The Most Generous of Mankind

The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the most generous and kindest of humanity. He used to give all he had during the Ramadan while He was with the Gabriel (AS). In every Ramadan night, Gabriel (AS) came to Him and taught Him the Qur’an. Gabriel (AS) said:

“The apostle of Allah was more generous than the winds that bring abundance.”(Muslim, Fadail, 12, 2308)

A person who has no property should not be greedy but have content. A person who has property should not be stingy but have  generosity.

GETTING RID OF TWO GOLD COINS

Bilal al-Habashi narrates:

I used to follow the accounts of the Apostle of Allah. When a poor person asked help from Him, He used to command me and if we had no money in hand, we used to borrow from someone and meet the demand of that poor person. One day, a rich pagan who was aware of this and assumed to have sympathy for the Prophet Muhammad said to me:

“-If you need a loan of money, do not go anywhere, let me lend you all the money you need." Therefore, we trusted his promise and good will and did so. Our debt increased considerably. And the rich pagan showed his real intention. When he came by in the market, he shouted at me:

"O nigger!"

I said, -"What happened".

He asked -"Do you know how many days have left for the beginning of the new month?"

I answered -"I know, little time left".

He said: -"When the new month comes, you will see. That day I will take you hostage for my receivables and make you a slave again.”

I was hurt too much by this threat. I went to the Apostle of Allah immediately and told him about the situation. He also became upset. However, he relied on Allah and started to search for a solution soon.

I left out and went home but that night, it was not possible for me to sleep due to my grief. At the time of the morning prayer, I was told that the Apostle of Allah was calling me. I immediately went there. His face was smiling. He said by pointing out to the four camels standing at the door, which were full of goods:

-“Good news o Bilal!..  These have recently come from the prince of Fadak as a gift.” Let us sell them and pay our debts.”

I immediately performed His command. After paying all our debts especially the debt to that pagan, I informed him about the situation. He asked me:

-"Is there anything remained?"

I said–“Yes, O apostle of Allah! Two gold coins remained!"

He said: -"Get rid of those two gold coins, too. I will not go home unless you give them to the poor."

At that moment, he was sitting in the mosque. Although I searched for all Medina, till the evening of the next day, I could not find the real poor people that I could give those two gold coins to. Finally, I spent them by shopping for the two poor passengers who had just come to Medina. And by going to the mosque, I informed the apostle of Allah about the situation. Then, he praised Allah; finally he went to home after two days of waiting. (1)

WHAT A NICE SWEATER

One day a Muslim woman gave him a sweater that she had knitted herself as a gift. The apostle of Allah was sitting with his new sweater on him among his friends in the mosque. One of His friends liked that sweater so much and by taking courage from the well-known generosity of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and asked;

“O apostle of Allah! What a nice sweater it is! Will you please give it to me as a gift?”The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) took off his sweater and gave it to him without saying anything and showing any disaffection. (2)

THE WEDDING DINNER

One of his friends was getting married. However, there was nothing to offer in the wedding dinner, which was a custom. The prophet Muhammad, (PBUH) who was informed about the situation, gave all the flour in his house to him as a gift. Nothing remained in his house for eating. (3) 

ALL THE MILK BELONGS TO THE GUEST

A guest from afar was spending the night in the house of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). There was only some goat milk for the dinner. The guest drank all of it. The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his family spent the night hungry since there remained nothing for them. They did not complain. (4)

I HAVE BEEN COMMANDED TO DO

One day a poor immigrant Arab came to Him. He asked Him to give something to him. However, that day, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had no goods or money.

-"Now I have nothing to give to you. Go and buy what you need in the name of me. Then I will pay the debt."

The poor person got happy and left. However, the friends near him had been upset because he was compelling himself so much. One of them stood up:

-“O apostle of Allah! This person had come two or three times before; he asked something from you and you gave him. Now you have nothing to give. Allah does not lay a burden on you that you cannot cope with!”

He disliked what he had heard. Then, another friend stood up and talked:

-“O Apostle of Allah! Give as much as you wish! Do not fear that Allah, who is the owner of arsh (throne), will make you poor!”

A smile wreathed across His face. He let His words be heard by everybody:

-That is what I have been commanded to do. (5)

WE HAVE IT ALL

Hz. Aisha (RA) narrates: One day we slaughtered a sheep and distributed all of its meat except a single buttock. The apostle of Allah asked,

“What have you done with the sheep?” I said to Him that we have distributed all of it except a single buttock.

He said “O Aisha; it seems that we have it all except a buttock.” (6)

THE CAMEL FEAST

Nuayman the son of Amr, was one of the most joking friends of Him. However, his jokes were not liked by everybody. One day, he slaughtered the camel of an immigrant Arab who entered the mosque to perform prayers... The Arab started to cry and shout upon seeing his camel slaughtered on the ground. The people gathered around for the noise  and said to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):

-"O Apostle of Allah! The only person that can do this is Nuayman."Nuayman was found and confessed his guilt. When he was asked "why?", he turned to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and said with a shy smile:

 -"O apostle of Allah!" "I had thought that you would pay the price of the camel anyway and I wanted to have a feast all together." (7)

 PAID OFF THE DEBT TWICE

He had borrowed one hundred and twenty kilograms of grain from somebody. When the debtee needed money, he came and asked for the debt. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) gave the equivalent of his debt as one hundred and twenty kilograms. Then, he gave another one hundred and twenty kilograms as a gift because he had helped him when was in need. (8)

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^[1]M. Yusuf Kandahlawi, Hayat-us Sahaba (ll), shf:333.
^[2]Imam Qastalani, Mawahib al-Laduniyya, p:348.
^[3]Fadl ar-Rahman, Siret Ansiklopedisi (l), p:60.
^[4] Fadl ar-Rahman, ibid (l). p:60.
^[5]Imam Tirmidhi, Shamail ash_Sharif, p:353.
^[6]Gerçeğe Doğru, (II). p:16-34.
^[7]Bekir Sağlam, Model İnsan, p:76.
^[8] Fadl ar-Rahman, ibid(l), p:4l

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