Life-of-Muhammad

202Life of Muhammad saa point above his ankles. He did not approve of the kneeor any portion of the body above the knee being exposedwithout extreme necessity. He did not approve of theuse, whether as part of dress or in the way of curtains,etc., of cloth which had figures embroidered or paintedon it, especially if the figures were large and might beinterpreted as representing gods or goddesses or otherobjects of worship. On one occasion he found a curtainhanging in his house bearing large figures and hedirected it to be removed. He, however, saw no harm inthe use of cloth bearing small figures which could not beso interpreted. He never wore silk himself and did notconsider it permissible for Muslim men to wear it. Forthe purpose of authenticating the letters that he wroteto certain sovereigns inviting them to accept Islam hecaused to be prepared a signet-ring, but directed that itshould be made of silver and not of gold, for he said thatthe wearing of gold had been prohibited to Muslim men(Bukhari and Muslim). Muslim women are permitted towear silk and gold but in their case also the HolyProphet's sa direction was that excess should be avoided.On one occasion he called for subscriptions for the reliefof the poor and a lady took off one of her bracelets andplaced it before him as her contribution. Addressing her,he said: "Does not your other hand deserve to be savedfrom the Fire?" The lady thereupon removed her braceletfrom the other hand also and offered it for the purposethat he had in view. None of his wives possessedornaments of any considerable value and other Muslimwomen also very seldom possessed any ornaments. Inaccordance with the teachings of the Qur’an hedeprecated the hoarding of money or bullion, as he heldthat this was harmful to the interests of the poorersections of the community and resulted in upsetting theeconomy of a community and was thus a sin.‘Umar ra suggested to the Holy Prophet sa on oneoccasion that as he had to receive Embassies from greatmonarchs, he should have a rich cloak prepared forhimself which he could wear on such ceremonial