In his last public address at Arafat the Prophet advised Muslims to treat their women well and be kind to them as paradise lies under the feet of the mother.
The Prophet’s kindness to women, in fact, forms the content of many stories. One concerns his wife Maria, the Christian Coptic slave girl, sent to him by the head of the Coptic Church in Cairo.
His attentiveness towards her had provoked his other wives into arguments and bad temper. They made life unbearable for him. In protest he withdrew from them for a month, sleeping on the floor of a small, mud storeroom and refusing to see anyone.
Umar, when he finally succeeded in seeing him, broke into a cry of anguish, threatening to cut off his own daughter’s head for having brought the Prophet to this point. But by now the women had learnt a lesson.
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They promised there would be harmony in the home if he came back. This incident only reveals a forgiving and tolerant nature of the Prophet and more importantly his love and respect for women. This very aspect of his nature was actually his message to the people at Arafat.