First published on: Muhammad’s Brave Heart


  Ahd Shaheen

We were all impressed when the movie Brave Heart was first introduced to us. To tell you the truth, it still impresses me until this very moment. The idea of a single man believing in something, that he would lead a whole army and make them believe in the same thing is very powerful to me. It’s this faith that enlightens the heart to make it the bravest ever.

However, let me tell you the story of a very brave man. But this time, it’s not a movie, it’s for real.

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the bravest among his friends:

Ibn Umar (one of his companions) says about him:

Never have I seen anyone who is faster in helping others, nor more generous, nor braver, nor more beautiful than Prophet Muhammad”.

He used to fight himself, he never escaped a battle, or run away from any. He would put his life to risk before others, without looking to the number of the enemies or how strong they were. He fought with the power of his heart, which his friends say was the bravest:

Al-Baraa ibn Aazib (another companion) said:

WAllahi [I swear to God], if the war became severe, we would shield ourselves from the enemy by getting behind the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the brave one from amongst us was the one who would stand next to the Messenger of Allah.”

Moreover, Muslims ran away in the battle of the day of Hunain, but he stayed with his head up high, fighting like the noblest warrior that humanity has ever come to know. He was not satisfied with only that, but instead, he ran in the direction of his enemies on his mule and his uncle was taking its’ gamble trying to control its speed. The enemies didn’t know it’s him. And at this very moment, he screamed out to tell them I am here, come and get me!

A man asked Al-Bara “O Abu ‘Umara! Did you flee on the day (of the battle) of Hunain?”

Al-Bara replied: while I was listening, “As for Allah’s Apostle he did not flee on that day. Abu Sufyan bin Al-Harith was holding the reins of his mule and when the pagans attacked him, he dismounted and started saying, ‘I am the Prophet, and there is no lie about it; I am the son of `Abdul Muttalib.’ On that day nobody was seen braver than the Prophet.”

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was beaten in the face, and he lost 70 of his friends, yet he never weakened nor felt scared. And he accomplished his mission in the bravest way it could be (which is delivering the message of His Lord to his people).

Tell me about the braveness of Superman in saving people from danger, and I will tell you about the braveness of Muhammad the human when one night the people of Medinah heard a loud noise and they became overwhelmed with fear. The men went out to see what the noise was, only to find the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) riding his unsaddled horse, and coming from the direction of the noise with his sword wrapped around his neck. He told them, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. I found (my horse) very swift.”

In this hadith, Anas ibn Malik (one of the Prophet’s companions) described the Prophet as being the bravest of the people because, as we can see, all of the people made preparations to meet the prospect danger (causing the noise) by completely preparing themselves for battle. They saddled their animals and they gathered their weapons. Whereas the Messenger of Allah simply jumped on his horse and took the closest weapon he could find and he went directly towards the danger.

Before his companions reached the outskirts of Medinah, he was already on his way back to Medinah with the news that there was nothing to fear or to worry about.

Superman (the myth) used his power to save people from evilness. However, Prophet Muhammad (the true legend) used his power to save people’s souls from being tortured for eternity. He used whatever it took to drive people away from hell-fire even if it was by his own power.

Despite his tremendous strength, he was not emotionally provoked by any means throughout his life to use it. But instead, he used it very wisely, in the places where people wouldn’t have listened except in this way.

His wife Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) described him saying:

He never took revenge upon anybody for his own sake; but when Allah’s Legal Bindings were outraged, he would take revenge for Allah’s sake.”

         [Al- Bukhari and Muslim].

And she also said:

The Prophet never beat any of his wives or servants. In fact, he did not strike anything with his hand, except if he were struggling in the cause of God.” [Sahih Muslim].