Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 195THE PROPHET'S sa PERSONALITY ANDCHARACTERHAVING briefly described the outstanding events inthe life of the Holy Prophet sa we would now attempt ashort sketch of his character. In this connection we haveavailable the collective testimony of his own peoplewhich they bore to his character before he claimed to bea Prophet sa . At that stage he was known among hispeople as "The Trusty" and "The True" (Hisham). Thereare living at all times large numbers of people againstwhom no charge of dishonesty is preferred. There arealso large numbers who are never exposed to a severetrial or temptation and in the ordinary affairs andconcerns of life they behave with honesty and integrity,yet they are not regarded as worthy of any specialdistinction on that account. Special distinctions areconferred only when the life of a person illustrates in aconspicuous degree some high moral quality. Everysoldier that goes into battle puts his life in jeopardy butnot every such British soldier has been regarded asworthy of the award of the Victoria Cross, nor everysuch German soldier of the Iron Cross. There arehundreds of thousands of people in France who occupythemselves with intellectual pursuits but not every oneof them is decorated with the Legion of Honour. Themere fact, therefore, that a man is trustworthy and truedoes not indicate that he possesses eminence in theserespects, but when a whole people combines to conferupon an individual the titles of "The Trusty" and "TheTrue", that is evidence of the possession of exceptionalqualities. Had it been the practice of the people of Meccato confer such a distinction upon some individual ineach generation, even then the recipient would havebeen looked upon as occupying a high position. But thehistory of Mecca and of Arabia furnishes no indicationthat it was customary for the Arabs to confer these orsimilar titles upon eminent individuals in eachgeneration. On the contrary, through centuries of Arab