Some of the character qualities of Prophet Muhammad

God combined in His last Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم the most illustrious qualities of character, in order to secure the confidence of His one who listened and followed Him.
His character shone from all angles and was seen as admirable in the eyes of all.
Those who considered lineage to be crucial, even if it is not in God’s eyes, found that Muhammad was descended from a nobility that was the purest of the pure.
Those who practiced physiognomy (assessing a person’s character based on physical appearance) perceived that Muhammad’s face shone with integrity.
Those who knew him firsthand, or later read his biography, found in Muhammad a lifestyle of extraordinary sincerity and conviction.

His honesty

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was not simply a person whose honesty was testified, but had been given the nickname “Sādiq al-Amīn” (the true, trustworthy one) by the members of his clan.
Even as they persecuted him and rejected his message, they still entrusted him with their most prized possessions.
Aisha (rA) said: “He ordered ‘Ali (rA) to stay in Makkah to return all the trusts that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم had from the people.
There was no one in Makkah (not even his enemies!) who had valuables for which they feared that he would not entrust them to the Messenger of Allah, because of his honesty and trustworthiness that everyone knew.
Therefore, ‘Ali (r.a.) stayed behind for three days and three nights to deliver all that the people had entrusted to the Messenger of Allah, and he attained it after completing that task.”

His principled honesty was so evident that even people from different eras, backgrounds, and religions recognize him.
You can’t imagine a righteous person reading his life and coming to a different conclusion.

Although the Scottish philosopher and historian Thomas Carlyle (died 1881) had his reservations about Islam, his fascination with the sincerity of the Last Prophet was somewhere between deep intrigue and apparent conviction.
For example, he says, “It goes very much against the impostor theory, the fact that he lived in this absolutely exceptional way, completely quiet and common, until the end of his years. He was forty years old before he spoke of any mission from heaven. All his irregularities, real and alleged, date from after his fiftieth year, when Khadija died. His whole “ambition,” apparently, had been, up to that point, to live an honest life; His “fame”, the mere good opinion of the neighbors who knew him, had been enough. Only when he was already growing old, when the burning heat of his junctude had been consumed and peace had become the most important thing this world could give him, did he begin the “race of ambition” and, leaving behind all his past character and form of being, set out to acquire what he could no longer enjoy.
For my part, I have no faith in that [teoría del impostor].” In the same book, Carlyle says, “The lies (Western slanders) that well-intentioned zeal has heaped around this man (Muhammad) are harmful only to ourselves.” ( On Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History, by Thomas Carlyle)

In the history of mankind, many impostors have proclaimed prophecy, but none of them were men of virtue but of opportunistic ethics.
This is endemic and expected of impostor prophets, as they have accepted to be the most sinister liars.
Just as lying about your friends is worse than lying about a random person, and just as lying about your parents is worse than lying about your friends, there is nothing uglier than a person lying about God.
Therefore, when a man with the undisputed honesty of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم lives for forty years without lying, and then claims to be the Prophet of God, this should be seen as a sign of the veracity of his claim.

Finally, “The sun was eclipsed during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم on the day that [su hijo] Ibrāhīm died.
People said that the sun had been eclipsed because of Ibrāhīm’s death.
The Messenger of Allah said: “The sun and moon are not eclipsed because of the death or life (i.e., birth) of anyone. Rather, they are two of the signs of Allah, by which He strikes fear into His slaves. When you see an eclipse, pray and invoke Allah.”
(al-Bukhāri, 1043)

If the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had been an impostor, this would have been a perfect opportunity to capitalize on that increase in credibility.
These coincidental events opened a very timely window for self-promotion, and even so, the Prophet would not even allow others to interpret this to mean that the heavens had been saddened by Ibrāhīm.
Although he was grieved by the tragic loss, he ascended to the pulpit, discarded the false interpretation, and established that eclipses follow nothing but God’s universal laws.

His austerity and asceticism

The simple and austere lifestyle of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is an important indication that his mission could not have been motivated by selfishness.
After all, he was a man who at the end of his life controlled all of Arabia.
Even before that he had thousands of followers throughout his stay in Medina; followers for whom he was the center, and would have loved to do anything in the world for him.
All things considered, we find no luxury in any sphere of his life.
Rather, we found in his apartment a straw mat that would leave marks on his side and a leather skin hanging from water from which he washed.
When he wished to prostrate himself in this room, he would ask Aisha (rA) to bend her legs to make room for her to prostrate herself.
For months, no cooking fires were lit in their house, and their family had to be content with dates and water unless a Companion gave them some milk.

