The following three points are important in conveying the Message of Islam:

Intelligence is important in assessing the person to whom the Message is to be delivered. Concerning this, a PropheticTradition reads:

A good preacher should know how to approach the one he wants to address and how to win his friendly attention. This point can be illustrated by many examples from the life of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. Here are two of them:

God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, at first, won the heart of ‘Umar by showing appreciation of his good sense, saying:

He also inspired confidence in ‘Umar through his good conduct. Above all, the commitment he displayed in worshipping God had so great an effect on ‘Umar that at last he came to God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and was as obedient and reverent before him as a well-mannered child before a respected father.

The Messenger and a young man desirous of fornication

One day, a young man (whose name appears, from different narrations, to have been Julaybib) came to God’s Messenger and said:

Those who were present reacted in different ways. Some scoffed at the young man, others pulled him by the skirt of his robe, and still others made as if to strike him. But the compassionate Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, drew him nearer to himself, and the following conversation took place between them:

— Would you agree that someone should do such a thing with your mother?

— My mother and father be your ransom, O God’s Messenger, I do not agree with that.

— Indeed, no one agrees that his mother should be a party in such a disgraceful act. Would you agree that someone should do the same with your daughter, if you had one?

— No, O God’s Messenger, may my soul be sacrificed for you!

— Indeed, no one agrees that someone should do the same with his daughter. Would you agree that your wife, if you had one, should be a party to such an illicit intercourse?

— No, I wouldn’t, O God’s Messenger!

— Would you agree that the same be done to your sister or aunt?

— No, I wouldn’t.

— Indeed, no one agrees that it should be done with his wife, sister or aunt.

This conversation was enough for the young man to forsake his desire. But God’s Messenger concluded the ‘spiritual operation’ with a supplication. He put his blessed hand on the chest of the young man and prayed:

O God, forgive him, purify his heart and maintain his chastity!

Julaybib became a model of chastity. Some time later he married through the intermediation of God’s Messenger. Not long after that he was martyred in a battle after he had killed seven people. When his dead body was located on the battlefield, God’s Messenger put his hand on his knee and said:

This one is of me, and I am of him.

God’s Messenger was so competent and successful in educating the people that it constitutes a conclusive proof of his Prophethood: the most uncivilized, crude, ill-mannered, ruthless and ignorant people of the world at that time were transformed into the most praiseworthy guides of humanity in a very short period. I wonder whether even the largest, best-equipped group of professional educators, modern pedagogues, sociologists, psychologists, teachers and the like, could achieve in a hundred years anywhere in the modern civilized world even a hundredth of what God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, accomplished in twenty-three years in the uncivilized desert of Arabia fourteen centuries ago. The efforts made, and the techniques applied, to remove so insignificant a bad habit as smoking with almost negligible success, prove that the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace, was without parallel or equal in the education of people.

His wisdom and intellect will be discussed more fully in the next section.

The Prophets practised what they preached

If a preacher desires his preaching to be effective on people, he should practise what he preaches. One who says what he does not do can hardly expect to succeed in his mission. Actions speak louder than words. The Qur’an is very explicit in this matter:

God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was the living embodiment of his mission. He was the foremost in practising Islam, in devotion to God, in servanthood to Him. It usually happened that one who saw him did not feel the need to see any other proofs to believe in his Prophethood. For example, ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam, the renowned scholar of the Jewish community in Madina, believed in him at first sight of him, saying:

‘Abd Allah ibn Rawaha, a famous poet of the time, expressed this fact in a couplet whose meaning is:

Those who believed in him in his time were not foolish or unreasonable people. Among them were men who, like the first four caliphs, namely Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali, may God be pleased with them all, administered a very great state. They were also so profound in spirituality and so deep in belief that ‘Ali, for example, once said:

Should I not be a thankful slave of God?

One of the reasons why the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is still loved deeply by hundreds of millions despite the concerted, hostile efforts of propaganda to remove him from the hearts of his people and why, by contrast, he gains each day thousands of new converts all over the world, is that he practised what he advised others to do. For example, he invited people to worship God sincerely and he himself set the best example in this respect. He would spend more than half of the night standing in prayer before God in tears, and utmost humility, and when asked why he gave himself so great a trouble as it caused his feet to swell, and did so even though he was sinless, he would answer:

Should I not be a thankful slave of God?

As narrated by ‘A’isha, his wife, one night he asked her permission to get up and pray – he was so sensitive to the rights of his wives as to request, while with them, their permission to perform supererogatory prayer. He prayed until daybreak and shed tears. He frequently recited the following verses,

Again, ‘A’isha reports:

So simple a life

His life was so simple that once ‘Umar, on seeing him, said:

God’s Messenger answered him:

God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, lived for others. Indeed, he desired his nation to live a comfortable life without, however, being deluded by its luxuries, but he himself lived a very simple life.

The Prophets asked for no reward

God’s Messenger, like all the other Prophets, may God’s peace be upon them all, never thought of any wages in return for his mission. He suffered hunger, thirst and every other kind of hardship. He was forced to leave his native town, and was made the target of many assaults and traps. He bore all these simply for the good pleasure of God and the good of mankind. He never expected anything from people.

Abu Hurayra once saw him performing his prayer in a sitting position and asked him whether he was ill. The reply was of the kind that made Abu Hurayra weep:

Hunger was common to them. One night, God’s Messenger, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar met each other unexpectedly outside their homes. ‘What brought you to come out at this time of night?’, they asked one another. The reply of each was the same: ‘hunger’.

Even though most of his Companions became wealthier in later years, the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, never changed his lifestyle, nor did his family. They continued to live a very simple life. His daughter, Fatima, for example, though his most beloved child and the only one surviving, did all of her housework by herself. When the prisoners captured in a battle were shared out in Madina, Fatima asked his father to assign her a maid, but God’s Messenger said in response:

One day, he saw Fatima wearing a bracelet (or a necklace, according to another version) and warned her, saying:

In addition to receiving no worldly benefit from his people, God’s Messenger also had to bear many tortures. He was covered in dust many times and no one except Fatima ran to his aid. Once he was beaten at the Ka’ba and Abu Bakr hastened to help him, shouting to those beating him:

Will you kill a man because he says, ‘My Lord is God?’

By examining his words and deeds, one can see that every one of them declares Muhammad is the Messenger of God, upon him be peace and blessings.