Shafaqna Pakistan- In these essays, Dr. Ali Shariati presents Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a transformative leader whose life embodied justice, compassion, and social change, offering a fresh perspective that goes beyond conventional historical narratives.
The Prophet’s Discipline
It is really difficult for me to speak about the Prophet. I chose to speak about his personal and private life, so that I may do some justice to the topic. Despite saying that he was a simple person, there are still other such qualities that are specific to his and his personality alone. One of these qualities is his discipline. He is just like the Secretary General of the United Nations! Three rooms made of mud and thatched with the leaves of the date palm (this is what his entire organization consisted of) are organized and coordinated in such a way the same administration, the same life that the greatest of all bureaucracy of the world cannot be compared to. He is like a phenomenon a natural phenomenon like a small fragment of the world. Muhammad, is a microcosm in the form of a human being. He functions as a computer, as a mathematical device. Have a look at his mosque. (I am not in a position to elaborate this point any further.)
His life was very simple and at the same time very regular and exact. He had several wives, but he goes to Umm al- Masakin,’ who is ten to twelve years his senior (her son, who was of the Prophet’s age, had come to ask for his hand in marriage to his mother) in the same manner as he goes to ‘Ayeshah. Throughout his whole lifetime he did not commit a single act of discrimination. Except when he fell ill and it became essential for him to remain in one place, he sought permission from his wives, which they ought to have granted him, so that he could stay in one house. How could the same person, move about in the streets on all fours, so that the children could climb up upon his back and enjoy a ride, maintain such a discipline in his affairs?
There are three columns, the columns on which the roof of his rooms rests, three trunks of the date tree. It is written on one of them Ustuwanat al-Halaq the column of rings, on the other, Ustuwanat al-haras the column of guards and Utuwanat al-tahajjod the column of the Meditation or the sleeping column on the third column. What does all this mean?
Whenever the Prophet closed his prayers he used to stand beside the pulpit, so that anybody who wished to discuss their problems could come forward. A person cheated in a certain deal, would come and give an account of his difficulties. A woman unhappy about her husband, would come and discuss her problems. Two people who have quarreled, come and explain their dispute. Someone has used abusive language to someone in Madinah, the aggrieved party comes to him. Whoever wants to come, comes and says whatever he or she wants to say. But sometimes he needs to hold a commission meeting. The chiefs of the tribes have come to discuss with him something that is related to the destiny of Islam. He ought to take an account of the matter. But still he does not go behind closed doors; he sits beside a pillar. While he is seated beside a particular pillar, all the Muslims who enter the mosque understand that the Prophet is holding a commission meeting, and that it is not the time for them to sit beside him. It is obvious that he has foreign visitors. That he is busy in important political talks, and therefore it is not a proper time to interrupt him (they can do so later on). They leave the place, for when the Prophet is busy with important discussions, order should be maintained. But his simplicity is still evident. No line is drawn and no walls are raised, but discipline is observed and everybody knows the nature of this business.
When the person, who is in politics, who fights battles, who is involved in conflicts, who listens to the problems of every so and so, and has attained such lofty heights of spiritual glory that the inhabitants of the heavenly spheres gaze at him with awe, needs silence and seclusion for contemplation and meditation. Whenever he wishes to be alone to with draw to himself, drown himself in thought, he goes to the pillar named ‘Ustawanat al-tahajjod (the column of Meditation). When he is there, no one goes to him. His family should not try to have any contact with him, his wife should not speak to him, nor the Companions nearest to him should approach him. The people have no business to disturb him either. He remains aloof and alone there. If delegations arrive, they have to wait for him. As long as he is seated near the ‘Ustawanat al-tahajjod, everyone understands that he wishes to meditate in seclusion and is saying his prayers. When he says liturgical prayers, he does it with the people. But when he offers midnight prayers, he is in a special spiritual state. On such occasions, when he wishes to say prayer all alone, no one is supposed to say prayers with him or disturb him. He goes around the three houses one by one, and stands for prayer at the backside of the house of Fatimah. (There was no place specified for this purpose, but always the backside of Fatima’s house.) When he goes there, it is implied that he would say prayer alone and that no one should be around.
