Prophet Muhammad pbuh felt the pain of personal insult when he was ridiculed because both of his two young sons had died. Can you imagine anything more cruel than to laugh at someone because their son had died?
The men of the Quraish used to call Muhammad the 'abtar' one. The word abtar literally meant 'an animal whose tail had been cut off', and it was used when someone had no son to succeed the family line, a suggestion of infertility. This was very painful for Muhammad to hear, nothing had been more precious to him than his two sons and he was devastated when first one and then later the other both died as infants due to childhood illness.
But then this verse was revealed to Muhammad as encouragement to remain steadfast in patience:
"Indeed we have given you Al-Kawthar (the River of Abundance),
So pray to your Lord and sacrifice,
Indeed your enemy, he is the one 'abtar' (cut off)".
Whenever we feel insulted, we may draw inspiration from the Prophet Muhammad and remember the blessings in our lives, leaving our frustrations in the hands of God, as this can help give us the strength not to respond to hatred with hatred.
