Ismatul Anbiya the Prophets & Messengers of Allah are protected by Allah from falling into any reprehensible behavior1. A few Prophets did have a few questionable behaviors, but those were divinely decreed to teach us a lesson (e.g. Musa (as) getting into a confrontation with a man who was whipping a slave)2. For the most part, the Prophets are dignitaries of Allah & they were protected from bad behaviors One day, young Muhammad (saw) was playing with rocks with other boys around his age Traditional clothing of those days was in 2 pieces: a lower garment like a lungi (izaar) that covered your lower body & an upper garment (a shawl type) that covered your upper body. It was similar to the clothing that the hujjaj wearVery young boys will be given one garment that would be wrapped around the chest, so that they can run around & play Some of the boys took off their lower garments & placed a bunch of rocks on it. They slung the garment full of rocks over their shoulder & carried it as a knapsackAs a result, their lower half was uncoveredThey were kids, so they didnt really see a problem with this Muhammad didnt feel comfortable taking his cloth off, so he just use his hands to carry them (the rocks were heavy, painful, sharp)Other boys urge him to follow their method. Come on, itll be just for a little while. Well move the rocks & then well just put our clothes back on. Muhammad was a child & influenced by peer pressure, so he thought, Ok, no biggie. Ill do that.He started to remove his garment to put the rocks in. All of a sudden, he felt like he got slapped hard in the back of his head, but he couldnt see who just smacked his head.Then he heard a voice saying, Put your izaar back on.He was a kid; in that situation what else can you do but say, Yes, sir. He put his izaar back on. Then he just carried the rocks in his hands even if they were heavy & painful; he didnt take his garment off to use as a knapsack Another similar incident like this is narrated by Muhammads Uncle Al Abbas Muhammad was a bit older, in his mid-teens. Renovations of Kabah were taking place. Everyone wanted to get in on it, because Kabah was a special place. Everyone wanted a piece of that action. High ranking members (Families) of Quraysh were given first preference to renovate in this case, Banu Hashim, Muhammads clan Al-Abbas was there, carrying rocks & bricks to renovate the Kabah. Muhammad was also one of the first ones to carry rocks & bricks A display of manhood was to carry a big old rock. The bigger rock you carried, the bigger man you were Men were removing their lower clothing & readjusting their upper cloth, but still, there was chance of being exposed They wrap up the rocks/bricks in their lower garment to sling over shoulder Muhammad was struggling to carry the heavy bricks. His uncle Al-Abbas suggests to his nephew to use the lower garment to carry the rocks Muhammad started to remove his lower garment All of sudden, Muhammad collapsed as he was on the verge of removing his cloth His eyes rolled up to stare into the sky for some time. Then he stood up and said, Izaari! Izaari! Wheres my izaar? Wheres my izaar? Then put his izaar back on Abbas asks nephew whats wrong Muhammad replied, I have been forbidden from walking around, not fully clothed. Ive been told not to expose my body in public. Muhammad comes from a very elite clan (Banu Hashim), of a very elite tribe (Quraysh) Much of the Quraysh tribe was very elitist. It was not deemed acceptable for members of Banu Hashim to have some menial task/physical labor for a career, because the men of Quraysh had the most prestigious career of being international merchants (going to as-Sham & Yemen) It was looked down upon to take up a menial job like getting into construction, or being a deliverer, etc. Muhammad was too young to be traveling for business, & Abu Talib wasnt having any of it because of Bhairas encounter. Muhammd wanted to help out Abu Talib because of his financial difficulties. Muhammd couldnt be a merchant, & he couldnt do physical labor for honor reasons. Only one type of work was left available to him shepherding Shepherding was attributed to good leadership & qualities So the young Muhammad becomes a shepherd, to help out his family A shepherd has to be cautious, responsible, patient, alert, & gentle with his flock Isa (as) said to his disciples: Shepherd well.To lead his people well after hes goneMany of the prophets have been shepherds Muhammad recalls that he never really had a strong desire to indulge in the typical things that teenage boys take part in There were other shepherds around Muhammads age as well. They would all socialize while on the job when their flocks would get together These young