Will you give information about the troubles the Prophet (pbuh) put up with for his belief?

Will you give information about the troubles the Prophet (pbuh) put up with for his belief?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Prophets underwent the biggest troubles and misfortunes in the universe. However, they showed the greatest patience toward these troubles and misfortunes. All believers know what happened to Hz. Nuh, Hz. Lut, Hz. Musa, Hz. Isa, Hz. Yahya and Hz. Muhammad (pbuh) to a certain extent. However, these troubles and misfortunes could not prevent them from conveying their message and informing people; on the contrary, they continued to inform people about Allah and His command by acting patiently and perseveringly.    

The general aim and duty of prophets is stated as follows in the Quran:

"(It is the practice of those) who preach the Messages of Allah, and fear Him, and fear none but Allah: and enough is Allah to call (men) to account." (al-Ahzab, 33/39)

After undertaking this lofty duty, the Messenger of Allah spent his life conveying people the religion of Allah. He went from house to house looking for receptive people to whom he could convey the message.

The attitude of the polytheists was in the form of indifferenceand boycott first. After that, it continued with derision and mocking. In the last phase, they resorted to all kinds of torture. They placed thorns on the way he would walk; they put an animal tripe on his head while he was performing a prayer; they insulted him in various ways. However, the Messenger of Allah did not quail or give up. For, this was his purpose of creation. He visited everybody, including his ferocious enemies, to convey the message. He informed them about the religion of Islam. He visited the enemies of the religion and belief like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab so many times and informed them about God and the truth. He went to fairs and visited the tents there so as to be a means of guidance for a person; he was rejected so many times but he insisted on visiting them.

When Makkah gave him no more hope, he went to Taif.Taif is a place of recreation. The people of Taif, who were spoiled by comfort and relaxation, turned out to be more ferocious. A mob of people threw stones at the Messenger of Allah, whose face even the angels avoided staring, and expelled him from Taif. Zayd b. Haritha, whom the Messenger of Allah had adopted as his son, was together with him and tried to protect the Messenger of Allah by using his body as a shield. However, some stones hit the Messenger of Allah and his body was in blood.

When, they got rid of this intolerant atmosphere and took refuge under a tree, Hz. Jibril appeared. He said he could make the mountain around Taif fall on those people if the Messenger of Allah allowed. He said "no” to this offer though he was hurt a lot. He said "no" to the misfortune that would hit them in case some of them would believe in the future.

Then, he opened his hands and prayed to his Lord as follows:

"O Allah, unto You I complain of my frailty, lack of resources and significance before those people. O Most Merciful of the merciful, You are the Lord of the oppressed and are my Lord. To whom do You abandon me? To that stranger who looks askance and grimaces at me? Or to that enemy to whom You have given mastery over me? If Your indignation is not directed at me, I have no worry. But Your grace is much greater for me to wish for. I seek refuge in the light of Your Countenance, which illumines all darkness and by which the affairs of this life and the Hereafter have been rightly ordered, lest Your wrath alight upon me, or Your indignation descend upon me. I expect Your forgiveness until You are pleased. There is no resource or power but in You."

While he was praying like that, somebody approached them silently and gave the Messenger of Allah and Zayd a bunch of grapes on a plate. He said, "Please help yourselves!" When the Messenger of Allah reached his hand to the plate, he said, "Bismillah" (in the name of Allah). This was something unexpected for Addas, the slave who gave them the grapes. He asked in surprise, "Who are you?" The Messenger of Allah answered, "I am the last Prophet and the last Messenger." Addas leaned on him and started to kiss him. He found unexpectedly the person for whom he had been looking for years; he believed immediately. (Ibn Hisham, Sirah, 2:60-63; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, 3:166).

Western authors write as follows: "Muhammad (pbuh) was a prophet in Makkah but he became a king after he went to Madinah." However, the reality is as follows: The Prophet kept away from worldly boons and remained hungry after he dominated all Arabs; he did not act like a king though he had all kinds of opportunities; he did not have any worldly possessions. The following narration exists in the chapter of Jihad in Sahihi Bukhari:

When Hz. Prophet was about to die, his armor was mortgaged to a Jew for three units of barley. When he died, the clothes he was wearing were patched. He lived at such a time and had so many opportunities that normal states could not have them. All Arabia, from Syria to Adan, was conquered. The market of Madinah was full of gold and silver.  

One of the duties of the Prophet (pbuh) was to eliminate monasticism (abandoning all of the worldly boons and the worldly affairs, by devoting oneself to Allah only. Allah stated the following in the Quran

"…But the Monasticism which they invented for themselves..." (al-Hadid, 57/27)

and criticized the Christians. Therefore, the Prophet ate nice food and put on nice clothes from time to time. However, his real spiritual structure was to keep away from the ornaments of the world. The Messenger of Allah always stated the following:

"Man does not need anything except the following three things: A house where he can live, clothes he can wear, and bread and water he can eat and drink."

