The Character of the Prophet ﷺ

تَبَسُّمُكَ فِي وَجْهِ أَخِيكَ لَكَ صَدَقَةٌ، وَأَمْرُكَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَنَهْيُكَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ صَدَقَةٌ، وَإِرْشَادُكَ الرَّجُلَ فِي أَرْضِ الضَّلاَلِ لَكَ صَدَقَةٌ، وَبَصَرُكَ لِلرَّجُلِ الرَّدِيءِ الْبَصَرِ لَكَ صَدَقَةٌ، وَإِمَاطَتُكَ الْحَجَرَ وَالشَّوْكَةَ وَالْعَظْمَ عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ لَكَ صَدَقَةٌ، وَإِفْرَاغُكَ مِنْ دَلْوِكَ فِي دَلْوِ أَخِيكَ لَكَ صَدَقَةٌ

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Your smiling in the face of your brother is a charity for you; your enjoining good and forbidding wrong is a charity; your guiding a man who is lost is a charity for you; your sight assisting a man of weak vision is a charity for you; your removing a stone, a thorn or a bone from the road is a charity for you; and your pouring from your bucket into your brother’s bucket is a charity for you.”

The cheapest and quickest charity is a smile. The Prophet (peace be upon him) named it first, before guiding someone who is lost and before clearing a stone from the road. Something that costs no money, no effort and no time is already counted as charity with Allah.

Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 1956 — View the full hadith card

تُطْعِمُ الطَّعَامَ، وَتَقْرَأُ السَّلاَمَ عَلَى مَنْ عَرَفْتَ وَمَنْ لَمْ تَعْرِفْ

A man asked the Prophet (peace be upon him): “Which of the deeds of Islam is best?” He replied: “That you feed others, and that you greet with salam those you know and those you do not know.”

Asked which deed of Islam was best, the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not name something large or difficult. He named feeding others and greeting salam — and not only to your own friends, but to those you do not know.

Sahih al-Bukhari 12 — View the full hadith card

مَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلاَ يُؤْذِ جَارَهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلْيُكْرِمْ ضَيْفَهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not harm his neighbour. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honour his guest. And whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say something good or stay silent.”

Three things are repeated in the same pattern: do not harm your neighbour, honour your guest, and say something good or stay silent. Notice that last choice — silence itself counts as good when what you were going to say does not.

Sahih al-Bukhari 6018 — View the full hadith card

لا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”

This is a measure you can check on yourself: what you want for yourself, do you want it for your friend too? The good turn, the comfortable seat, the bigger share. The Prophet (peace be upon him) tied it directly to the completeness of faith.

Sahih al-Bukhari 13 — View the full hadith card

مَنْ لاَ يَرْحَمُ لاَ يُرْحَمُ

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) kissed al-Hasan ibn Ali while al-Aqra‘ ibn Habis at-Tamimi was sitting beside him. Al-Aqra‘ said: “I have ten children and I have never kissed one of them.” The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) looked at him and said: “Whoever shows no mercy will be shown no mercy.”

A man was surprised to see the Prophet (peace be upon him) kiss his grandson, and said he had never kissed any of his ten children. The reply was short and firm: whoever shows no mercy will be shown none. Gentleness with the small is not weakness.

Sahih al-Bukhari 5997 — View the full hadith card

تَرَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَوَادِّهِمْ وَتَعَاطُفِهِمْ كَمَثَلِ الْجَسَدِ إِذَا اشْتَكَى عُضْوًا تَدَاعَى لَهُ سَائِرُ جَسَدِهِ بِالسَّهَرِ وَالْحُمَّى

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “You see the believers, in their mutual mercy, love and compassion, as one body: when one limb complains of pain, the rest of the body joins it in sleeplessness and fever.”

The Prophet (peace be upon him) described the believers as one body: when one limb hurts, the whole body joins it in sleeplessness and fever. If a friend is left out or upset, that is not his problem alone.

Sahih al-Bukhari 6011 — View the full hadith card

كُلُّ سُلاَمَى مِنَ النَّاسِ عَلَيْهِ صَدَقَةٌ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ تَطْلُعُ فِيهِ الشَّمْسُ، يَعْدِلُ بَيْنَ الاِثْنَيْنِ صَدَقَةٌ، وَيُعِينُ الرَّجُلَ عَلَى دَابَّتِهِ، فَيَحْمِلُ عَلَيْهَا، أَوْ يَرْفَعُ عَلَيْهَا مَتَاعَهُ صَدَقَةٌ، وَالْكَلِمَةُ الطَّيِّبَةُ صَدَقَةٌ، وَكُلُّ خَطْوَةٍ يَخْطُوهَا إِلَى الصَّلاَةِ صَدَقَةٌ، وَيُمِيطُ الأَذَى عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ صَدَقَةٌ

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Every joint of a person owes a charity every day the sun rises. To judge justly between two people is a charity; to help a man onto his mount, or to lift his belongings onto it, is a charity; a good word is a charity; every step taken towards the prayer is a charity; and removing something harmful from the road is a charity.”

The charity in this hadith is not money. Reconciling two people who have argued, helping lift a load, one good word, a step towards the prayer, clearing rubbish from the road — all of it counts. Every day the sun rises brings a fresh chance.

Sahih al-Bukhari 2989 — View the full hadith card

لاَ تَغْضَبْ

A man said to the Prophet (peace be upon him): “Advise me.” He said: “Do not become angry.” The man repeated his request several times, and each time he said: “Do not become angry.”

A man asked for advice, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) answered in two words. He repeated his request again and again, and each time the answer was the same. Real strength is not in the hands, but in holding yourself back when angry.

Sahih al-Bukhari 6116 — View the full hadith card

كَانَ يَكُونُ فِي مِهْنَةِ أَهْلِهِ، فَإِذَا حَضَرَتِ الصَّلاَةُ خَرَجَ إِلَى الصَّلاَةِ

Al-Aswad said: I asked Aisha (r.a.), “What did the Prophet (peace be upon him) do inside his house?” She said: “He would be busy in the work of his family — meaning serving his family — and when the prayer came, he would go out to pray.”

Aisha (r.a.) was asked what the Prophet (peace be upon him) did inside his house. The answer was nothing grand: he helped with his family's work, until the time of prayer came. The noblest of people did not consider housework beneath him.

Sahih al-Bukhari 676 — View the full hadith card

إِنَّ مِنْ خِيَارِكُمْ أَحْسَنَكُمْ أَخْلاَقًا

Abdullah ibn Amr (r.a.) said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) was neither coarse in speech nor did he speak coarsely on purpose. He used to say: “Indeed the best among you are those with the best character.”

Abdullah ibn Amr (r.a.) mentioned two things at once: the Prophet (peace be upon him) was never coarse in speech, and he taught that the best among us are the best in character. Everything above — the smile, the salam, the patience, the helping — gathers here.

Sahih al-Bukhari 3559 — View the full hadith card