His Weeping in Prayer
Wherever He started prayer and reciting the Qur’an, He sometimes wept, His companion Abdullah bin Al-Shukhair says, “I came to the Prophet when He was praying, and there was a sound coming from His chest like the sound of water boiling, meaning, he was weeping.”
He sometimes wept upon hearing the Qur’an from someone else, His companion, Abdullah bin Masud (may Allah bless him) narrates that, “The Prophet said to me, “Recite the Qur’an to me.”
I said, “O Messenger of Allah! Shall I recite the Qur’an to you, when it has been revealed to you?”
He replied, “I love to hear it recited by others.”
So I recited to Him a portion from surah Al-Nisas. When I reached the ayah, “How (will it be) then, when We bring from each nation a witness and We bring you (0 Muhammad, peace be upon him) as a witness against these people?” (Al-Nisa’: 41).
He (peace be upon him) said, “Enough for now”.
When I looked at Him I saw His eyes were shedding tears.”
He shed tears here out of appreciation of the meaning of the verses recited by His companion, which indicates that He shoulders a big responsibility as a witness for His nation before Allah. It is that He lives the unseen as a present reality.
He also wept for the loss of beloved ones as all loving humans do when losing dear ones, But Muhammad restricted His weeping to Allah’s satisfaction; it was not to resent divine decree or was accompanied by angry words and rejection on of the situation, but it was lather out of mercy and grief for parting. The prophet wept for the loss of His young son Ibrahim as Asmaa bint Zaid (may Allah bless her) reported, “Tears began to fall from the eyes of the Apostle of Allah. He said, “The eye weeps and the heart grieves, but we say only what our Lord is pleased with and we are grieved for you, Ibrahim.”
He wept upon the burial of one of His daughters, Anas (may Allah bless him) says, “‘The Messenger of Allah was sitting at the grave of his daughter Kuithum, May Allah bless her) and tears were flowing from his eyes”
When a grandson of His died, He cried. Usama bin Zaid (may Allah bless them both) said, “A son of one of the daughters of the Prophet was dying, so she sent a person to call the Prophet. He sent (her a message), ‘Whatever Allah takes is for Him, and whatever He gives is for Him, and everything has a limited fixed term (in this world) so she should be patient and hope for Allah’s reward.
She then sent for Him again, swearing that He should come. Allah’s Apostle got up, and so did Mu’ad bin Jabal, Ubai bin Ka’b and Ubada bin Al-Samit. When He entered (the house), they gave the child to Allah’s Apostle while its breath was disturbed in his chest. (The sub-narrator said, I think he as if it was a water skin.)
Allah’s Apostle started weeping whereupon Sa’d bin Ubada said,”Do you weep?”The Prophet said, “Allah is merciful only to those of His slaves who are merciful (to others).”
When the news of the Battle of Mu’tah reached Him, He shed tears, He was in Medina telling His companions about the army, “The Prophet had informed the people about the death of Zaid, Jafar and Ibn Rawaha before the news of their death reached them. He said with his eyes flowing with tears, “Zaid took the flag and was martyred; then Jafar took the flag and was martyred, and then Ibn Rawaha took the flag and was martyred. Finally the flag was taken by one of Allah’s Swords (Khalid bin Al-Walid) and Allah gave them (the Muslims) victory.”
He also wept when His companion Uthman bin Mazun passed away as His wife Aisha narrates,”The Prophet kissed Uthman bin Mazun when he died, and He was crying.”Or, He (one of the narrators) said, “His eyes were brimming with tears.”
During travel with His companions, He passed the grave of His mother and stopped by weeping.
Muhammad (peace be upon him) wept out of mercy for the orphan; as when Zaid bin Haritha passed away, Muhammad used to remember him wherever He saw His son Usama, and was shedding tears for the loss of His dear companion and out of compassion for the orphan. Ibn Massoud (may Allah bless him) says, “When Zaid ibn Haritha was killed, Usama did not inform the Prophet instantly. He later came to Allah’s Apostle with tears in his eyes. Seeing this, the Prophet too started to cry asking him, “Why did not you come to me to let me know it?”
He also shed tears out of sympathy with the conditions of His companions, and out of fear in their illness. Muhammad (peace be upon him) visited one of His companions while he was ill and wept out of compassion. Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah bless them both) says, “The Messenger of Allah visited Sad bin Ubadah during his illness. He was accompanied by Abdel-Rahman bin Auf, Sad bin Abu Waqqas and Abdullah bin Masoud (may Allah be pleased with them). When they entered his house, they found him unconscious.
The Messenger of Allah asked, ‘Has he died?’
They replied, ‘No, O Messenger of Allah.’
Hearing this, the Messenger of Allah began to weep.”
