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Wa
`alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In
the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All
praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and
blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear
questioner, we would like to express our great happiness
for having your question and we pray to Almighty Allah
to enable us furnish you with the best answer.
As
regards the question you posed, we would like to stress
the fact that Allah, Glory be to Him, has decreed the
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to be
an ideal example for all Muslims to follow. In this
context, Allah Almighty says, "Verily in the
Messenger of Allah ye have a good example for him who
looketh unto Allah and the last Day, and remembereth
Allah much." (Al-Ahzab: 21)
In
bringing up his Companions, Prophet Muhammad (peace and
blessing be upon him) adopted various educational
methods. Following are some of them:
1-
Using illustrative parables:
Abu
Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I heard
the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
saying, 'Behold! Can anything of his dirt remain on
the body of any one of you if there were a river at his
door in which he washes himself five times daily?'
They said, 'Nothing of his dirt will remain (on his
body).' He said, 'That is like the Five Prayers by
which Allah obliterates sins.'" (Reported by
Muslim)
2-
Drawing the addressee's attention by means of taking
oaths:
Abu
Shurayh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that
the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "By
Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not
believe! By Allah, he does not believe!" It was
said, "Who is that person, O Allah's
Messenger?" He said, "That person is he
whose neighbor does not feel safe from his evil."
(Reported by al-Bukhari)
3-
Being joyful in advice so that his Companions would
not get bored:
In
this context, we recall the incident when a man came to
the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said,
"O Messenger of Allah! Give me a mount." The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "We
shall give you a she-camel's child to ride on."
He said, "What shall I do with a she-camel's
child?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) replied, "Do any others than she-camels
give birth to camels?" (Reported by Abu Dawud)
4-
Considering the state of the addressee:
Abu
Wa'il reported that `Abdur-Rahman used to give a
religious talk to the people on every Thursday. Once a
man said, "O Abu `Abdur-Rahman! (By Allah) I wish
if you could preach us daily." He replied,
"The only thing which prevents me from doing so, is
that I hate to bore you. No doubt, I consider your state
in preaching by selecting a suitable time just as the
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do
with us, for fear of making us bored." (Reported by
al-Bukhari)
5-
Narrating stories:
An-Nu`man
ibn Bashir reported that the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) said, "Allah is more
pleased with the repentance of His believing
slave-servant than that of a person who set out on a
journey with a provision of food and drink on the back
of his camel. He went on until he came to a waterless
desert and he felt like sleeping. So he got down under
the shade of a tree and was overcome by sleep, and his
camel ran away. As he got up he tried to see it (the
camel) standing upon a mound, but did not find it. He
then got upon the other mound, but could not see
anything. He then climbed upon the third mound, but did
not see anything until he came back to the place where
he had been sleeping previously. And as he was sitting
(in utter disappointment) there came to him his camel,
till that (camel) placed its nose string in his hand.
Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His
slave-servant than the person who found (his lost camel)
in this very state." (Reported by Muslim)
You
can also read:
Allah
Almighty knows best.
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