By Rebel Mary
His companions named him “Al Amin”, The Faithful.
Thomas Carlyle – famous agnostic philosopher in the 1795-1881 on Prophet Muhammad:
His companions named him “Al Amin”, The Faithful. A man of truth and fidelity; true in what he did, in what he spoke and thought. They noted that he always meant something. A man rather taciturn in speech; silent when there was nothing to be said; but pertinent, wise, sincere, when he did speak; always throwing light on the matter. This is the only sort of speech worth speaking! Through life we find him to have been regarded as an altogether solid, brotherly, genuine man.
A serious, sincere character; yet amiable, cordial, companionable, jocose even; —a good laugh in him withal: there are men whose laugh is as untrue as anything about them; who cannot laugh.
One hears of Mahomet’s [Muhammad] beauty: his fine sagacious honest face, brown florid complexion, beaming black eyes; —I somehow like too that vein on the brow, which swelled up black when he was in anger: like the ” horseshoe vein” in Scott’s Red gauntlet.
It was a kind of feature in the Hashim family, this black swelling vein in the brow; Mahomet had it prominent, as would appear. A spontaneous, passionate, yet just, true-meaning man! Full of wild faculty, fire and light; of wild worth, all uncultured; working out his life-task in the depths of the Desert there.
How he was placed with Kadijah, a rich widow, as her steward, and travelled in her business, again to the Fairs of Syria; how he managed all, as one can well understand, with fidelity, adroitness; how her gratitude, her regard for him grew: the story of their marriage is altogether a graceful intelligible one, as told us by the Arab authors.
He was twenty-five; she forty, though still beautiful. He seems to have lived in a most affectionate, peaceable, wholesome way with this wedded benefactress; loving her truly, and her alone.
It goes greatly against the impostor theory, the fact that he lived in this entirely unexceptionable, entirely quiet and commonplace way, till the heat of his years was done. He was forty before he talked of any mission from Heaven.
All his irregularities, real and supposed, date from after his fiftieth year, when the good Kadijah died. All his “ambition, ”seemingly, had been, hitherto, to live an honest life; his “fame,” the mere good opinion of neighbors that knew him, had been sufficient hitherto. ”
A Note from the Editor:
Concerning Prophet Muhammad’s manners, the Ever-Glorious Qur’an says what means,
“And indeed, you are of a great moral character.” (Al-Qalam: 4)
and,
“So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].” (Aal `Imran: 159)
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Taken with slight editorial modifications from http://www.intellectualwisdom.com/a-non-muslim-view-of-muhammad-thomas-carlyle/