This order and discipline reached such proportions that the household goods acquired specific names, whose list is given in the Biography (Sirah) of the Prophet written by Ibn Hisham. He had several donkeys and mules, each of whom was given a name. (He did not say; “bring the black-tailed mule”, it had a name.) He had several caps; there were four quadrangular caps that he used to wear during battle. He had two or three turbans which he used to wear on Fridays, and on the occasion of peace talks and other important social ceremonies. Each of these turbans had a certain name. This naming of the caps is indicative of his keenness to have order in every matter. His bodily functions were exactly like nature. It was not something cultivated and acquired, as in the case of the behavior of other human beings.
Mr. Bazargan, (May God reward him amply for his service) has performed a mathematical study of the Quranic verses regarding their order and their length, and arranged them according to their length. We know that the verses revealed in Mecca are shorter and those revealed in Madinah are longer. He classified all the verses revealed during the span of twenty three years the duration in which the Quran was revealed into twenty-three grades, and has put them together according to their length in their respective grades. Incidentally, the verses placed in a particular grade belong to the same year. We can know and count the number of words contained in the verses of each year. What is the result of this? We have the following chart:
In the first year, 2500 words were revealed to the Prophet. In the second year, 3000 words were revealed. In the third year, 3500 words were revealed. In the fourth year, 4000 words were revealed. In the fifth year, 4500 words were revealed. In the sixth year, 5000 words were revealed. In the seventh year, 5500 words were revealed. In the eighth year, 6000 words were revealed. In the ninth year, 6500 words were revealed, and so on.
What are we dealing with here? Here we see a systematic order which is found in physics and mathematics, and not concerned with the man who uttered these words. It is just like a graph or curve indicating the temperature and rainfall during different months of year. A man who discourses for a period of twenty-three years, under so many strains, victories, happiness, hardships, political matters, philosophical matters and religious matters cannot have control over the number of words in a way that exactly 500 words are added every year to the words uttered by him in the previous year. It is really impossible to discipline oneself in this way. Unconsciously all the verses uttered by the Prophet have an exact increase every year.
Here we are face to face with a scientific order and discipline, not with a normal human personality. The Prophet is indeed a clear sign (ayah) similar to the day and night, the sea, sun and stars. He is a cross-section of the cosmos, or rather a cosmos in itself.
One of the characteristics of the Prophet is described by Ali who has minutely portrayed him and has given such exact physiognomic details about him that one can paint a portrait of the Prophet according to them (he has portrayed his inner reflection and characteristics with words). How modern it is! What a psychological insight! What a vivid portrait! He says: “He was neither so tall that he could be regarded tall, nor so short that he could appear slight and puny. He was square-shouldered and of sturdy build. His eyes were sharp and he had a bass voice. He walked with a fast pace, a bit inclined forward (he did not have an awkward wide-legged slow gait, like the man who has been always beaten and making a retreat he strode forward like the one sailing before the wind). He was prominently visible from a long distance and caught the eyes like a roaring stream gushing onwards or like a rock rolling down the mountain (as if he was striding over a steep slope). From one shoulder to the other his chest was covered with thick growth of hair. a line of which reached his navel. He was so particular about cleanliness that he never used the same towel twice in his life. Today a revolutionary is supposed to be a dirty person. In fact these are the values cherished by a revolutionary today. If anyone keeps himself neat and clean, it is said that he has adopted the bourgeoisie way of life. But this fellow, who was a revolutionary to the core of his being, whose entire paraphernalia consisted of four mats, ate date flour and date stone, transformed the whole world, and despite growing up as a shepherd in the desert, where water was scarce and hygienic conditions bad, had such a high sense of hygiene and cleanliness that he did not use a towel twice during his entire lifetime. It is written in al-Kamisi that he had no riches, but one third of all he possessed he spent on the articles of toilet and cosmetics (one third of all his expenditure was for articles of dressing up, toilet and perfumes, what can I say, it seems to be unbelievable!).
Similar was the case with his swords. Each one of his swords bore a specific name.
Part of series: The Visage of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by Dr. Ali Shariati
Source: Shafaqna English
