Every Muslim knows that Prophet Muhammad provides the best example for us to follow. Whatever he did or said should be followed by us, because following the Prophet’s example is a duty of every Muslim. It ensures earning reward to be given on the Day of Judgment. Moreover, the Prophet teaches us only what is good for us and for human life. He was the man who attained perfection with God’s help. Since we have been talking earlier about supplication, it is appropriate to find out how the Prophet approached this aspect of Islam.
We often make supplication for the achievement of certain objectives in the life to come or in this life. Numerous are the affairs of this life for which we pray God to accomplish our purpose. We make a supplication to have an increase in wealth, a better income, a good job, a comfortable life, passing exams, recovery from illness, etc. All such purposes are legitimate. We cannot pray to God to enable us to do something He has forbidden. It is unthinkable that one makes a supplication to God to help him to win in gambling, because gambling is forbidden in Islam. Yet some people do that in ignorance.
It is also forbidden to pray to God to cause harm to someone else, unless it is a supplication by a person who has been at the receiving end of oppression or injustice. The Prophet has warned us against a supplication by someone to whom injustice has been caused at our hands. This is in essence a warning against injustice. It is an exception God makes to such a person because He answers his supplication against his oppressor. We should not read answering such a prayer as causing harm to someone, but we should take it as the establishment of justice.
The Prophet did pray against some people. How can we, then, reconcile this with the unacceptability of prayer to cause harm? The answer is that the Prophet had no personal grudge against people. They were confirmed enemies of Islam who treated Muslims very badly and persecuted those Muslims who were under their control. He also prayed against a few individuals who spared no effort in scheming against Islam. Such a supplication against the opponents of the cause of Islam is perfectly legitimate. Moreover, the Prophet never made a supplication against a community of unbelievers. When he went to Taif seeking support for his cause, he was given a very hostile reception. The chiefs of the Thaqeef tribe that lived there induced their teenagers, servants and slaves to chase him out, stoning him as he walked, until both his feet were bleeding. As he sat down to rest after walking some distance out of the city, God sent him the angel in control of mountains who told him that he was at his service. If he wished, he would make the mountains collapse over them or make the earth swallow them. The Prophet refused any such suggestion, saying: “I hope that God will bring out of their offspring people who worship Him alone.”
The same applies in the case of the Daws tribe when they rejected his message. The story of the efforts to bring Daws around so as to accept Islam is very interesting. A man from Daws called At-Tufail ibn Amr once came to Makkah to visit the Ka’aba. That was at the time when the Prophet had only recently been preaching the message of Islam in public. Some people of the Quraysh met At-Tufail and warned him against listening to the Prophet, saying that he was a sorcerer who said things which caused discord between a man and his wife, or a man and his children and tribe. He was largely influenced by what they told, to the extent that he did not wish to see the Prophet or listen to what he said. It so happened later that the Prophet went praying at the Ka’aba when At-Tufail was there. At first, At-Tufail tried to move away. Then he thought that he was a reasonable man who understood poetry and could distinguish fine speech from harmful one. What he overheard the Prophet say in his prayer appealed to him. Therefore, when the Prophet finished and went to his home, At-Tufail followed him and knocked at his door. He asked him about what he preached and the Prophet explained the message of Islam. He soon became a Muslim.
When At-Tufail went to his tribe, which was fortified, he told his wife and his father that he would have nothing to do with him or his own wife unless they accepted Islam. Both became Muslims without hesitation. At-Tufail then started to call on his tribesmen to become Muslims.
At a subsequent visit to Makkah, At-Tufail noticed the Prophet was facing great hardship because of the hostility of his people. He suggested to him to move out to Daws, where he would have the benefit of the fort there and would have the tribe of Daws defending him. The Prophet preferred to stay in Makkah. Apparently, the main reason for the Prophet’s refusal was the fact that Islam had not made much grounds there and the number of Muslims in Daws was still small.
This is clear from the fact that in yet another visit to Makkah, At-Tufail mentioned to the Prophet that his efforts were not achieving any great success. At-Tufail said: “Messenger of God, the Daws people have disobeyed God and rejected your message. Pray God to punish them. The Prophet turned toward the Ka’aba and lifted his arms as he would in supplication. Most people thought that the Prophet would pray against the tribe of Daws. The Prophet, however, said: “My Lord, guide the tribe of Daws to the truth and let them come over to Islam’.” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
At-Tufail continued his efforts with his tribe and was able to make better headway after the Prophet’s supplication. At the time when the Prophet fought in the Battle of Khaibar against the Jews, At-Tufail brought 80 men of his tribe to join the Muslim army. When Makkah fell to the Prophet two years later, At-Tufail suggested to him that he, i.e. At-Tufail be sent to the idol named Thul-Kafayn which was worshipped by Amr ibn Hummamah, to burn it. The Prophet sanctioned that and At-Tufail burned that idol which was a symbol of paganism in Arabia.
On the other hand, the Prophet never hesitated to say a prayer for any individual who requested him to do that or whom he felt to need such a prayer. Take this example in which At-Tufail ibn Amr was also involved. When the Prophet emigrated to Madinah, At-Tufail went to join him together with a man from his tribe. The man soon fell ill and he was so worried because of his illness. He crawled to his luggage and picked up an arrow with a white head and cut his own jugular veins. He bled to death. At-Tufail saw him in his dream looking very well and his hands covered. He asked him what happened to him. The man said: “God has forgiven me because of my trip to join the Prophet (peace be on him.)” At-Tufail asked him about his hands and why were they covered.
He answered that he was told that because it was his hands that did very badly, and he used them to commit suicide, they would not be mended. At-Tufail reported that to the Prophet who, on hearing it, lifted his hands, as he often did when he made a supplication, and prayed: “My Lord, forgive his hands as well.” (Reported by Muslim and Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad.)
In this story, the Prophet says a prayer for someone who has committed suicide. This is because of the fact that this man intended his trip as purely to serve God’s cause. Hence, he was forgiven by God and earned a supplication from the Prophet which was certain to be answered.