114seventy excuses for him. Jf you cannot find any, convince yo urselves that
it is an excuse }'OU d o nor know.,,13
A number of new co nverts to Islam who had no h ome and often noth-
ing to eat had seTtled around the mosque, near the Prophet's dwelling.
They were destitute (sometimes intentionally, since some of them wished
to lead an ascetic life detached from wo rldly possessions), and meir sub-
sistence depended on me Muslims' charity and gifts. T heir number kept
increasing, and they were soon called abl as-suJJah (the people of the
bench), 14 The Prophet was mOSt concerned by their situation and showe d
them continuo us solidarity. He would listen to them, answer their ques-
tio ns, and look after their needs. One of the characteristics of his person-
ality and o f his teachings, as much in regard to the people of the bench
as to the rest of his community, was that when hc was asked about mat-
ters of spiriUlaliry, faith, education, or d o ubt, he would often o ffer d iffer -
em answers to the same questions. taking into acco unt the psychological
makeup, experience, and intelligence of th e questioner.
The faithful felt that he saw, respected, understood, and loved th em.
Indeed, he did love th em, and he told th em so. i\'!o reover, he advised th em
to remember to tell one another o f their mumal love: "\,\lhen so meone
loves th eir bro th er [or sisterllet the m tell th em that Illey love thcm."lS H e
once took young Muadh ibn Jabal by the hand and whispered: " 0 Muadh,
by God, I love you. And! advise you, Or..·[uadh, never to fo rget to say,
afeer each citual prayer: '0 God, help me remember You, thank You, and
perfect my worship of You."'16 Thus the young man was offered bo th
love and spiritual teaching, and the teaching was all the more deeply
assimilated because it was wrapped in that love.
The Najran C hris tians
The date of m e Najran Christians ' visit to Muhammad is not precisely
known. Some sou.rces, such as Ibn Hisham, situate it even be fore the
Battle of Badr, while others have it take place, according to a text attrib-
uted to Ibn Ishaq (and also in reference to som e hadiths and the chro nol-
ogy of so me verses of (he Quran related to the episode), between the
Battle o f Badr and the Battle o f Uhud. The exact date matters little in the
end; what remains ess ential is the nature and objective of the encounter.