Post by Brother Andrew on May 8, 2005 14:40:18 GMT -5
THE ANGER OF THE PROPHET
Another common claim by those who wish to attack the integrity of the Holy Prophet is that he was ‘Short tempered and easily angered’ however when we re-examine the ‘evidence’ they present we see that Muhammad was to the contrary of what they claim.
We do find that the Prophet got angry but there is a great difference with being angry and losing one’s temper, never do we find in the Ahadith one account of where Muhammad hit somebody, shouted at somebody or threw something at somebody out of a state of anger and if we examine the Ahadith closely indeed Muhammad has left behind a beautiful example of how to behave whilst in a state of anger.
THE AHADITH THAT MISSIONARY’S TEND TO QUOTE:
The first evidence they tend to cite is:‘I never saw the Prophet more furious in giving advice than he was on that day’ (Sahih Bukhari Vol. 1, No. 90)
If we read the Hadith in it’s context will find that an elderly man came to the Prophet asking him if he could miss out on the compulsory prayer in congregation due to the Imam’s prolonging of the prayer, upon hearing this the Holy Prophet became angry and the narrator of this Hadith reports that ‘I never saw the Prophet more furious in giving advice than he was on that day’.
Whilst in this state of anger the Prophet told the people: "O people! Some of you make others dislike good deeds (the prayers). So whoever leads the people in prayer should shorten it because among them there are the sick, the weak, and the needy (having some jobs to do)." Which turned out to be very sound advice for a man ‘short tempered and furious’
Take into consideration that the Prophet did not get angry at the elderly man for wanting to miss the prayers, if the Prophet was so ‘Ruthless, Short tempered, Irrational’ as the critics of Islam claim he would have been too short sighted to recognize the elderly mans difficulty, The Holy Prophet’s anger was in fact an act of Mercy towards the elderly, sick and the weak.
The Holy Prophet disliked his Ummah being overburdened and this is the very reason he said ‘Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself will not be able to carry on that way. So your should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection..’ (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, No 38)
The 2nd evidence they put forth is:‘The Prophet got angry and his cheeks or face became red’ (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, No. 91)
This Hadith tells us of the occasion when a man asked the Prophet about finding a lost item in which the Prophet gave sound advice, the man then poses a question about the lost camel and upon this ‘The Prophet got angry and his cheeks or face became red’, but even so in this state of anger the Prophet told the man that he had no concern with the camel for the reason that the camel can survive without its owner until its owner find’s his camel which turned out to be sound advice.
If Muhammad was irrational like the people who make this claim would like us to believe then he wouldn’t have given such a rational answer. The fact that the man went on to ask the third question about the lost sheep proves Muhammad’s state of calmness whilst in a state of anger.
The 3rd evidence they tend to present is: The Prophet was asked about things which he did not like, when the questioners insisted, the Prophet got Angry (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, No. 92)
When we read and analyse this Hadith further we discover that people were asking the Prophet silly questions in attempt to belittle his God given knowledge, questions such as ‘who was my father?’ which were totally irrelevant to the very purpose of the Holy Prophet’s mission.
Islamic Scholars such as Ibn al-Jawzi, Baghaawi and Suyuti note in there commentarys that a man by the name of ‘Abdullah as-Sahmi aksed the Prophet in jest ‘who was his father?’ and the Prophet didn’t want to answer but the man kept on insisting so the Prophet told him 'Your father is Hudhafah.' ‘Abdullah didn’t expect this answer as he had been brought up to believe another man was his father.
Before his return home his mother had been informed of this happening and she was very displeased with him due to the fact he had publicly humiliated her and exposed her secret.
The 4th Hadith we will look at says ‘He became so
angry that I saw the signs of anger on his face.’ (Sahih Bukhari Vol. 4, No 617)
This Hadith is related to similar Hadith narrated from a different narrator found in (Sahih Bukhari Vol. 1, No 558) which gives us another account in which the Messenger of Allah was distributing wealth to non Muslims and a man from amongst the Muslims took a dislike to the Prophet’s action and accused him of being unjust.