Hz. Aisha said, "The Prophet had no extra clothes." He had only one garment; he had no spare clothes to wear for a change.

Once, Abdullah b. Umar was repairing the wall of his house. The Prophet was passing by and saw him. The Prophet asked him, "What are you doing?" Abdullah b. Umar said,"I am repairing the wall." Hz. Prophet said, "How did you find so much time?"

The Prophet was usually hungry at home. He and his family often went to bed hungry. "Hz. Prophet spent several nights on end hungry. He and his family members could not find dinner to eat." (Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 38)

There were some times when no fire was lit in his house for two months. When Hz. Aisha mentioned it, Urwa b. Zubayr asked,"What did you eat?" Hz. Aisha said, "We had water and dates. Our neighbors sometimes sent us goat milk and we drank it." (Bukhari, Riqaq, 16, 17)

Hz. Prophet never had bread made of pure wheat flour. He never saw pure flour.  When Sahi b. Sa'd mentioned it, he was asked, "Were there no sifters when Hz. Prophet lived? He said, "No." He was asked, "How did they sift flour then?" He said,"They blew with their mouths and made the bran fly away. They, they kneaded the remaining flour." (see Tirmidhi, Shamail)

Hz. Aisha said,

"Hz Prophet never ate two meals fully on end from the time he migrated to Madinah until he died." (see Tirmidhi, Shamail)

Hadith scholars and siyar experts who narrate the battles of Fadak, Khaybar and the others write that the Prophet received his yearly expenses from the incomes from them. The apparent meanings of these narrations and the Prophet’s living in poverty may seem to be contradictory but both of them are correct. The Messenger of Allah took the amount that would be enough for his sustenance and distributed the remaining amount to the poor and needy. He even gave the things he kept for himself to the poor later. It is often mentioned in hadiths that the Prophet suffered hunger and that he had no wealth. We want to mention some of them as examples:

Once, somebody came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said, "I am very hungry." Hz. Prophet sent somebody to one of his wives to tell her "to send some food." When the person returned, he said there was nothing other than water at home. The Prophet sent somebody to another one of his wives. He received the same answer from her. To sum up, the news that there was nothing other than water came from eight-nine houses. (Muslim, 2/198)

Anas narrates:

"When I went into the presence of the Prophet (pbuh) once, I saw that he had wrapped a band tight around his abdomen. When I asked the reason, one of the people sitting there said, ‘Due to hunger.’" (Muslim, 2/193)

Abu Talha narrates:

"Once, I saw the Prophet lying on the ground in the mosque, turning to the right and left due to hunger."

Once, the Companions came to the Prophet (pbuh) and complained about their hunger; they opened their abdomens and showed the stones they wrapped with their bands. Thereupon, Hz. Prophet showed them that he had two stones, not one, on his abdomen.

He often got a hoarse voice due to hunger; the Companions would understand his hunger when they heard his voice. Once, Abu Talha went home and said to his wife, "Is there anything to eat at home? I saw that the Messenger of Allah had a hoarse voice just now." (Muslim, 2/191)

Once, he left home at noon when he was very hungry. He met Abu Bakr and Umar on the way. They were also very tired and hungry. The Messenger of Allah went to the house of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari with them. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari always kept some milk for the Prophet (pbuh). When the Prophet delayed, he gave the milk to his children. When his wife heard that the Prophet was coming, she came out of the house and said,

"O Messenger of Allah! Welcome!" The Messenger of Allah asked where Abu Ayyub was. His date grove was near and when he heard the Prophet’s voice, he ran toward the house. He said,

"Welcome!" Then, he said, "This is not the usual time for the visit of the Messenger of Allah." Thereupon, the Prophet (pbuh) told him about the reason why they had come. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari went to the date grove and brought them a bunch of grapes. Then, he said,

"I will prepare some meat for you."He slaughtered a goat; he boiled half of and grilled the other half. He put the food before the Prophet (pbuh). The Messenger of Allah said,

"Put some meat on a piece of bread and take it to Fatima. She has not eaten anything for days." Then, he ate the food with his Companions. When he saw a few courses of food, he shed tears and said:

These are the things mentioned in the verse: "Then shall ye be Questioned that Day about the joy (ye indulged in)"(at-Takathur, 102/ 8). (at-Targhib wat-Tarhib, 2/175)

When Hz. Prophet went to his wives in the morning, he often asked, "Is there anything to eat today" If they said, "no", he would say, "Then, I will fast today." (Musnad, 2/49; see Mevlânâ Şiblî Numânî, Son Peygamber Hz. Muhammed, İz Publications: 621-629)

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