The Qur’an says about Prophet Muhammad, may Allah grant and bless him peace:
“There for certainty has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves, [who] grieves to your sufferings; [he is] concerned over you; and is kind and merciful to the believers.” (The Qur’an 9:128)
“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” (21:107)
After the Battle of Hunayn, the Prophet gave one hundred camels to Sufwan, son of Ummaiyyah, and further added abundant gifts to them. They were new converts who had earlier strongly opposed and were arch enemies of the Prophet and his message.
Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, reported the event when a Bedouin came to the Prophet and demanded something. The Prophet gave him some gift and enquired about his satisfaction. The behaviour of that man was harsh in expressing his dissatisfaction. The companions were so angry on this unwarranted reply that they intended to punish the man. The Prophet prevented them from any such action and took the man to his house and provided something more and enquired about his satisfaction. He replied in affirmative and expressed his praise for the good treatment meted out to him, praising the Prophet, his family and his clan.
The Prophet asked him to express the same feeling before the companions, which he did. The companions became happy. Thereupon the Prophet said to them that example of their approach and his own approach towards the Bedouin was that of a man whose she-camel got loose and fled away. People started chasing the camel but these attempts were in vain, as the she-camel went further away. The owner of the camel forbade them to do so and took some earth in his hand showing that to the animal, gently inviting her to come close which she did and knelt before the owner. The Prophet added that had he not prevented them in their rage for what the Bedouin had said they would have killed him and he would have entered the Fire.
It is related that the Prophet prevented his companions from talking/informing anything ill about other persons as he wanted to reach out to people with clear hearts.
The Prophet always tried to lessen the burden of other persons. Even in the case of prayers and its related practices he was conscious and was merciful. For example, he liked brushing of teeth by miswak several times;however, he said that he would have ordered this to be done at time of every ablution (prior to five times of prayer) but he did not do as it would become obligatory for them. Such concern for other persons is evident in his forbiddance of continuous fasting for more than a day, although he himself did so. He shortened his prayers by not reciting long verses of the Qur’an when he heard a baby cry during congregational prayers which he was leading so that the mother of the child could attend to the baby. If he had to choose between two permitted things, he would prefer the one which was the easier.
There are innumerable cases of such concerns, rather mercy, for people. Suffice would be to recollect the case of aftermath of the ill treatment to him by the residents of Taif city. The Angel Gabriel appeared with the Angel of the Mountains with the message from Allah that the Angel will crush the inhabitants of the city by bringing together mountains around. The Prophet declined the offer and said instead, “No, rather I hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins those who will worship Allah alone and not associate anything with Him.”
This mercy was not limited to human beings. It was true in the case of animals, too. Once when his wife Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, was slapping an unruly camel, the Prophet forbade by saying, “you must have mercy.”