The Mohammedan University started with asceticism in desires, wishes, money and this life seeking God’s satisfaction. The one who set the curriculum is the dean of the university. Al-Hassan narrated that the prophet (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came to the Suffa people and asked:
- "How are you this morning?"
- "Fine," they said.
- "Today you are fine, but what if your meals contains different dishes and you use curtains in your houses as it is for the Ka’ba?" He said.
- "Oh, messenger of God, is this going to happen while we are Muslims?" They asked.
- "Yes," he said.
- "Then we are better than now, we will give charity and free slaves," they said.
- "No, you are now better, because when this happens, you will envy each other, break ties with kith and kin and hate each other," he said.
This is true, because hatred and envy result from desires wishes, and loving this life which people adored.
So the companions began their faithful life and the base of their meeting and their entry to the prophetical university was asceticism.
Asceticism doesn’t mean: not having anything in one’s hand (possession), but the fact of asceticism is: the heart shouldn’t rely on anything. A man may not have anything in his hand, but his heart is looking forward to it, this is not ascetic, because if he possessed it, he would be changed. The true ascetic is someone whose God gave him his bounties in his hand, but his heart isn’t affected by them, so he spends them for God’s satisfaction as we saw the prophet’s companions. One of them brought all his possessions to the prophet. The prophet asked him: "What did you leave for your family, Abu Bakr?" He said: I left them, God and his messenger. The prophet didn’t deny or opposed but agreed to this, because the condition
(faith) of Abu Bakr required this.
Another man once said: O messenger of God, I want to make my will and give all my wealth to charity. The prophet said: "No, only one third and this is much, it’s better to leave your heirs rich than leaving them poor asking people for charity." So we know that abilities, intensions, grades and positions differ from one person to another:
"There is not one of us (angels) but has his known place (or position)" (Surat Al-Safaat, verse 164)
What was the schedule of the Suffa people?
There were circles (sessions) for reciting the Quran, remembrance of God, knowledge and training for good works. They were soldiers and servants of the prophet (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and they were also his guests.
These were their deeds and the prophet used to observe them. One of them, Abu Said Al-Khudry said: "The prophet came to us and we are weak Muslims, while someone was reciting the Quran and supplicating for us, I don’t think the prophet knew anyone of them and they were hiding from each other because of bareness. The prophet signaled to us to make a circle, and then he asked:
- "What were you repeating?"
- "This is a man recites the Quran and supplicates for us," they said.
- "Do it again," he said. Then he said: "Praise be to God who made people in my nation and asked me to stay patiently with them." He meant:
"And keep yourself (O Muhammad) patiently with those who call on their Lord (i.e. your companions who remember their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, etc., and other righteous deeds, etc.) morning and afternoon, seeking His Face, and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, one who follows his own lusts and whose affair (deeds) has been lost." (Surat Al-Kahf, verse 28)
Then he spoke to delight the poor and said that at the Day of Judgment, they will enter the heavens 500 years before the rich, while the rich are asked and called to account.
Another time, Thabet Al-Banany narrated that Salman Al-Faresy was in a group pronouncing God’s name when the prophet passed, they stopped. The prophet asked:
- "What were you saying?"
-"Pronouncing God’s name," they said.
- "Go on," he said, "I saw God’s mercy falls on you, so I wanted to share you." Then he said: "Praise be to God who made men in my nation and asked me to stay patiently with them."
Sometimes they were two groups one of them pronounces God’s name and the other teach and learn. Their scholars were from among them. The prophet prepared scholars to teach them. Abdullah Ibn Rawaha sometimes said: Come to believe in God and he taught them how to believe.
The prophet appointed professors for this school in all branches of knowledge. He said: "The most merciful man in my nation is Abu Bakr, the strongest in religion is Omar, the most shamefaced is Othman, the best one to answer you is Ali, the best one who knows the lawful and unlawful is Mo’az Ibn Gabal, the most truthful one on earth is Abu Zar, the best reciter is Oba’y Ibn Ka’b and the best one who knows the shares of inheritance is Zayd Ibn Thabet."
The prophet appointed a professor for each subject to teach in the university and every professor, his students circled around him
The prophet was observing the university. He once entered the mosque and saw a group pronouncing God’s name and another group studying knowledge, he said: "Both of them are good, but I was sent as an instructor" (a teacher) and he sat with the circle of the group studying knowledge, but he praised both of them.
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