Our Prophet's
akhlaq
"And you are truly ˹a man˺ of outstanding character"
[Surah Al-Qalam 68:4]
Gratitude; A form of good Akhlaq
By: Shaikh Zafar Ul Hasan Al Madani

Imam Tirmidhi records:

Abu Huraira (May Allah be pleased with him) said:

"One day the Prophet ﷺ left his house and was going somewhere. He met Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) who greeted him. The Prophet ﷺ asked the reason for him being out at such a hot day when the rest of the people were resting. He replied, "To greet you."
Tirmidhi

The two proceeded further and they met Umar bin al Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him). The Prophet ﷺ asked him as to why he was out of his house at that time . Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) replied,"There is nothing to eat in house and we only have dates.So I just came out to check if you could give me something. "He then lifted his shirt and showed a stone tied around his stomach. Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) said, "O Messenger of Allah! I, too, had the same intention."

The Prophet ﷺ held the hands of his two companions and walked to the house of Abu Tahyan (May Allah be pleased with him), another companion who lived in his own farm house. Abu Tahiyan (May Allah be pleased with him) was extremely happy to see them. They all went under the tree and he spread a mat for them and they sat down. The host understood from the faces of his guests what was the reason for their coming. He quickly brought a bunch of dates along with some water. The host then took a knife and rushed towards his flock of sheep so that he could slaughter one of them for his guests. The Prophet ﷺ saw and told him , "Do not slaughter the sheep that gives milk."

He then saw the dates and noticed that most of them were raw so he asked, "Abu Tahiyan! Why did you not keep the raw dates for a later time?"

As they were eating, the Prophet ﷺ said, "These blessings of Allah, the shade of the tree, the dates, the water and the tasty meat for meal would also be questioned about on the Day of judgement."

Upon this Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) got up with the bunch of dates and threw them down angrily saying, "Would this little food also be questioned about?"

He replied, "Yes! When we left our homes , we were hungry and were looking for food. Allah provided us with good food, so He will ask us if we were grateful to Him or not."