Such, too, was the character of their Prophet, as is related in the two sound collections on the authority of ʿĀʾishah, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah never struck anything with his hand—neither servant, nor woman, nor beast, nor anything at all—except when he was fighting in the cause of Allah. He never took revenge for any wrong done to him personally; he would only retaliate when one of Allah’s sanctities was violated, and when that happened nothing could withstand his anger until he upheld the right of Allah.”

In another sound report, Anas said:

“I served the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for ten years. Never once did he even say ‘Uff’ to me, nor did he ever ask about something I had done, ‘Why did you do that?’ or about something I had left undone, ‘Why did you not do it?’ And some of his family—”