Edward Gibbon (died 1794), a historian and member of Parliament for England, wrote: “Muhammad’s good sense despised the pomp of royalty. The apostle of God submitted to the menial labors of the family; He lit the fire, swept the ground, milked the sheep, and mended his shoes and garments with his own hands. With contempt for the penance and merit of a hermit, he observed without effort or vanity the teetotaling diet of an Arab.” (The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon,)

In other words, not only did it endure the harshness of an austere life, but it originated from it naturally.
He wasn’t trying to encourage being a hermit or depriving oneself, nor was he faking this minimalism to earn people’s praise.
Gibbons continues, “On solemn occasions, he feasted with his companions with rustic and hospitable abundance.
But in their domestic life, many weeks passed without a fire being lit in the Prophet’s house.”

According to Washington Irving (died 1859), an American biographer and diplomat, “he was sober and teetotaler in his diet and a rigorous observer of fasting. The magnificence of clothing was not allowed—the ostentation of a petty mind; nor was his simplicity of dress a pretense, but was due to a real contempt for something so trivial… His military triumphs did not arouse pride or vainglory, as they would have if he had had selfish purposes. At the time of his greatest power, he maintained the same simplicity of manners and appearance as in the days of his adversity. Far from adopting a royal status, he disliked being shown unusual testimonies of respect when he entered a room.” (
Mohamet and His Successors, by Washington Irving)

BoswordBosword Smith (d. 1908), a reverend, schoolteacher, and author wrote: “Head of State and Church; he was Caesar and pope in one; but he was pope without the pretensions of the pope, and Caesar without Caesar’s legions, without a standing army, without bodyguards, without a police force, without fixed incomes. If ever a man has ruled by a divine right, it was Muhammad, because he had all the powers without what creates them. He didn’t care about the trappings of power. The simplicity of his private life was in keeping with his public life.” (
Muhammad and Muhammadanism, by Bosword Smith)

His courage

The great courage of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم meant that he was not only truthful, but that he was sure of its truthfulness.
Some Orientalists, although they all write in mocking tones when describing Islam, argued that Muhammad was not consciously lying, but suffered from a mental illness that caused him to have delusions of grandeur.
This claim collapses at the feet of the Prophet’s documented courage, because someone who “hears voices” and has psychological disorders would be inconsistent, reluctant, and unable to achieve all the triumphs he did.
More importantly, a person with mental disorders would never present a complete system of beliefs and laws that would earn the respect of thousands of historians, philosophers, and other men of wisdom.
Thus, the constant and incomparable bravery of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم becomes a guarantor in support of his prophecy.

The Prophet never fled in battle; rather, he fought fearlessly on the front lines.
It would have been perfectly understandable for the Prophet to protect himself behind the army, as his death would mean the end of the message.
However, ‘Ali b.
Abi Ṭālib (rA), the celebrated warrior, said: “I myself witnessed on the Day of Badr how we used to stay close to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to cover him, and he was the closest of us to the enemy, and he was the [guerrero] fiercest of that day.”
( Aḥmad, 619)

A man once asked al-Barā’b.
‘Zib (rA), “Did he flee on the day of Ḥunayn, O Abu’ Umāra?” He replied: “I can testify that the Prophet of Allah did not withdraw.
Rather, it was some hurried young men who gathered, without proper weapons, a group of Hawāzin and Banu Naḍīr.
They turned out to be archers [excelentes], and fired a volley of arrows at them that they exposed [sus filas].
The people came [en busca de ayuda] to the Messenger of Allah, whose mule was being guided by Abu Sufyan b.
Harb.
He dismounted, prayed, and invoked God’s help.
What he said was, “I am the prophet; this is not uncertain, I am the son of ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib!
O Allah, send your help!”
By Allah, when the battle became fiercer, we sought protection behind him, and [solo] the bravest among us were at his side [en la batalla].”
(Muslim, 4388)

When Allah revealed:

Messenger!
Bring to you what has come down to you from your Lord.
And if you don’t do it completely, then you won’t have conveyed His message.
Allah will protect you from men.
(The Table Served, 5:67)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم forbade his Companions to continue to stand guard at night by his gate. (al-Tirmidhi, 5/351) One night, the Muslims, who were afraid that the Romans would attack Medina at any moment, woke up startled by a loud blow. When they went to the place, they found that the Prophet was already returning from that place riding a bareback horse that belonged to Abu Ṭalḥa, with his sword hanging around his neck, assuring them that it was a false alarm. (al-Bukhāri in al-Adab al-Mufrad) It takes exemplary courage to run out alone to face such a potential danger, a courage that even the bravest souls would admire.

