Part 1
Ina'l Hamda l'Illah wa naHmaduhu wa nasta`eenuhu wa nastaghfiruh wa nu'minu bihi wa natawakkul `alayh
Na`udhu Billah min shururi an fusinah wa min sayyi'aati a`maalinaa Mayyahdihillah fa laa modillalah wa mayyudlil fa laa hadi'alah Wa nash-hadu an La ilaha il Allahu WaHdahu la sharika lah wa nash-hadu anna Sayyidinaa Habibinaa Mowlaanaa MuHammadin `abduhu wa Rasuluh Sala' Allahu `alayhi wa Salaam wa `ala Alihi wa Ahlihi wa SaHbihi Ajma`een Tabarakun Tasleemun kathirun kathiraa amma ba`d fi `ibad Allah:
A`udhu Billahi min ash-shaitaan ir-rajeem Bismillah ir-RaHmaan ir-RaHeem
Verily in the Rasul of Allah you have an excellent example for him who is confident of Allah and the future day,
and who remembers Allah much. Qur'an Surah Al-Ahzab 33.21
And We Have not sent you [O Muhammad] but as a mercy for all the world. Qur'an Al- Anbiya 21.107
We Muslims should be thankful that we have such detailed info on this man... Tirmizi has alone 52 chapters devoted
to his appearance!!
APPEARANCE : Muhammad 
was of a height a little
above the average. He was of sturdy build with long muscular limbs and tapering fingers. the hair of his head was
long and thick with some waves in them. His forehead was large and prominent, his eyelashes were long and thick,
his nose was sloping, his mouth was somewhat large and his teeth were well set. His cheeks were spare and he had
a pleasant smile. His eyes were large and black with a touch of brown. His beard was thick and at the time of his
death, he had seventeen gray hairs in it. He had a thin line of fine hair over his neck and chest.
His gait was firm and he walked so fast that others found it difficult to keep pace with him. His face was pleasant but at times, when he was deep in thought, there were long periods of silence, yet he always kept himself busy with something. He did not speak unnecessarily and what he said was always to the point and without any padding. At times he would make his meaning clear by slowly repeating what he had said. His laugh was mostly a smile. He kept his feelings under firm control - when annoyed, he would turn aside or keep silent, when pleased he would lower his eyes. (Shamail Tirmizi)
DRESS : His dress generally consisted of a shirt, trousers, a sheet thrown round the shoulders and a turban. (Ahmed, Musnad, Hafiz bin Qaiyyam) His blanket had several patches. (Tirmizi) He had a very few spare clothes, but he kept them spotlessly clean. (Bukhari) He wanted others also to put on simple but clean clothes. (abu dawud, chapter "dress") He used to observe: "cleanliness is piety.
MODE OF LIVING : His house was but a hut with walls of unbaked clay and a thatched roof of palm leaves covered by camel skin. His apartment contained a rope cot, a pillow stuffed with palm leaves, the skin of some animal spread on the floor and a water bag of leather and some weapons. These were all his earthly belongings, besides a camel, a horse, and an ass and some land which he had acquired in the later part of his life. (bukhari, muslim, abu dawud) Once a few of his disciples, noticing the imprint of his mattress on his body, wished to give him a softer bed but he politely declined the offer saying, 'what have I to do with worldly things. my connection with the world is like that of a traveler resting for a while underneath the shade of a tree and then moving on."
He advised the people to live simple lives and himself practiced great austerities. Even when he had become the virtual king of Arabia, he lived an austere life bordering on privation. His wife Aiysha (ra) says that there was hardly a day in his life when he had two full meals. (Muslim, Sahih Muslim, vol.2, pg 198) When he died there was nothing in his house except a few seers of barley left from a maund of the grain obtained by pawning his armor. (bukhari, sahih bukhari, chapter "aljihad".)
HIS MANNERS AND DISPOSITION : "Then it is due to mercy from Allah that you are gentle towards them. And had you been rough-spoken hard-hearted, they would certainly have scattered away from your circle (Al-Qur'an 3:159)
About himself the prophet
said, "Allah has sent me as an apostle so that I may demonstrate perfection of character, refinement of manners
and loftiness of deportment." (Malik, Mawatta; Ahmed, Musnad; Mishkat) By nature he was gentle and kind hearted,
always inclined to be gracious and to overlook the faults of others. Politeness and courtesy, compassion and tenderness,
simplicity and humility, sympathy and sincerity were some of the keynotes of his character. In the cause of right
and justice he could be resolute and severe but more often than not, his severity was tempered with generosity.
he had charming manners which won him the affection of his followers and secured their devotion. Though virtual
king of Arabia and an apostle of Allah, he never assumed an air of superiority. Not that he had to conceal any
such vein by practice and artifice: with fear of Allah, sincere humility was ingrained in his heart. He used to
say, "I am a prophet of Allah but I do not know what will be my end." (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, chapter
"al-janaiz")
He used to pray, O Allah! I am but a man. if I hurt any one in any manner, then forgive me and do not punish me." (Ahmed, Musnad, vol. 6 pg. 103)
He was always the first to greet another and would not withdraw his hand from a handshake till the other man withdrew his. If one wanted to say something in his ears, he would not turn away till one had finished (Abu Dawud, Tirmizi). He did not like people to get up for him and used to say, "Let him who likes people to stand up in his honour, he should seek a place in hell." (Abu Dawud, Kitabul Adab). He avoided sitting at a prominent place in a gathering, so much so that people coming in had difficulty in spotting him and had to ask which was the prophet (sas).
