You can sometimes notice the
different ways in which people deal with children. When a person enters a
public gathering with his son, he shakes everyone's hands one by one, while his
son follows suit. Among the people are those who would completely ignore the
child, others would barely shake his hand, and others would warmly shake it saying, "Welcome, young man! How are you today?" It is the love
of that person that will be engraved in the heart of the child, as well as in
the hearts of his parents.
The Prophet (ﷺ) would display the best form of treatment with children. Anas bin Malik - may Allah be pleased with him - had a younger brother; and the Prophet (ﷺ) would play with him and nickname him Abu 'Umayr. The child had a small bird that he played with. Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) would meet him, he would joke with him saying, "O Abu 'Umayr, what happened to al-Nughayr?" meaning, the bird.
He would be kind and playful with children. Whenever he would meet Zaynab bint Umm Salamah, he would playfully say to her, "O Zuwaynib! O Zuwaynib!" Whenever he passed by children playing, he would greet them. Whenever he visited the Ansaar, he would greet their children and place his hand on their heads out of compassion. Upon the return of the Muslim army from Mu'tah, the Prophet (ﷺ) along with the rest of the Muslims and their children met them on their way back to Madinah. When the Prophet (ﷺ) saw the children he said, "Take the children and carry them, and please pass me Ibn Ja'far." They passed 'Abdullah Ibn Ja'far on to him and he held him in his arms.
One day as the Prophet (ﷺ) was performing ablution, there came to him Muhammad bin al-Rabi' who was only five years old. The Prophet (ﷺ) took some water in his mouth and jokingly blew it out in his face. (al-Bukhari)
Generally, the Prophet (ﷺ) was lively and merry with everyone. He would always try to make people happy. He would always be easygoing with everyone so that people would not become bored in his company.
A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) wanting a camel to ride on for a journey or expedition. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him jokingly, "I will give you an offspring of a camel." The man became surprised and thought of how he could possibly ride a camel's offspring that could not carry his weight. He said, "O Messenger of Allah! What would I do with a camel's offspring?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Does a camel give birth to anything but an offspring?" Meaning; I will give you a grown camel, however, no doubt, it is still another camel's offspring!
Once he jokingly said to Anas, "O you, the possessor of two ears!"
A woman once came to the Prophet (ﷺ) complaining about her husband, so he said to her, "Is your husband the one whose eyes are white?" The woman became worried and thought that her husband had become blind, in light of what Allah said about Jacob, "His eyes whitened from grieving so much..." meaning, he became blind. She went back to her husband terrified and began to look into his eyes carefully. He asked her what the problem was. She said, "The Prophet (ﷺ) said that there is whiteness in your eyes!" The man said, "O woman! Did he not tell you that the whiteness in my eyes is more than the blackness?" meaning; everyone has whiteness and blackness in his eyes.
The Prophet (ﷺ) would react positively to whoever joked or bantered with him and he would smile. Once 'Umar bin al-Khattab came to the Prophet (ﷺ) who was at that time angry with his wives, due to their demanding of more allowance. 'Umar - may Allah be pleased with him - said, "O Messenger of Allah! If you recall us when we were men of Quraysh, we always controlled our women. If any of our women were to ask for more allowance, we would have jumped up and grabbed her neck! But when we came to Madinah we found the women controlling their men, so our women began to learn these tricks from their women!" Thereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) smiled. 'Umar continued to speak and the Prophet (ﷺ) continued to smile.
We read in various ahadith that often the Prophet (ﷺ) would smile till his molar teeth would show. He was indeed an extremely kind and friendly companion. If we were to train ourselves to embrace such skills, we would surely taste the sweetness of life.
[Taken from the book "Enjoy Your Life" by Dr. Muhammad Al-'Arifi]
The Prophet (ﷺ) would display the best form of treatment with children. Anas bin Malik - may Allah be pleased with him - had a younger brother; and the Prophet (ﷺ) would play with him and nickname him Abu 'Umayr. The child had a small bird that he played with. Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) would meet him, he would joke with him saying, "O Abu 'Umayr, what happened to al-Nughayr?" meaning, the bird.
He would be kind and playful with children. Whenever he would meet Zaynab bint Umm Salamah, he would playfully say to her, "O Zuwaynib! O Zuwaynib!" Whenever he passed by children playing, he would greet them. Whenever he visited the Ansaar, he would greet their children and place his hand on their heads out of compassion. Upon the return of the Muslim army from Mu'tah, the Prophet (ﷺ) along with the rest of the Muslims and their children met them on their way back to Madinah. When the Prophet (ﷺ) saw the children he said, "Take the children and carry them, and please pass me Ibn Ja'far." They passed 'Abdullah Ibn Ja'far on to him and he held him in his arms.
One day as the Prophet (ﷺ) was performing ablution, there came to him Muhammad bin al-Rabi' who was only five years old. The Prophet (ﷺ) took some water in his mouth and jokingly blew it out in his face. (al-Bukhari)
Generally, the Prophet (ﷺ) was lively and merry with everyone. He would always try to make people happy. He would always be easygoing with everyone so that people would not become bored in his company.
A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) wanting a camel to ride on for a journey or expedition. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him jokingly, "I will give you an offspring of a camel." The man became surprised and thought of how he could possibly ride a camel's offspring that could not carry his weight. He said, "O Messenger of Allah! What would I do with a camel's offspring?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Does a camel give birth to anything but an offspring?" Meaning; I will give you a grown camel, however, no doubt, it is still another camel's offspring!
Once he jokingly said to Anas, "O you, the possessor of two ears!"
A woman once came to the Prophet (ﷺ) complaining about her husband, so he said to her, "Is your husband the one whose eyes are white?" The woman became worried and thought that her husband had become blind, in light of what Allah said about Jacob, "His eyes whitened from grieving so much..." meaning, he became blind. She went back to her husband terrified and began to look into his eyes carefully. He asked her what the problem was. She said, "The Prophet (ﷺ) said that there is whiteness in your eyes!" The man said, "O woman! Did he not tell you that the whiteness in my eyes is more than the blackness?" meaning; everyone has whiteness and blackness in his eyes.
The Prophet (ﷺ) would react positively to whoever joked or bantered with him and he would smile. Once 'Umar bin al-Khattab came to the Prophet (ﷺ) who was at that time angry with his wives, due to their demanding of more allowance. 'Umar - may Allah be pleased with him - said, "O Messenger of Allah! If you recall us when we were men of Quraysh, we always controlled our women. If any of our women were to ask for more allowance, we would have jumped up and grabbed her neck! But when we came to Madinah we found the women controlling their men, so our women began to learn these tricks from their women!" Thereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) smiled. 'Umar continued to speak and the Prophet (ﷺ) continued to smile.
We read in various ahadith that often the Prophet (ﷺ) would smile till his molar teeth would show. He was indeed an extremely kind and friendly companion. If we were to train ourselves to embrace such skills, we would surely taste the sweetness of life.
[Taken from the book "Enjoy Your Life" by Dr. Muhammad Al-'Arifi]
