for the elders. In another example: ‘Don’t-you are meant to be bearers of good news, not to frighten people. Could you not pour a bucket of water over it?’

The Prophet was very approachable, showing interest in what people said before him, or in what they asked him about. They would interrupt him in the pulpit and ask questions, upon which he would answer and praise them for asking the question. Frequently, we find teaching taking place in an intimate situation, Mu’adh tells us: ‘I was riding behind the Prophet on a donkey called ‘Afir. The Prophet asked me: “Do you know what God’s rights are over his servants?”…’ Intimacy here is witnessed also in the Prophet’s naming of the donkey, showing his respect for the donkey’s individual character, as he did with his camel, and teaching his Companion by asking his question, so as to involve him from the beginning and to make him think.

The Prophet would get students’ attention by eye contact, by facing them, or occasionally touching them. Ibn Mas’ud tells us: ‘And then he put his hand on my shoulder and said…’ or: ‘He was teaching me the tashahhud while holding both my hands and looking into my eyes, making me repeat after and correcting my mistakes.’

Touching also gave emphasis and was used to encourage the students. He once asked a Companion a question, and when he gave a good answer, the man said: ‘He thumped me in the chest and said: “Well done, how excellent your knowledge is, Abu Mund’hir (God be pleased with him)!” He was sparing in what he said and would teach only a little at a time, so as not to overload them with information.

A’ishah said: ‘The Prophet was not a chatterbox like you. Anyone could count the words he uttered.’ This actually conforms with the standard of Arab nobility, where a man of dignity and status would speak only very little, but would say wise things when he does. That is why his sermons were also very short- indeed he taught his Companions that they too should make short sermons. In fact, sometimes we find some posing a long question, to which the Prophet answers only; ‘Yes’:

Tell me’, a man asked, ‘if I perform the obligatory prayer, pay the alms due, fast in Ramadan and perform the Hajj but do nothing further, would I enter Paradise?’ The Prophet said;’ yes.’

He resisted those who were over-zealous in asking questions, saying, for instance:

‘Allah Almighty has set obligations observe them. He has ordained some prohibitions, avoid them; He kept silent many matters, out of mercy, not out of forgetfulness: do not keep asking about them.’

This teacher knew when to introduce new material, and when not to, as one Companion said: ‘He would select only suitable moments to teach us.’ We know that he instructed his Companions to make things easy, rather than hard. When he sent a Companion to teach a community for away, he said:

‘First call on them to believe in one God.’ If they believe in that, then call on them to do the obligatory prayer, and if they obey you in doing that, then call on them to give the alms-due -’   

Most of the hadith consist of answering questions or correcting mistakes. The first group is evident in the numerous questions addressed to the Prophet. The other group is announced normally by such expressions as: laysa.. walakin..’ not so… but’, or innama..’ rather’. For example: ‘Faith is not a matter of wishing, but what is firmly rooted in the heart and proved by action. When the Prophet heard that a man had emigrated to Madinah only to marry a woman called Umm Qa’ys, he said: ‘Acts are judged only according to their intention. He who emigrates for the sake of God and His Messenger, his emigration will be for God and His Messenger, and he who emigrates for worldly gain, or to marry some women, his emigration will be for that.’

The man became known as Muhajir Umm Qa’ys. The Arabic formulation of this hadith is truly remarkable-concise, rhythmic, repeating an important and telling phrase in the reward of good intention, and avoiding repetition in the reward of bad intention, to indicate that it is worthless. This spontaneous comment on the situation by the Prophet is highly regarded for its excellence as an example of jawami’ al-kallim. It should also be mentioned that it is easier to remember a hadith if it is in response to a question that has been raised, or a comment on an erroneous situation. Here we have a memory aid, which those who discuss authenticity should bear in mind. Many situations were so spontaneous and memorable, and were witnessed by so many people, that it would be unreasonable to claim that they were forgotten or fabricated.

The Prophet’s statements were also marked by two characteristics: spontaneity and brevity. Hadith material was relevant to real life situation, and was not revelation imparted on one occasion, like the Ten Commandments, for instance. The teachings took place over twenty years, making them all the more effective and memorable; they were not a long list to be learned by rote, but practical knowledge arising out of the community itself. Spontaneity and brevity and mark all the genres we have in the hadith: the answers to question, the sermons, the stories, the expert at getting and keeping the attention of his audience. The Qur’an has already told us: When the Qur’an is recited; listen to it attentively, so that you may be given mercy.

The Prophet said: ‘Of you say to your neighbour, in the mosque during the Friday sermon, so much as “Listen” or “Keep quite”, you would have made a vain utterance which would spoil your floor would be considered unacceptably noisy.’

He said: May God brighten the face of anyone who listens to what I say, takes it in , and then passes it on to others.’

He trained his Companions to know that it was their duty to listen, to understand and pass on the information, which made them keener to get it right and remember it. It should be remembered that these were people who had always relied on their memories to retain their literature, history and genealogy. Sceptical Western scholars do not seem to bear in mind the extent to which people in a different culture can retain information by heart. Yet Muslim society, people take this for granted as part of their daily, especially when the information is short, and given over a long period by such an important teacher as this. The Prophet was also aware of people’s sensitivity. When he needed to correct an individual in an embarrassing situation, he would give an impersonal instruction, rather than embarrassing the individual. He would use man. - ‘Whoever has done so and so should.’ or ‘Why do some people do such and such?’