The Prophet grew angry and if we look in Hadith 558 a companion of Muhammad even offered to cut this mans head off but the Prophet prevented him from doing so and as stated in Hadith 617 Muhammad said ‘May Allah bestow His Mercy on Moses, for he was abused more than this; yet he endured patiently.’
The people who make the claim that Muhammad (pbuh) was an angry and aggressive character play deceptively with evidence or they have not researched Islam in an academic fashion, the following Hadith’s are Hadith’s they either don’t know or don’t want you to know.
Sahih Bukhari Vol. 4, No. 626 tells us that a Jew swore by Moses saying Moses had authority over all of mankind and upon hearing this, a Muslim slapped him and proclaimed Muhammad’s authority over Moses. The Jew complained to Muhammad about this and the Prophet became angry and said to the Muslim ‘Don't give superiority to any prophet amongst Allah's Prophets’ therefore taking the Jews side in this matter.
There is a Hadith found in (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 778) which Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari relates that the Prophet became angry at him when he caught him beating slave and he relates that from that day he never beat his slave again.
To conclude this section I will end with a quote from Imam Ghazali who relates that Ali [r] said ‘The prophet did not get angry for any worldly matter. When any true matter angered him, he never harmed anybody and nobody got up to take revenge for his anger. He became angry only for the sake of truth.'
Anti Venom Publications © 2005
Another common claim by those who wish to attack the integrity of the Holy Prophet
We do find that the Prophet
THE AHADITH THAT MISSIONARY’S TEND TO QUOTE:
The first evidence they tend to cite is:‘I never saw the Prophet more furious in giving advice than he was on that day’ (Sahih Bukhari Vol. 1, No. 90)
If we read the Hadith in it’s context will find that an elderly man came to the Prophet
Whilst in this state of anger the Prophet
Take into consideration that the Prophet
The Holy Prophet
The 2nd evidence they put forth is:‘The Prophet got angry and his cheeks or face became red’ (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, No. 91)
This Hadith tells us of the occasion when a man asked the Prophet
If Muhammad
The 3rd evidence they tend to present is: The Prophet
When we read and analyse this Hadith further we discover that people were asking the Prophet
Islamic Scholars such as Ibn al-Jawzi, Baghaawi and Suyuti note in there commentarys that a man by the name of ‘Abdullah as-Sahmi aksed the Prophet
Before his return home his mother had been informed of this happening and she was very displeased with him due to the fact he had publicly humiliated her and exposed her secret.
The 4th Hadith we will look at says ‘He became so
angry that I saw the signs of anger on his face.’ (Sahih Bukhari Vol. 4, No 617)
This Hadith is related to similar Hadith narrated from a different narrator found in (Sahih Bukhari Vol. 1, No 558) which gives us another account in which the Messenger of Allah was distributing wealth to non Muslims and a man from amongst the Muslims took a dislike to the Prophet’s
The Prophet
The people who make the claim that Muhammad (pbuh) was an angry and aggressive character play deceptively with evidence or they have not researched Islam in an academic fashion, the following Hadith’s are Hadith’s they either don’t know or don’t want you to know.
Sahih Bukhari Vol. 4, No. 626 tells us that a Jew swore by Moses saying Moses had authority over all of mankind and upon hearing this, a Muslim slapped him and proclaimed Muhammad’s authority over Moses. The Jew complained to Muhammad
There is a Hadith found in (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 778) which Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari relates that the Prophet
To conclude this section I will end with a quote from Imam Ghazali who relates that Ali [r] said ‘The prophet did not get angry for any worldly matter. When any true matter angered him, he never harmed anybody and nobody got up to take revenge for his anger. He became angry only for the sake of truth.'
Anti Venom Publications © 2005