Patience and Forbearance

The Prophet's journey to Ta'if stands as one of the most moving demonstrations of patience in his entire life. After the deaths of Khadijah and Abu Talib, he travelled to Ta'if seeking support and protection. The leaders of Thaqif not only rejected him but set the street urchins and slaves upon him, who pelted him with stones until his blessed sandals were soaked with blood. Zayd ibn Harithah tried to shield him with his own body. Yet when the Angel of the Mountains offered to destroy the people of Ta'if, the Prophet refused, choosing patience and hope over retaliation. His patience with the Bedouin who pulled his cloak is well documented. A coarse Bedouin approached the Prophet and yanked his cloak so violently from behind that it left a mark on his neck. The Bedouin then said: "O Muhammad, give me from the wealth of Allah that you have." The Prophet turned to him, smiled, and ordered that the man be given what he needed. He did not rebuke him or push him away, though his Companions were furious. During the early years in Makkah, while prostrating in prayer near the Kaaba, the entrails and filth of a slaughtered camel were thrown upon his back by Abu Jahl and his associates, who laughed as the Prophet remained in prostration under the weight. His daughter Fatimah, still a young girl, came and removed the filth from his back. The Prophet did not rise to confront them in anger but completed his prayer and then supplicated to Allah. He bore personal losses with immense patience. Six of his seven children died during his lifetime. When his infant son Ibrahim died, tears flowed from his eyes but he said: "The eyes shed tears and the heart is grieved, but we do not say anything except what pleases our Lord. O Ibrahim, we are grieved by your departure." He lost his beloved wife Khadijah, his uncle Hamzah — whose body was mutilated at Uhud — and many of his closest Companions, yet he remained steadfast and forbearing. The Prophet taught that patience was a light and that its reward was without measure. He said: "How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for all his affairs are good. If something good happens to him, he is thankful and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he is patient and that is good for him." He embodied this teaching in every trial he faced.