Can there be a slave better than me?

[Och]

Makkah had been conquered. It was a day when the political and military struggle yielded victory. The Prophet was having lunch with his friends sitting on the ground outside. A woman found it very strange and said,

“Look at him! He is sitting on the ground and eating like a slave.” Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) smiled and answered:

“Can there be a better slave than me? I am a slave of Allah.”

Once, his wife Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) asked her,

“Please stop sitting cross-legged while eating and sit comfortably.” Thereupon, the Prophet bowed down so much that his forehead nearly touched the ground and said,

“I eat like a slave eats and I sit like a slave sits because I am nothing but a slave.”