His perseverance

Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم not only showed courage at specific times in his life, but also showed exemplary perseverance and consistency at all times.
Consider a man who never knew his father firsthand, hardly enjoyed his mother’s compassion, then lost his grandfather, and then his uncle and his dearest wife simultaneously.
Consider a man who lived to witness the deaths of all but one of his children, who was treated as a threat and had to flee as a fugitive after decades of having a perfect reputation among his people.
Consider a man who experienced physical abuse until he passed out, starved for years because of his own people, and faced countless assassination attempts.
Consider a man who was driven from his home, sent to Madinah for refuge, only to find the hypocrites who took any opportunity to betray him.
Consider a man who lived through assassination attempts regularly, as well as the murder and maiming of his relatives and companions, and then the slander of his beloved wife Aisha (rA), the daughter of his most loyal companion.
Who could persevere with hope and persist in an unparalleled ethic, through all this, except one infused by a unique help from heaven?

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم overcame that chasm of negativity and not only survived, but became a source of mercy and empathy for people, animals, and plants alike.
This is nothing short of miraculous; God alone brings the dead out of the living, and produces a spring from a rock, and feeds a rose in the wilderness.
Only God could have kept him smiling all the time, playing with his grandchildren, respecting his principles, and lifting the spirits of those who suffered far less than he did.
Only God could have given him the ability to have compassion for the ruthless, forgiveness for his enemies, and concern for the arrogant.
Only God could have kept his heart thankful at times when others could not even be patient, and his merciful heart at times when others could not even be just.

Although the incidents that reflect his perseverance are innumerable, any honest person can simply become familiar with the embargo he suffered in the Abu Ṭālib ravine.
This continued for three absolutely brutal years, during which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم watched as the lips of his Companions turned green from eating leaves and gnawing on animal skins out of desperation for food.
In fact, he watched as his dearest family members slowly deteriorated in front of his eyes.
Jadīja (rA) and Abu Ṭālib were so weakened by the embargo that they never recovered from it; Both died shortly after.
And with Abu Ṭālib’s protection gone, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم received the most humiliating treatment of his life in that year.

Aisha (rA) reported that she once asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, “Have you had a more difficult day than Uḥud Day?”
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Your tribe has troubled me very much, and the worst was on the day of ‘Aqaba when I presented myself to ‘Abd Jaalāyl b.
‘Abd Kulāl, and he did not respond to what he sought. [Finalmente] I set off, overwhelmed with grief, and could not relax until I found myself in a tree where I raised my head to the sky to see a cloud that was giving me shade. I looked up and saw Gabriel in it. He called me and said, ‘Allah has heard the words of your people and how they have responded, and Allah has sent you the Angel of the Mountains to order Him to do whatever you want with these people.’ The Angel of the Mountains greeted me and said, ‘O Muhammad, command whatever you wish, and if you will, I will let the two mountains fall on them.’ I said: ‘No, rather I hope that Allah will bring out from among their descendants people who will worship Allah alone without associating anything with Him.’ (al-Bukhāri, 3059 and Muslim, 1795) In other broadcasts, he spent ten days in Ṭā’if after speaking to its leaders, calling his people to Islam, until crowds gathered to expel him. They made two lines and forced him through them while saying obscenities and throwing stones until blood ran down his blessed legs, and Zayd b. Ḥaritha’s head was injured. (
Ibn Hishām in al-Sīra (2/70-72) But even in that darkest hour, all this joint anguish did not break the perseverance of the Prophet.

His optimism

It is remarkable how the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم never lost hope in Allah’s support and victory, no matter how seemingly hopeless his situation was at times.
This optimism speaks of a heart filled with supreme belief.
Leaving Mecca for migration, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and Abu Bakr (rA) were tracked to a cave.
The pursuers stood at the mouth of the cave, and they simply had to crouch down to look inside and nothing would have prevented them from seeing and capturing the Prophet.
At that bewildering moment, when despair would have penetrated even the most steadfast souls, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم made an incredible statement to his Companion calmly: “O Abu Bakr, what do you think of two, when Allah is the third?”
Later the Qur’an mentioned this incident by saying:

If you do not help him, Allah has already helped him when those who do not believe had driven him out, and there was another with him. And while they were both in the cave, he said to his companion: Do not be grieved, for indeed Allah is with us.
Allah brought down upon him His tranquillity, helped him with armies that you did not see, and made the word of those who refused to believe the lowest; for the word of Allah is the highest.
Allah is Irresistible and Wise.
(At-Tawba 9:40)

A person may say: how do we know that Muhammad did not invent this verse after the event, thereby presenting a dishonest picture of his unshakable conviction in God?
The simplest answer is that Abu Bakr (rA) personally witnessed the calm that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم had in those terrible minutes.
If this had not been the case, would Abu Bakr (r.a.) have been his greatest admirer and continued to venerate him as the embodiment of integrity, even after the death of the Prophet?

