Chapter: Smiling and laughing

Rifa`a Al-Qurazi divorced his wife irrevocably (i.e. that divorce was the final). Later on `Abdur- Rahman bin Az-Zubair married her after him. She came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I was Rifa`a's wife and he divorced me thrice, and then I was married to `Abdur-Rahman bin AzZubair, who, by Allah has nothing with him except something like this fringe, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)," showing a fringe she had taken from her covering sheet. Abu Bakr was sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ) while Khalid Ibn Sa`id bin Al-As was sitting at the gate of the room waiting for admission. Khalid started calling Abu Bakr, "O Abu Bakr! Why don't you reprove this lady from what she is openly saying before Allah's Apostle?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) did nothing except smiling, and then said (to the lady), "Perhaps you want to go back to Rifa`a? No, (it is not possible), unless and until you enjoy the sexual relation with him (`Abdur Rahman), and he enjoys the sexual relation with you."

`Umar bin Al-Khattab asked permission of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) to see him while some Quraishi women were sitting with him and they were asking him to give them more financial support while raising their voices over the voice of the Prophet. When `Umar asked permission to enter, all of them hurried to screen themselves the Prophet (ﷺ) admitted `Umar and he entered, while the Prophet (ﷺ) was smiling. `Umar said, "May Allah always keep you smiling, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you !" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I am astonished at these women who were with me. As soon as they heard your voice, they hastened to screen themselves." `Umar said, "You have more right, that they should be afraid of you, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" And then he (`Umar) turned towards them and said, "O enemies of your souls! You are afraid of me and not of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?" The women replied, "Yes, for you are sterner and harsher than Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "O Ibn Al-Khattab! By Him in Whose Hands my life is, whenever Satan sees you taking a way, he follows a way other than yours!"

When Allah Apostle was in Ta'if (trying to conquer it), he said to his companions, "Tomorrow we will return (to Medina), if Allah wills." Some of the companions of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "We will not leave till we conquer it." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Therefore, be ready to fight tomorrow." On the following day, they (Muslims) fought fiercely (with the people of Ta'if) and suffered many wounds. Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Tomorrow we will return (to Medina), if Allah wills." His companions kept quiet this time. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then smiled.

A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "I have been ruined for I have had sexual relation with my wife in Ramadan (while I was fasting)" The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to him), "Manumit a slave." The man said, " I cannot afford that." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "(Then) fast for two successive months continuously". The man said, "I cannot do that." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "(Then) feed sixty poor persons." The man said, "I have nothing (to feed them with)." Then a big basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Where is the questioner? Go and give this in charity." The man said, "(Shall I give this in charity) to a poorer person than l? By Allah, there is no family in between these two mountains (of Medina) who are poorer than we." The Prophet (ﷺ) then smiled till his premolar teeth became visible, and said, "Then (feed) your (family with it).

While I was going along with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) who was wearing a Najrani Burd (sheet) with a thick border, a bedouin overtook the Prophet (ﷺ) and pulled his Rida' (sheet) forcibly. I looked at the side of the shoulder of the Prophet (ﷺ) and noticed that the edge of the Rida' had left a mark on it because of the violence of his pull. The bedouin said, "O Muhammad! Order for me some of Allah's property which you have." The Prophet (ﷺ) turned towards him, (smiled) and ordered that he be given something.

The Prophet (ﷺ) did not screen himself from me (had never prevented me from entering upon him) since I embraced Islam, and whenever he saw me, he would receive me with a smile. Once I told him that I could not sit firm on horses. He stroked me on the chest with his hand, and said, "O Allah! Make him firm and make him a guiding and a rightly guided man.

Um Sulaim said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Verily Allah is not shy of (telling you) the truth. Is it essential for a woman to take a bath after she had a wet dream (nocturnal sexual discharge)?" He said, "Yes, if she notices discharge. On that Um Salama laughed and said, "Does a woman get a (nocturnal sexual) discharge?" He said, "How then does (her) son resemble her (his mother)?"

I never saw the Prophet (ﷺ) laughing to an extent that one could see his palate, but he always used to smile only.

A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) on a Friday while he (the Prophet) was delivering a sermon at Medina, and said, "There is lack of rain, so please invoke your Lord to bless us with the rain." The Prophet (ﷺ) looked at the sky when no cloud could be detected. Then he invoked Allah for rain. Clouds started gathering together and it rained till the Medina valleys started flowing with water. It continued raining till the next Friday. Then that man (or some other man) stood up while the Prophet (ﷺ) was delivering the Friday sermon, and said, "We are drowned; Please invoke your Lord to withhold it (rain) from us" The Prophet smiled and said twice or thrice, "O Allah! Please let it rain round about us and not upon us." The clouds started dispersing over Medina to the right and to the left, and it rained round about Medina and not upon Medina. Allah showed them (the people) the miracle of His Prophet and His response to his invocation.