Every aspect of the character of the Prophet ﷺ is extremely beautiful and fascinating. From whichever point of view you look at it, our master, Muhammad ﷺ was unique and matchless as an excellent model.

The grand character of Muhammad ﷺ is the masterpiece compendium of all-comprising and unmatched qualities in every respect.

Two verses that refer to his love and kindness for his Companions RA are particularly worth consideration:

Allah testified on one occasion:

فَبِمَا رَحۡمَۃٍ مِّنَ اللّٰہِ لِنۡتَ لَہُمۡ ۚ وَ لَوۡ کُنۡتَ فَظًّا غَلِیۡظَ الۡقَلۡبِ لَانۡفَضُّوۡا مِنۡ حَوۡلِکَ

“And it is by the [great] mercy of Allah that thou art kind towards them, and if thou hadst been rough [and] hard-hearted, they would surely have dispersed from around thee.” [Aal Imran 3: 160]

The great mercy of Allah made His beloved an embodiment of mercy. Otherwise they (the Companions RA) would not have gathered around the Prophet ﷺ with ardent love.

لَقَدۡ جَآءَکُمۡ رَسُوۡلٌ مِّنۡ اَنۡفُسِکُمۡ عَزِیۡزٌ عَلَیۡہِ مَا عَنِتُّمۡ حَرِیۡصٌ عَلَیۡکُمۡ بِالۡمُؤۡمِنِیۡنَ رَءُوۡفٌ رَّحِیۡمٌ

“Surely, a Messenger has come unto you from among yourselves; grievous to him is that you should fall into trouble; [he is] ardently desirous of your [welfare]; [and] to the believers [he is] compassionate, merciful.” [Taubah 9: 128]

We see such faith-inspiring scenes everywhere throughout the blessed life of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, in keeping with the Divine testimony. The blessed person, who was a mercy for mankind – was the embodiment of mercy for all the worlds and creatures. His love and kindness for his followers and self-sacrificing Companions RA had different dimensions altogether. The clouds laden with his love and mercy showered all the time, everywhere and on everyone to such an extent that everyone was fully saturated and no one was left deprived of that beneficence. The children benefitted from it and the elders too. The ladies partook in it and so did the men. The freemen as well as the slaves received it. The poor were enriched with this kindness and so were the rich.

This expression of love and kindness continued day and night. Their beneficent master was kind to them during poverty and during prosperity too. In short, love and kindness of the Holy Prophet ﷺ continued to rain heavily on every section of the Companions RA, all the time.

How fortunate were the holy ones who received the affection of the “mercy for all people” and how lucky were the faithful who kept circling around this eternal light of love!

Hadhrat Zaid RA came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ at a tender age. He had the honour of being the first of the slaves to accept Islam. He came as a slave and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ freed him and adopted him as his son. Because of his love and extreme affection, Hadhrat Zaid RA forgot the love of his real parents. When Zaid RA’s parents and relatives came to take him away, the Holy Prophet ﷺ readily allowed him to go, but Zaid RA refused to leave. Notwithstanding his parents’ insistence, he was not prepared to go with them. He had become so attached to the Holy Prophet ﷺ on account of the love and kindness by the beloved of Allah ﷺ that he preferred his companionship over the love of his own biological parents.

Once, a lady came to the Prophet ﷺ with her sick child. The sickness of the child was so severe and had persisted so long, the heartbroken, she said that she could no longer bear the sight of his suffering and requested for prayer that he passes away and Allah brings an end to his suffering and her trials. He replied, “Should I not pray that your child recovers, grows up to adulthood, takes part in Jihad and achieves martyrdom?”

That is exactly what transpired. The child recovered, grew up to be a devout Muslim and was martyred in the battlefield. Truly his love exceeded the love of every mother. The mother, despite her deep love, was so distressed because of the child’s sickness that she begged for his death.

However, Nabi ﷺ being more affectionate than a mother, said, “No, I pray that he survives and inherits eternal life through martyrdom.”

Just as he joined the young ones in their joyous moments, he also shared their feelings of pain and sorrow.

Once, in a street of Mecca, he saw a young orphaned child crying. Others might have passed by unconcerned, but not the Holy Prophet ﷺ – he approached him and picked him up. The child was extremely poor. He did not have clothes to cover his body nor shoes to wear. His feet were bruised. This pitiable condition made the eyes of the Holy Prophet ﷺ swell up with tears. He carried him to his house. The child had not eaten food for several days and so the Holy Prophet ﷺ fed him, dressed him up with new clothes and kept him in his house like his own children and finally sent him to his relatives.