The Prophet, , was a leading example in tenderheartedness, and would shed tears in many incidents and situations.
The Prophet, , was moderate in all his affairs. He never sobbed loudly when weeping or guffawed when laughing; rather, his eyes shed tears abundantly and his chest would sound like a boiling kettle. Sometimes, he would weep out of his mercy for the dead or out of worrying about his Ummah. At other times, he would weep out of fear of Allah The Almighty, when listening to the Quran, and this was out of longing, love and exalting.
1- The Prophet, , wept out of awe of Allah The Almighty. Bilaal, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “O Messenger of Allah! Why are you weeping when Allah The Almighty has forgiven you your past and future sins?”The Prophet, , replied:“Should I not be a grateful slave to Allah? Today, a verse was revealed to me. Woe to the person who reads it and does not reflect upon it. Allah The Almighty Says (what means):{Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding.}[Quran 3:190]” [Ibn Hibbaan, Shu‘ayb Al-Arna’oot – Saheeh, Al-Albaani - Hasan]
2- The Prophet, , wept in prayer out of awe of Allah The Almighty. In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn Ash-Shikhkheer, may Allah be pleased with him, he said, “I came to the Prophet while he was praying. He was sobbing and his chest sounded like a boiling pot.”[Abu Daawood, Al-Albaani - Saheeh]
3- The Prophet, , wept upon hearing the Quran. In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, he said,
The Prophet said to me: “Recite the Quran to me.” I said, “How can I recite it to you when it was revealed to you, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: “I like to hear it recited by someone else.” [Ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, continued], I started reciting Soorah An-Nisaa', and when I reached the verse where Allah The Almighty Says (what means):{So how [will it be] when We Bring from every nation a witness and We bring you, [O Muhammad] against these [people] as a witness?} [Quran 4:41], I saw the Prophet shedding tears. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
4- The Prophet, , wept when he missed his loved ones. He wept and shed tears when his son Ibraaheem died. Upon seeing this, ‘Abdul-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Are you weeping, O Messenger of Allah?” He, replied:“O Ibn ‘Awf! It is mercy. The eyes may shed tears and the hearts may grieve, but we do not say anything except the words that please Allah The Almighty. Indeed, we are sad at the departure of Ibraaheem.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
5- The Prophet, , wept upon the death of one of his daughters, who was probably Umm Kulthoom, the wife of ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan, may Allah be pleased with both of them. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, he said,
We attended the funeral of one of the daughters of the Prophet . The Messenger of Allah was sitting at the graveside, and I saw his eyes filled with tears. He asked:“Is there anybody who did not have intercourse with his wife this night? [i.e., someone who is ritually pure]”Abu Talhah, may Allah be pleased with him, answered in the affirmative. The Prophet then ordered him to step down into her grave and bury her, which he did. [Al-Bukhari]
6- The Prophet, , wept when another of his daughters died. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, he said, “The Prophet held one of his daughters who was dying. He embraced her, and when he put her between his hands, she died. Umm Ayman, may Allah be pleased with him, screamed. The Prophet said: ‘Are you screaming in the presence of the Messenger of Allah?’ She replied, ‘I see you weeping.’ He said: ‘But I am not screaming. This is mercy. Indeed, whatever happens to the believer is good for him, even if his soul is taken out of his body and he praises Allah The Almighty for it.’” [Ahmad and At-Tirmithi, Al-Albaani - Saheeh]
7- The Prophet, , wept when one of his grandchildren died. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Usaamah ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, he said,
A daughter of the Prophet sent [a messenger] to the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, requesting him to come as her child was dying, but the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, sent the messenger back and told him to simply convey hissalaam to her and say: “Whatever Allah takes is His and whatever He gives is His, and everything with Him has a limited fixed term [in this world], and so be patient and hope for the reward of Allah.” She again sent for him, swearing that he should come. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, therefore got up, and so did Sa‘d ibn Ubaadah, Mu‘aath ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, Zayd ibn Thaabit and some other men. The child was brought to the Prophet while his breath was restricted in his chest. Usaamah commented that it was like a leather water-skin, or was restricted as if it was in a leather water-skin. The Prophet began shedding tears. Sa‘d said: “O Messenger of Allah! What is this?” He replied: “It is mercy which Allah has placed in the hearts of whomever He wills of His slaves, and Allah is merciful only to those of His slaves who are merciful [to others].” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
8- The Prophet, , wept upon the death of ‘Uthmaan ibn Math‘oon, may Allah be pleased with him. In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘’Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, she said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah kissing ‘Uthmaan ibn Math‘oon when he was dead and I saw tears falling from the eyes of the Prophet .” [Abu Daawood and Ibn Maajah, Al-Albaani - Saheeh)] In another narration, she said, “The Messenger of Allah kissed ‘Uthmaan ibn Math‘oon when he was dead and he was weeping, [or his eyes were shedding tears].”[At-Tirmithi]
9- The Prophet, , wept over the martyrs of the battle of Mu'tah. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, he said that the Prophet, , had announced the death of Zayd and Ja‘far to people before news of their death had arrived. “The Prophet said:‘Zayd took over the standard and was martyred. Then Ja‘far took it and he was martyred as well. Then 'Abdullaah ibn Rawaahah took the standard but he too was martyred [and while saying this, the Prophet was shedding tears]. Then, one of the Swords of Allah, that is Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed, took the standard, and was blessed with victory.’" [Al-Bukhari]
