Never did he let his blessed hand fall on a woman, nor on one of his slaves. Quoth Anas, who was seven years in his service: "'He never scolded me; he never even asked me: 'Hast done this?' or: 'Why didst thou not do that'" Abu Dharr heard the Prophet declare: 'These servants are your brothers, placed under your authority by Allah. Whoso is master over his brother must give him the same food as he eateth and the same apparel as he weareth.'
An Arab who bore arms at the battle of Hunain, tells the following story: "My feet were shod with heavy sandals and in the thick of the fight, I accidentally trod on the Prophet's foot. He struck me with the whip he held in his hand and cried out: 'By Allah! thou hast hurt me!' And all night long, I reproached myself for having inflicted pain on Allah's Messenger. Next day, early in the morning, he sent for me. I went into his presence. I was trembling with fright. 'Thou art the man,' said he, 'who crushed my foot yesterday under thy thick sole and whom I lashed with my whip? Well then, here are eighty lambs. I give them to thee. Take them away.' And ever since that incident, the Prophet's patience got the best of his anger."
Of a loving disposition, he suffered at having been deprived at an early age of maternal affection, which led him always to busy himself about the way mothers and children got on together. His ideas in this connection were summed up in this sentence: 'A son gains Paradise at his mother's feet.' While saying prayers, if he heard a child cry, he would hasten to conclude, so as to allow the mother to go and console her offspring, for he knew how mothers suffer when they hear their children cry.
His marvellous insight into mortals' souls and the depths of all things, causing him to be the most prodigious psychologist ever known, did not prevent him from consulting his companions for the least thing. Ayishah tells us: 'I never knew anybody ask for advice and listen to different opinions so carefully as the Prophet.'
If feelings of kindly dignity prevented Mohammad from resorting to vulgar mockery or making use of cutting remarks, his mood was nevertheless playful. He was fond of joking, which is not reproved by Allah, if the sally contains a grain of truth. One day, for amusement, he told Safiyah, his aunt on his father's side, that 'old women were not allowed to enter Paradise.' The noble dame, well advanced in years, burst into tears. So he went on: 'But all women will be resuscitated with the aspect of females thirty-three years of age, just as if they had all been born on the same day.'
The three things he loved best in this world were prayer, perfumes, and women.
He was so fond of praying that his feet used to swell in consequence of standing for too long a time whilst at his devotions; but he considered that the right to pray so often was one of the prerogatives of his position as a Prophet. Still he would not admit that his example should be followed. This he proved when upraiding Abdullah ibn Amir: 'Have I heard aright when they tell me thou dost pass the night in prayer, upstanding; and then fast next day? If thou shouldst keep on at this, thou wilt endanger thy sight and wear out thy body. Thy duty, that thou owest to thyself and thy people, is to fast and break thy fast; to rise in the night and also to sleep.'
Next to prayer, Mohammad preferred women, for which his detractors have blamed him severely. He was certainly an ardent lover; a male, in every respect, morally and physically, but endowed with that chastity which fits in well with healthy voluptuousness. Following his example, even nowadays, the Arabs are remarkable for their extreme decency, although devoid of all affectation and having nothing in common with the hypocritical mock-modesty of Puritans.
Mohammad had twenty-three wives, but he only had intercourse with twelve of them; his other marriages taking place for political reasons. All the tribes were eager to be allied to him through one of their daughters and he was beseiged by matrimonial offers. One of these women, Azza, sister to Dihya al-Kalbi, died of joy when she heard that the Prophet accepted her as spouse.
His love of women caused him to be brimful of kindness to them, and he sought to better their lot whenever he could. To begin with, he abolished the monstrous custom of burying girls alive, "Wa'du'l-Binat," of which we have already spoken. He then regulated polygamy, limiting the number of legitimate helpmates to four, which did not prevent him from urging the Faithful to give heed to this verse of the Qur'an: "If ye fear that ye shall not act equitably, then marry but one woman only." (IV, 3.)