shepherds would often tell each other of the stories/events of the night before Yo, bro, I hit up a crazy party last night. You look really tired. Yo, you got no idea what went down! Theyd ask Muhammad what he did. Nothing. I just went home and slept. The other boys would invite Muhammd over to a party. They knew that Muhammad is a very straight-laced & decent guy, so they would tell him, You dont have to do anything. Just swing by. Just check out the party for a bit. Peer pressure is a big deal during teenage years, so Muhammd makes arrangements to have another shepherd cover his shift. Muhammad was on duty that evening with the flock. He asked one of the other young men to cover his shift so he can check out the party. Yeah, man, I got your back. You need to party, replied the other Later in the evening, Muhammad makes his way to the party. As he gets near the house where the party is held, he can hear loud party noises & obviously drunk rowdy boys. He could also hear women singing. Many times there were entertainment slave girls who would be rented out for these types of occasions. Muhammad hears all of this as hes just outside the house; before he could take another step, he literally just passed out Muhammad recalls, I didnt wake up until I felt the sun on my face Partys over The next day Muhammad goes to work with the other shepherds, who inquire about his absence at the party Muhammad said, I tried to come, and I just fell asleep. Man, youre so lame. The boys put more pressure on Muhammad to come to the party. Tonight, you GOT to come to this party. Muhammad replied, Im working tonight. Dont worry, that guy will cover your shift. With another shepherd covering his shift, Muhammad starts making his way to the party again that nigh. Hes outside the party casa again, & he can hear the loud obnoxious rowdiness of the other party-goers. Before he can take another step forward, Muhammad passes out again & woke up only when the sun was shining on his face Muhammad goes to work that morning. The other boys say, Where were you?! You didnt show up again. Muhammad says later on, I swear by Allah, I had never had desire to go back to something like that. Muhammad has been protected from such events, but not sheltered. He was cognisant of what was going around him, but he remained pristine by divine decree. When the time of Prophethood comes and he starts spreading his message, Muhammad has a general idea of whats going on in his society, about the parties, the alcohol, etc. He has the ability to say, I know exactly what you guys are up to. This knowledge was relevant to the Prophets method of preaching. He was exposed to things even though he never partook in them due to divine intervention Even before receiving his Prophethood, Muhammad used to do tawaaf around the Kabah; he wouldnt worship the idols there, but just do tawaaf. He sometimes took his adopted son Zayd bin Haditha to do tawaaf around the Baytullah In the Haram, there was an idol (named either Isaaf or Nailath) made of copper,As the mushrikoon would do tawaaf, they would rub their hand on the idol everytime they passed by it. That was their way of acknowledging their god As Muhammad & Zayd walked by the idol during their regular tawaaf, Zayd stretches out to rub his hand on the idolLata masohu, dont touch the idol, says Muhammad as he pulled Zaids hand away from the idol Zayd was a very young boy. He sees everybody else pass the idol & reach their hand toward it, so hes imitating them.As Zayd & Muhammad pass that idol again during tawaaf, Zayd stretches his hand out again to touch the idolThen Muhammad again pulls Zayds hand away, saying, Dont touch the idol. Didnt I tell you not to do this? From early on, Allah had instilled within Muhammad this natural hesitation for shirk or other inappropriate activities When youre talking with another Arab/Muslim, & they something surprising, you say, Say wallahi Similarly, in the early days, people would say, Aksim billati al uzza. Swear by Allat and Al Uzza, which were the two most prominent idols of that time Whenever people would say this to the young Muhammad, hed always tell them, If you want me to take an oath to prove to you what Im saying, dont ask me to swear by Allaat and Al Uzza. Theres nothing I dislike more than those two things. Then Muhammad would distance himself from that conversation Muhammad grew up to become the most dignified & examplary man in his community. He had to most excellent character & the most excellent company (Khadijah, Zayd bin Haditha, Bilal, Abu Bakr, Ali, etc.) He was known by his entire society as Al-Amin. Even people who didnt know his name knew him as Al-Amin, because of his well-known reputation of his great character