10- The Prophet, , wept when he visited his mother's grave. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, he said, “One day, the Prophet visited the grave of his mother. He wept and this caused people around him to weep. He said:‘I asked permission from my Lord to seek forgiveness for my mother, but I was not granted permission. I asked His permission to visit her grave, and He permitted me. Therefore, visit the graves as they remind you of death.’” [Muslim]
11- The Prophet, , wept when he visited Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah, may Allah be pleased with him, when the latter was sick. In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, he said,
Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubaadah suffered from a disease, and the Prophet came to visit him with ‘Abdul-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf, Sa‘d ibn Waqqaas and ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with them. The Prophet found him lying among his relatives who were serving him, and asked if he had died. They answered in the negative, so he wept. Having seen him weeping, people began weeping as well. On that, the Prophet, called their attention to listen and said:‘Allah The Almighty does not punish people for the tears of the eyes or the sadness of the hearts. He punishes people for the evil words they say with their tongues and shows mercy to them [if they utter good words].’ [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
12- The Prophet, , wept at the graves. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Al-Baraa' ibn ‘Aazib, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: “One day, we attended a funeral with the Prophet and he sat at the edge of the grave and kept weeping until his tears wet the earth. He then said:‘O brothers! Be prepared for this.’” [Ibn Maajah and Ahmad, Al-Albaani - Hasan]
13- The Prophet, , wept in the night of the Battle of Badr while he was praying and supplicating to Allah The Almighty, until the morning. In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib, may Allah be pleased with him, he said, “Al-Miqdaad was the only horseman among us in the Battle of Badr, and all of us were sleeping except the Prophet . I saw him praying under a tree and supplicating to Allah The Almighty until the morning.” [Ibn Khuzaymah and Ahmad, Al-Albaani and Al-A‘thami - Saheeh]
14- The Prophet, , wept during the Kusoof (solar eclipse) prayer. In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn 'Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, he said, “There was a solar eclipse one day during the lifetime of the Prophet . He stood up in prayer, then fell in prostration for a long time. He kept blowing and weeping. He then raised his head, praised Allah The Almighty, glorified Him, and said: ‘Hell was shown to me and I kept blowing it away. I feared that it would cover you.’ The Prophet then supplicated to Allah The Almighty, saying: ‘O Allah! Have You not Promised me that You will not punish them?’”[Ibn Khuzaymah, Al-Albaani and Al-A‘thami - Saheeh]
15- The Prophet, , wept due to his accepting the suggestion of taking ransom for the captives of the Battle of Badr. In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Abbaas on the authority of ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with them, the following was mentioned:
When the Muslims took the captives, the Prophet asked for the opinion of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “O Messenger of Allah! The captives are members of our kin and tribe, so I suggest that you take ransom from them whereby we will have power over the disbelievers. Perhaps Allah The Almighty will guide them to Islam.” The Prophet then turned to ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab and asked for his opinion. ‘Umar said, “I do not agree with the opinion of Abu Bakr. I suggest that we cut off their necks. Let ‘Ali cut off the neck of ‘Aqeel and let me cut off the neck of so-and-so [an in-law to him]. These are the chieftains and heads of disbelief.” The Prophet approved of Abu Bakr's suggestion and did not approve of mine. The following day, I found the Prophet and Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, weeping. So I asked, “What makes you and your companion weep? If I find the situation worthy of weeping over, I would weep, otherwise, I would at least pretend to weep” The Prophet said:“I am weeping because I accepted the suggestion of ransom offered by your companions, and their punishment was revealed to me under this tree. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {It is not for a prophet to have captives [of war] until he inflicts a massacre [upon Allah's enemies] in the land. Some Muslims desire the commodities of this world…} (until what means): {…So consume what you have taken of war booty [as being] lawful and good.} [Quran 8:67-69] Allah The Almighty has made war booty lawful for Muslims.” [Muslim]
16- The Prophet, , wept in compassion for his Ummah. In a Hadeeth on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, he said that the Prophet, , recited the Quranic verse where Allah The Almighty Says in the words of Ibraaheem (Abraham), may Allah exalt his mention, (what means):{My Lord, indeed they have led astray many among the people. So whoever follows me - then he is of me; and whoever disobeys me - indeed, You are [yet] Forgiving and Merciful.} [Quran 14:36] and the saying of ‘Eesa (Jesus), may Allah exalt his mention, (what means):{If You should punish them - indeed they are your servants; but if You forgive them - indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.}[Quran 5:118] Upon reading this, the Prophet, , raised his hands and supplicated to Allah The Almighty, saying:“O my Lord, my Ummah! My Ummah!” and he wept.So Allah, the High and the Exalted, said: “O Jibreel [Gabriel], go to Muhammad [though your Lord knows fully well] and ask him what makes him weep.” Jibreel, may Allah exalt his mention, therefore went to him and asked him, and the Messenger of Allah, , informed him about what he had said (though Allah knows fully well). Upon this Allah The Almighty said: “O Jibreel, go to Muhammad and say: ‘Indeed, We shall please you with regard to your Ummah and shall not make you sad.’” [Muslim]