Prophet Muhammad's Personality (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
​
According to Muslims
Ibn‘Abbas said: “The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was the most generous [at giving bounty or charity]. He is usually most generous of all times in Ramadan…[when the angel] Gabriel used to visit him every night of Ramadan and review the Qur’ân with him…”
Abu Sa‘îd Al-Khudri said : “He was shier than a virgin in her boudoir. When he hates a thing we read it on his face. He does not stare at anybody’s face…He would never name a person whom he had heard ill-news about — which he hated. Instead he would say: ‘Why do certain people do so...”
‘Aishah said that he used to repair his shoes, sew or mend his dress and to do what ordinary men did in their houses…check his dress (lest it has some insects on). Milking the she-sheep and catering for himself were some of his normal jobs…truthful to his pledges…establish[ed] good and steady relationships with his relatives…most merciful, gentle and amiable to all people. His way of living was the simplest one…He was decent, and did not call anybody names. He was not the sort of person who cursed or made noise in the streets…Nobody was allowed to walk behind him (i.e. as a bodyguard). He did not feel himself superior to others not even to his slaves (men or women) as far as food or clothes were concerned…
​
‘Ugh’ (an utterance of complaint) is a word that had never been said by him to his servant; nor was his servant blamed for doing a thing or leaving it undone. Loving the poor and the needy and entertaining them or participating in their funerals were things the Prophet (Peace be upon him) always observed. He never contempted or disgraced a poor man for his poverty.
Once he was travelling with his Companions and when it was time to have food prepared, he asked them to slaughter a she-sheep. A man said: I will slaughter it, another one said: I will skin it out. A third said: I will cook it. So the Messenger of Allâh (peace be upon him) said: I will collect wood for fire. They said: “No. We will suffice you that work.” [He replied] “I know that you can do it for me, but I hate to be privileged. Allâh hates to see a slave of his privileged to others.” So he went and collected fire-wood.
Kharijah bin Zaid said: “The Prophet (peace be upon him) was…often silent and rarely talked when speech was not a necessity. He turned away from those whose speech was rude or impolite. His laughter was no more than a smile. His speech, which was decisive, it was neither excessive nor incomplete.”
​
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was the least interested of all people in worldly gain, and his asceticism was by choice. If he had wanted, Allah would have turned the mountains into gold for him, and Allah, may He be exalted, enabled him to conquer land and allocated to him one fifth of the booty as his due, and half of the farmland of Khaybar became his… Yet he used to give in charity all the wealth that came to him, and he continued to sleep on the ground and not find anything to eat.
When some people spoke about the division of booty, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “I have nothing of this booty except the khums [one-fifth that was allocated to him], and the khums is returned to you.”
In other words, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not take for himself the one fifth that was his due share of the booty; rather he used to give it in charity to the Muslims. He (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to say in his supplication: “O Allah, make the provision of the family of Muhammad (no more than) sufficient.”
‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) never ate his fill of wheat bread for three days in a row, until he passed away.
She (may Allah have mercy on her) also said: We used to look at the new moon, then the new moon, then the new moon, three new moons in two months, and no fire would be lit in the houses of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). She was asked: What did you live on? She said: The two black ones, dates and water, but the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had some neighbours from among the Ansaar and they had milch-animals; they would send some of their milk to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and he would give it to us to drink.
It was narrated from her (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) died when there was nothing on my shelf that a living being could eat except a handful of barley.
​
And she (may Allah be pleased with her) said: When the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) died, he had not eaten his fill of bread and olive oil twice in one day.
It was narrated that an-Nu‘maan ibn Basheer (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘Umar mentioned what people had got of worldly gains and he said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) spending the whole day suffering because of hunger, and he could not even find inferior-quality dates with which to fill his stomach. Narrated by Muslim (2978) It was narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him): The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) never ate soft bread or a roasted sheep until he met Allah.
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would remain hungry for several nights in a row, and his family would not be able to find any supper, and most of their bread was barley bread.
​
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to tie a stone to his stomach because of hunger.
​
‘Amr ibn al-Haarith (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) left nothing behind except his weapon, his white mule and some land that he left behind as a charity.
It was narrated that ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) slept on a reed mat, and when he got up it had left marks on his side. We said: O Messenger of Allah, why don’t we make a mattress for you? He said: “I have no need of worldly comfort; I am in this world like one who is on a journey, and halted to seek shade beneath a tree, then soon moved on and left it.”
​
According to Non Muslims
George Sale (1734), ..."nor can I do otherwise than applaud the candour of the pious and learned Spanhemius, who, tho’ he owned him to have been a wicked impostor, yet acknowledged him [Muhammad] to have been richly furnished with natural endowments, beautiful in his person, of subtle wit, agreeable behaviour, showing liberality to the poor, courtesy to everyone, fortitude against his enemies, and above all a high reverence for the name of God; severe against the perjured, adulterers, murderers, slanderers, prodigals, covetous, false witnesses, etc. a great preacher of patience, charity, mercy, beneficence, gratitude, honouring of parents and superiors, and frequent celebrator of the divine praises."
​
(Michael H. Hart) placed him FIRST in the ‘100 Most Influential Persons in History’ list: TWICE, and described him as, “Active as a SOCIAL REFORMER, diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, military leader, HUMANITARIAN, PHILANTHROPIST.”
​