Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the most caring of people. Never did a leader of any community demonstrate love and care for every single person in his community better or more keenly than the Prophet. Indeed, his description in the Qur’an tells us that he is most caring, kind and compassionate. Verse 128 of Surah 9 may be rendered in translation as follows: “Indeed there has come to you a messenger from among yourselves: one who grieves much that you should suffer (in the life to come), one who is full of concern for you, and who is tender and full of mercy toward the believers.”
His compassion was to all people: those who did not believe in his message were included, in the sense that he most dearly hoped that they would believe in God to spare themselves the inevitable punishment should they persist in their disbelief. Needless to say, he was far kinder and more compassionate to those who believed in his message and proved themselves to be worthy of being his companions. The Hadith we are looking at today gives us an indication of the Prophet’s compassion and care for his people.
Abu Ruhm was a companion of the Prophet who belonged to the Ansari tribe of Ghifar. He was with the Prophet on the first journey to Makkah when the Prophet and his companions were debarred from entry, which eventually led to the signing of the peace agreement of Al-Hudaybiyah. This means that Abu Ruhm was one of those who pledged loyalty to the Prophet under the tree before signing the peace agreement. God tells us in the Qur’an that He was well-pleased with those companions of the Prophet who gave him that pledge.
Abu Ruhm reports that he went with the Prophet on the expedition of Tabuk. Once the army was moving at night. “I was close to the Prophet that night near Al-Akhdar (a particular place), and we were very drowsy. I was waking up every few moments, to find my camel drawing closer to the Prophet’s. I was worried at this, fearing that my leg might hit his leg in the stirrup. I was repeatedly trying to get my she-camel behind, until I was overtaken by sleep for a part of the night.
It was then that my camel went close to the Prophet’s and I hit his leg as it was in the stirrup. I woke up only when I heard him giving a cry of pain. I said, ‘Messenger of God, pray for my forgiveness’. The Prophet told me to move alongside him. He began asking me about the people who did not join the expedition from the tribe of Ghifar. Then he said: ‘What about the tall, red-faced people with little hair in their faces?’ I told him that they stayed behind. He asked, ‘And what about the short, black, curly-haired people who have cattle at Shabakat Shadkh?’ I tried to remember these as belonging to Ghifar, but I could not. Then I remembered that they belonged to the tribe of Aslam, and I said, ‘Messenger of God, these are from Aslam.’ He said: ‘What prevents any of these, should he stay behind, to provide a camel for a strong man to fight for God’s cause? My people for whom I feel most saddened should they stay behind are the Muhajireen from Quraysh, and the Ansar, Ghifar and Aslam’.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, Ahmad, and others).
In this Hadith we have an insight into the Prophet’s treatment of his companions and the way they tried to spare him any trouble. Here we find one of his companions resisting sleep and moving his she-camel away from the Prophet’s camel, for fear that it might give him a knock. Anyone of the Prophet’s companions would love to be going with him side by side, but Abu Ruhm tries to move away, fearing to give him pain, should sleep overtake him and the camel moves close to that of the Prophet.
Yet all that Abu Ruhm feared came true, and the Prophet was in pain as his companion’s camel hit his leg. But instead of shouting at him, or rebuking him for his carelessness, the Prophet simply utters a little cry of pain, which wakes the man up. He immediately realizes what has happened and seeks the Prophet’s pardon, requesting him to pray for his forgiveness. The Prophet then tells him to ride by his side and speaks to him about his people. By doing so, the Prophet wanted his companion to forget that little mishap and divert his attention to something more serious. He questions him about people that stayed behind on that momentous expedition.
We should remember that this expedition was the one which put a hard test for the believers aimed at identifying the hypocrites in their midst. The task set for the expedition was very hard, a distance over 700 km undertaken in the middle of the summer in the blazing heat of the desert of Arabia. No one without a camel could join the army. Yet the Prophet required all his companions to join.
The Prophet mentions in particular two groups of the tribes of Ghifar and Aslam who had not joined this expedition. He then expresses his particular sadness at their staying behind, describing them as his own people. These belonged to the Ansar (i.e. the Prophet’s companions from Madinah), and together with the Muhajireen (the ones from Makkah), were the best of the Prophet’s companions who defended Islam most courageously when it was facing determined opposition.
The Prophet also suggests that when a believer finds it difficult to join a particular expedition, then he should provide assistance to the army, by giving a fighter the necessary equipment to join that army. At his particular time, that could have been easily achieved by providing a horse or a camel to a fighter who had no mount. At other times, financial help given to the war effort may be a suitable compensation.
We need to look a little closer at Abu Ruhm’s attitude when he realized that he had hurt the Prophet physically. Another, more detailed version of this Hadith mentions that Abu Ruhm hurt the Prophet’s leg with the edge of his shoes. He adds that the Prophet “said to me, ‘You have hurt me! Move your leg,’ and he hit my leg with a whip. I was so worried that I could think of nothing else. I feared that new Qur’anic verses would be revealed concerning this, because it was very grave. When we were at Al-Ji’irranah, I went to graze the cattle we had, although it was not my turn, because I feared that the Prophet would ask for me. When I took the cattle back, I inquired and was told that the Prophet asked for me. I went to him feeling very apprehensive. But he said: ‘You hurt me with your leg and I hit you with a whip. Take these sheep in compensation.’ My happiness with his forgiveness was greater than this world and all that it contained.”
In this detailed version we see another aspect of the Prophet’s compassion. He realized that his use of the whip was an instinctive reaction to the pain he suffered. Therefore, he wanted to compensate his companion, and he gave him a number of sheep. In another version the gift is mentioned to have been 80 sheep. Yet his companion loved the fact that the Prophet was not displeased with him far more than this very generous gift.
It is with such mutual feelings of love and compassion that Islam builds the closest of communities.