There was no type of household work too low or too undignified for him. aiysha (ra) has stated, "He always joined in household work and would at times mend his clothes, repair his shoes and sweep the floor. He would milk, tether and feed his animals and do the household shopping.' (qazi iyaz: shifa; bukhari, sahih bukhari, chapter: kitabul adab)
He would not hesitate to do the menial work of others, particularly of orphans and widows. (nasi, darmi) Once when there was no male member in the house of the companion Kabab bin Arat who had gone to the battlefield, he used to go to his house daily and milk his cattle for the inhabitants. (ibn saad vol. 6, p 213)
CHILDREN : He was specially fond of children and used to get into the spirit of childish games in their company. He would have fun with the children who had come back from Abyssinia and tried to speak in Abyssinian with them. It was his practice to give lifts on his camel to children when he returned from journeys. (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, vol. 2 pg.886) He would pick up children in his arms, play with them, and kiss them.
TRUST IN ALLAH (swt) : Muhammad
preached to the people to trust in Allah (swt). His whole life was a sublime example of the precept. In the loneliness
of Makkah, in the midst of persecution and danger, in adversity and tribulations and in the thick of enemies in
the battles of uhud and hunain, complete faith and trust in Allah(swt) appears as the dominant feature in his life.
However great the danger that confronted him, he never lost hope and never allowed himself to be unduly agitated.
Abu Talib knew the feelings of the quraish when the prophet (sas) started his mission. He also knew the lengths
to which the quraish could go, and requested the prophet (sas) to abandon his mission, but the latter calmly replied,
"dear uncle, do not go by my loneliness. truth will not go unsupported for long. The whole of Arabia and beyond
will one day espouse it's cause." (Ibn hisham, Sirat-ur-rasul.)
It was the same trust in Allah(swt) which embolden the prophet to say his prayers openly in the haram in the teeth of opposition.
EQUALITY : Muhammad asked
people to shun notions of racial, family or any other form of superiority based on mundane things and said that
righteousness alone was the criterion of one's superiority over another. It has already been shown how he mixed
with everyone on equal terms, how he ate with slaves, servants and the poorest on the same sheet (a practice that
is still followed in Arabia), how he refused all privileges and worked like any ordinary laborer. On one occasion
he was traveling on his camel over hilly terrain with a disciple, Uqba bin Aamir. after going some distance, he
asked Uqba to ride the camel, but Uqba thought this would be showing disrespect to the prophet (sas). But the prophet
(sas) insisted and he had to comply. the prophet
himself walked on foot as he did not want to put too much load on the animal. (nasai pg. 803)
During a halt on another journey, the companions apportioned work among themselves for preparing
food. The prophet took upon himself the task
of collecting firewood. His companions pleaded that they would do it and that he need not take the trouble, but
he replied, "It is true, but I do not like to attribute any distinction to myself. Allah does not like the
man who considers himself superior to his companions." (zarqani, vol 4 pg. 306)
KINDNESS TO ANIMALS : The prophet (sas) not only preached to the people to show kindness to each other but also to all living souls. he forbade the practice of cutting tails and manes of horses, of branding animals at any soft spot, and of keeping horses saddled unnecessarily. (Muslim, sahih Muslim) If he saw any animal over-loaded or ill-fed he would pull up the owner and say, "fear Allah in your treatment of animals." (Abu Dawud, Kitab Jihad)
During a journey, somebody picked up some birds eggs. The bird's painful note and fluttering attracted the attention of the prophet (sas), who asked the man to replace the eggs. (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari)
As his army marched towards Makkah to conquer it, they passed a female dog with puppies. The prophet (sas) not only gave orders that they should not be disturbed, but posted a man to see that this was done. He stated, "verily, there is heavenly reward for every act of kindness done to a living animal."
LOVE OF THE POOR : The prophet
enjoined upon Muslims to treat the poor kindly and to help them with alms, zakat and in other ways. He said: "he
is not a perfect Muslim who eats his fill and lets his neighbor go hungry." He asked, 'do you love your creator?
Then love your fellow beings first." Monopoly is unlawful in Islam and he preached that "it is difficult
for a man laden with riches to climb the steep path that leads to bliss." He did not prohibit or discourage
the acquisition of wealth but insisted that it be lawfully acquired by honest means and that a portion of it would
go to the poor. He advised his followers "to give the laborer his wages before his perspiration dried up."
He did not encourage beggary either and stated that 'Allah is gracious to him who earns his living by his own labor
and that if a man begs to increase his property, Allah will diminish it and whoever has food for the day, it is
prohibited for him to beg." To his wife he said, "O aysha, love the poor and let them come to you and
Allah will draw you near to Himself." (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari)
One or two instances of the prophet's concern for the poor may be given here. A Medinian, Ibad Bin Sharjil, was once starving. He entered
an orchard and picked some fruit. The owner of the orchard gave him a sound beating and stripped off his clothes.
The poor man appealed to the prophet (sas) who remonstrated the owner thus: "this man was ignorant, you should
have dispelled his ignorance; he was hungry, you should have fed him." his clothes were restored to the Medinian
and, in addition, some grain was given to him. (abu dawud, kitabul jihad)
His love for the poor was so deep that he used to pray: "O Allah, keep me poor in my life and at my death and raise me at resurrection among those who are poor." (Nasai, chapter: Pardon)