Such was the conviction that the Prophet Muhammad had in his belief, because of it the promise of Allah that he saw in his heart nullified the hopelessness that his eyes saw.
This is identical to what happened to Moses (as) on the shore:

When the two groups saw each other, Musa’s companions said: We have been overtaken.
He said, “No, my Lord is with me, and He will guide me.”
(The Poems 26:61-62)

This degree of certainty is unique to the Prophets and Messengers; Even if the world lost all hope, theirs would never disappear.

Your followers

In analyzing the veracity of Muhammad’s prophecy, it would be remiss to limit his followers to the noble Companions.
The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is the most influential person in the history of mankind (see: The 100, by Michael Hart), being imitated in the most private or nuanced particularities of his life.
For a millennium and a half, there has been a worldwide fascination with resembling the last Prophet, even at the cost of opposing the dominant culture or trends of the moment.
For 1.6 billion people today, that’s a small price to pay for reflecting the most perfect human being who ever lived.

David David George Hogarth (died 1927), a British scholar and archaeologist, said: “Serious or trivial, their daily behaviour has instituted a canon that millions of people observe to this day with conscious memory. No one regarded by men as the Perfect Man has been so minutely imitated by any section of the human race. The conduct of the founder of Christianity has not governed the ordinary life of his followers. Moreover, no founder of a religion has left such an incomparable example as the Muslim apostle.” (Arabia, by D.G. Hogarth, first published in 1923)

However, his most complete followers were undoubtedly his Companions, and this is what ennobles his testimony to the truth of his message. These Companions were not a mere group of good companions who prayed at night and dedicated their lives to God, but they shared a collective naivety. This was, without bias, the most significant generation in the history of humanity. The genius of ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (rA), for example, has been recognized by many historians. In fact, Columbia’s History of the World states how “Umar implemented a bureaucracy superior to that of the giant Roman Empire that preceded Muslim rule.” (The Columbia History of the World, 1st Edition, p. 264)

When a tribal Arab can build a federal government with centralized power, but also with the flexibility to make the peripheries of this union sustainable, and thus change the course of history, it must be admitted that this was an exceptional mind.
This is just one person who believed in Muhammad’s prophethood صلى الله عليه وسلم, one who imitated him with obsessive admiration.
Abu Bakr giving half of his wealth for Islam, Bilāl refusing to recant his beliefs despite unthinkable torture, Sumayya and Yāsir being tortured to death for refusing to pretend that they did not believe in Muhammad, are not insignificant events.
As for those who survived, they undertook the momentous task of instilling his spirit and message in their lives, making them worthy of God’s praise:

You are the best community that has ever arisen for the good of men.
You enjoin what is recognized, you prevent what is reprehensible, and you believe in Allah.
(Imran’s family 3:110)

Such staunch followers, of this caliber of people, who knew him before and after the prophecy, and witnessed his daily behavior, is a clear indicator of how sure they were of him and his mission.

William Montgomery Watt (d. 2006), a Scottish historian and professor emeritus in Arabic and Islamic studies, wrote: “His willingness to suffer persecution for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men who believed in him and admired him as a leader, and the greatness of his ultimate achievement, all argue for his fundamental integrity.
Assuming that Muhammad was an impostor raises more problems than it solves.
Moreover, none of the great figures of history is as little appreciated in the West as Muhammad…
Therefore, not only should we acknowledge Muhammad with essential honesty and integrity of purpose, if we want to understand him, if we want to correct the errors we have inherited from the past, we must not forget that conclusive proof is a much stricter requirement than a demonstration of plausibility, and in a matter like this can only be achieved with difficulty.
(Muhammad at Mecca, by William Montgomery Watt)
This was the immaculate personality of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, visible to those who have come centuries after his life.
It never ceases to amaze why an entire generation competed to emulate his smile, his selflessness, his defense of the truth and his service to humanity.