All prophets of Allah believe that the best seed to plant on anyone to help them develop a good character is Taqwa (Righteousness). Developing into a person that love for God, that striving to win His abundant Blessings, is vital and everything stems from there. As your whole direction in life changes and instead of thinking about your own needs, you will be constantly thinking, is what I am doing and saying pleasing God?
As parents, we can’t be always around our children, but if we can instil in them that Allah is constantly with them, 24/7, wherever they are, watching and protecting them, then that will help them develop a very good and pious nature.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had an intense love for Allah and it was due to this love, that Allah made him a prophet. Even as a child, the Holy Prophet firmly believed in Oneness of Allah. Whilst all around him, people were worshipping idols, but he turned to Allah and lived a God-fearing life. So much so, that everyone knew him as As-Siddiq, the Truthful One and Al-Amin, the Trustworthy One.
Allah was everything to him, whatever he said or did, was always for Allah’s sake. Before doing anything, it had to be with Allah’s blessings. He never began anything without first seeking Allah’s permission and guidance from God. Even when a battle was about to begin or the persecution by the Meccans was so fierce that they planned to kill him, still he first turned to prayer and would not do anything without Allah’s permission.
Likewise, he was always in prayer, seeking the blessings of Allah. He would leave his bed at midnight and devote himself to prayer until it was time to go to the mosque for the morning prayers. He sometimes stood so long in prayer during the latter part of the night that his feet would get swollen, and those who saw him in that condition were always much affected. On one occasion his wife, Hazrat Ayesha, upon seeing his condition, became very anxious and said to him after he had finished his prayer:
“God has honoured you with His Love and Nearness, why subject yourself to so much discomfort and inconvenience?”
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, responded:
“If God has, by His Grace and Mercy, conferred His love and Nearness to me, is it not my duty in return to be always rendering thanks to Him?Gratitude should increase in proportion to the favours received.” (Bukhari).
The Holy Prophet’s attachment to prayers was vital, as this was his means to submit to Allah, seek His help and nearness. To gain Allah’s love and blessings. Without prayer he would be lost. And this was the seed that he instilled upon his followers to help them develop.
The Holy Prophet once said:
“Prayer is the highest form of Divine worship, it is a means of communication with our Lord.”
Through prayer we can inform Allah of our needs, our problems and seek His help. In fact, every aspect of the Holy Prophet’s life appears to have been governed by his love for and devotion to God. In spite of the very heavy responsibilities that had been laid upon his shoulders, the greater portion of his time during the day, as well as during the night, was spent in the worship and praise of God.
Even before Prophethood, he would go for days to the Cave Hira and devote all his energy in prayer and Zikrullah, (the remembrance of Allah). This has always been the most important thing in his life as he strove to build this intense relationship with His Maker.
He was so particular about joining the congregational prayers that, even during severe illness when it is permissible not only to say one’s prayers in one’s room but even to say them lying in bed, he would go to the mosque to lead the prayers himself. On one occasion when he was unable to proceed to the mosque, he directed that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, should lead the prayers. After a little while, he felt some improvement in his condition and asked to be supported into the mosque. He rested his weight on the shoulders of two men but was in so feeble a condition that, according to Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, his feet trailed along the ground (Bukhari).
This was the example that he kept showing his followers to help them realise the importance of developing a close relationship with Allah.
The Holy Prophet was constantly occupied in praying for God’s forgiveness and Grace, of course the Holy Prophet never committed any sin and was not in need of forgiveness in that sense, but he would seek forgiveness just in case anything he did or said caused Allah’s displeasure and secondly to demonstrate to his followers the need to keep seeking forgiveness, even if they feel that have not done any wrong. The Holy Prophet desired that his companions should constantly save themselves from divine wrath and should become deserving of divine forgiveness. Therefore, he wanted to ensure that they constantly sought Allah’s forgiveness.
Whenever he was praying, it appeared to onlookers as if his whole being was in the grip of a passion of love for and devotion to God. He always insisted upon simplicity in divine worship. The mosque, that he built in Medina and in which he always led prayers, had only a mud floor. There was no covering or matting and the roof, which was made of dried palm branches and leaves, leaked whenever it rained. On such occasions the Holy Prophet and members of the congregation would be drenched with rain and mud, but he would continue with the prayers till the end and on no occasion did he give any indication that he would postpone the service or move to more weather-tight shelter (Bukhari).
He was also watchful regarding his Companions. ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was a man of extreme piety and purity of life. Concerning him the Holy Prophet once said:
“Abdullah bin ‘Umar would be an even better man if he were to be more regular with regard to his Tahajjud prayers (pre-dawn prayers).”
When this was communicated to Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, he never thereafter missed these prayers. It is recorded that the Holy Prophet, happening to be in the house of his daughter Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her, inquired of her and his son-in-law, Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, whether they were regular with regard to their Tahajjud prayers (the pre-dawn voluntary prayers).
Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, replied:
“O Messenger of Allah! We try to get up for Tahajjud prayers but on occasion when God so wills that we are unable to wake up in time we miss them.”
He went back and, on the way, repeated several times a verse of the Qur’an which means that a man is often reluctant to admit his fault and tries to cover it up with excuses (Bukhari). The Prophet meant that Ali should not have attributed his default to God by saying that when God willed that they should not wake up they were unable to wake up in time but should have admitted his own weakness in the matter.
The wonderful example of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was therefore to develop this love for our Maker. Once that is there, then everything else falls into place. For instance, we see that the Holy Prophet had perfect trust in Allah. It is related that once he was sleeping under tree, and his companions also slept.
An enemy approached and found him asleep and unguarded and took out his sword to kill him. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, awoke to find the man standing over him with the sword in his hand. The man asked the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,:
“who can save you from this predicament?”
Straightway, the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, responded:
“Allah”.
Upon hearing this, the man was shocked and dropped his sword. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, picked up the sword and said same to him.
The man replied “No one”.
The Holy Prophet then admonished him and told him he too should have said “Allah”.
Likewise, once you develop your love for Allah, then you have a ‘purpose in life’ – to attain that love and blessings from Allah and develop your relationship with Allah, hoping that it will continue in Paradise in the next life.
That then helps you to become grateful for everything you have in this life. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was always grateful for any blessing he received, even when there was raindrops, he used to stick out his tongue to catch them and then say:
“here is the latest favour from my Lord”
The Holy Prophet used to say:
“For a Muslim, life is full of all good and nobody but a true believer finds himself in that position. for if he meets with success, he is grateful to God and becomes the recipient of greater favours from Him. On the other hand, if he suffers pain or tribulations’ he endures it with patience and thus again makes himself deserving of God’s favours.”
A true believer constantly strives to please Allah and seek the reward and blessings of Allah.
The Holy Prophet always strove to help mankind and encouraged us that we too should follow his wonderful example.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had said:
“One who does not show mercy (to people) will not be shown mercy (by Allah)” (Muslim).
One of the main attributes of Allah is Raheem (All-Merciful) and we should imbibe this in ourselves and be as merciful as possible to all of Allah’s wonderful creation. When we show mercy to others, we are striving to win Allah’s mercy on us.
There are many seeds that the Holy Prophet planted to help us develop a good character, but the main one was to develop our love for Allah and to always be thinking that is Allah pleased with what you are doing and saying and strive for the pleasure of Allah.