speech is blessed by sending blessings upon the Prophet how could
Madeenah not have been blessed during his days, while he inhabited it;
he, who refreshed its breeze, perfumed itsatmosphere and renewed its
fragrance; whose scent preceded him to wherever he went and remained
after he had left. It washe who was the one by whom Taybah (another
name for Madeenah) was blessed in his life,and still is after his
death.
Here is Anas ibn Maalik saying, "I have never smelled any ambergris,
musk nor anything [that is] more pleasant than the smell of the
Messenger of Allaah ." Small wonder, for Umm Sulaym would collect the
sweat of the Prophet in a flask and use it as a perfume. In an
authentic narration, the Prophet had a siesta in their house (that of
Umm Sulaym ), and he sweated; so she brought a bottle and kept
extracting his sweat into her bottle. The Prophet then awakened and
asked her: "What are you doing, O Umm Sulaym?" She answered, "This is
your sweat, we take it as perfume to us, and it is from the best
perfumes." By Allaah, Umm Sulaym was truthful; for this was indeed the
best of perfumes.
Despite the scent that was in his honored body, the Prophet would
perfume himself with the best perfume he could find. 'Aa'ishah also
perfumed him with the best of she could find, to the extent that the
shine of perfume was seen in his hair and beard.
The life of the beloved Prophet was between two kinds of perfume; a
moral perfume, whichhe carried in his heart and that flowed in his
blood, which was the perfume of the revelation, the Sunnah (Prophetic
tradition) and the Da'wah (call) to worshipping Allaah The
Almighty.The second was a tangible perfume that emanated from his body
and clothes. One wonders: where are those who are morally and tangibly
perfumed today? Where are those who are outwardly and inwardly, and
secretly and openly imitators andfollowers of our beloved Prophet ?
The best of the creatures of Allaah The Almighty on earth is Prophet
Muhammad whom Allaah The Almighty made an example and guide to people.
Thus, he is an excellent role-model in all things, even in the
simplest matters, and he taught those around him without affectation.
Among the things the Companions learnt from the Prophet and acted upon
was his care for perfume. He always had a fragrant smell about him,
which corresponded with his pleasant speech, that the companion may
associate and be pleased with him, the straying be guided by him, the
ignorant and the seeker of knowledge learn from him, and the seeker of
guidance be enlightened by him.
Why would the Prophet not perfume himself, when perfume was among the
beloved things tohim? Wasn't he the one who said: "Endeared to me of
your worldly life [are] women and perfume." The Prophet was good and
liked what was good, and he paid special care to perfume. He had a
vessel from which he perfumed himself, and it is said that it was a
mixed perfume combined from several materials. It had a strong smell
to the extent that if the Prophet passed by a road in Madeenah, people
would say,"The Prophet passed from here", due to the effect of his
perfume.
Although he was busy with the affairs of Muslims and in Jihaad
(struggle) with word and sword, the Prophet did not neglect to speak
about perfume and what is the best of it. He said: "The best perfume
is musk." His care to be perfumed was not in vain, but as he was
commanded to perform Da'wah (calling to Islam), one of his mainduties
was to seek to impress himself in the hearts of people and to be
pleasing and appealing in their eyes. This was so that they would not
despise him and turn away from him and the truth he came with, and is
very important for every scholar who concerns himself with conveying
the truth to people.
Another cause of the Prophet's laying importance on perfume may be
that he sat with the angels and communicated with Allaah The Almighty
several times in prayer. This was all the more reason for him to
perfume himself, as it was revealed to him(what means): {O children of
Aadam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be
not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.} [Quran
7:31]
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