Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) would show great patience and forbearance towards those who made mistakes as well as treating them kindly. He would never act impulsively, and was the embodiment of patience and forbearing. There were people who converted to Islam just because of these qualities of the Prophet (pbuh). The wealthy Jewish scholar Zaid b. Sa’na was one of them. He narrated the Prophet’s patience in the face of people’s faults as follows:
“When I looked at the Prophet’s face, I saw in him all the prophetic characteristics except two of them. Did his patience and kindness exceed the ignorance and harshness he faced or not? Did the most ignorant and the harshest of behavior he faced increase his patience or not? I did not have any clue about the answers to these two questions. I thought I could learn the answers if I stayed with him for a while.
One day, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) went out of his house together with Ali b. Talib (r.a.). At that moment, a bedouin appeared and said:
“O Messenger of Allah! Sons of so and so from village residents embraced Islam. I had told them that “when they became Muslims, they were going to obtain wealth and abundance. On the contrary they are suffering with drought and famine. O Messenger of Allah! I am worried that they will leave Islam which they had embraced hoping to receive some worldly blessings. It would be good if you could help them.”
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) first looked at the bedouin and then turned to Ali (r.a.). Ali (r.a.) told him:
“O Messenger of Allah! There is nothing left to give them.”
Thereupon, I intervened and told the Prophet (pbuh):
“O Muhammad! Can’t you sell me some dates from the garden of the sons of so and so provided that you deliver them so much time later?”
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) replied:
“No, I can’t. But I can sell you a certain amount of dates at such a later date.” He did not mention the name of the garden. I accepted his offer. After the sale, I gave him eighty misqal gold pieces in return for a certain amount of dates which were going to be delivered at such a later date. The Prophet (pbuh) took the gold pieces and gave them to the bedouin. Then he said:
“Distribute these fairly among those people and help them with these.”
Two or three days before the debt’s due date, I went to the Messenger of Allah and held from the collars of his shirt. I looked sullenly at his face and said:
“O Muhammad! Aren’t you going to give me my right yet? By Allah! O sons of Abdul Muttalib! I did not know that you were unfair and prolonged your payments. Staying with you has taught me who you really are.” When I looked at Umar’s face, I saw his eyes were whirling from anger. Then he turned to me and said:
“O enemy of Allah! How dare you to talk to the Messenger of Allah like this? By Allah Who has sent the true religion and book with him, if I were not afraid of him, I would certainly cut your head off with my sword.” Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) smiled calmly and looked at Umar (r.a.) saying:
“O Umar! I and he would have hoped you to behave differently. You should have advised me to pay my debt justly and advised him to ask for his loan back nicely. O Umar! Go and pay his right and give him twenty sa’ extra.” I asked:
“O Umar! Why am I getting the extra part?” Umar (r.a.) said:
“Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) ordered me to pay extra because of my harsh behavior towards you.” I asked Umar:
“O Umar! Do you remember me?” He said:
“No, I did not. Who are you?” I said:
“I am Zaid b. Sa’na” Umar (r.a.) asked again:
“Are you the scholar of the Jews?” I said:
“The Jewish scholar” Umar asked:
“Then why did you behave like that?” I told him:
“O Umar! When I looked at the face of Muhammad (pbuh), I understood that he had all the prophetic signs except two. Does his patience overcome the harshness and impoliteness he faces? And does ignorant and harsh treatment increase his patience or not? I had not confirmed these features yet. This was why I treated him like I did and then I realized that he also possesses these attributes. O Umar! Be my witness that I have accepted Allah as my Lord, Islam as my religion, and Muhammad (pbuh) as my prophet. And also be my witness that I give half of my belongings in charity to Muhammad’s ummah, for I am wealthier than them.” Umar advised me:
“Say to some of the ummah, for you cannot find enough wealth for all of them.” And I said:
“To some of them” When Zaid b. Sa’na came to the Prophet (pbuh), he embraced Islam saying:
“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I also bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.” (Hakim, III, 700-701)
Allah the Almighty has created a cure for every suffering in this world. There is no cure more effective than patience in order to overcome spiritual problems. Thoughts and psychological states vary greatly from one person to other. It is very hard to know about people’s intentions and the inner worlds, and then to act accordingly. This is a divine secret. Therefore, it is the safest and the most useful way to follow the path of patience like the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) did.
Anas b. Malik (r.a.) reported another incident regarding the Prophet’s patience in the face of faulty actions:
“I was walking with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and he had worn a mantle of Najran with a thick border. A bedouin met him and pulled the mantle so violently that I saw the marks of the border of the mantle left by the intensity of the pull on the skin of the neck of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). And the bedouin said:
“O Muhammad! Issue an order for these two camels of mine to be loaded the goods of Allah that are at your disposal, for you do not give me anything from your wealth or from your father’s wealth.” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) turned his attention to him and smiled. And then he called someone and ordered:
“Load one of these camels with barley and the other one with wheat.” (Muslim, Zakat, 128; Abu Dawud, Adab, 1)
Jubair bin Mut’im (r.a.) narrated another example as follows:
“I was in the company of Allah’s Apostle with the people returning from Hunain, some people (bedouins) caught hold of the Prophet (pbuh) and started begging that the war booty be distributed so much that they pushed him under a kind of thorny tree (i.e. Samurah) and his cloak was snatched away. The Prophet (pbuh) stopped and said:
“Give me my cloak. If I had as many camels as these thorny trees, I would have distributed them amongst you and you will never find me to be a miser or a liar or a coward.” (Bukhari, Jihad, 24)
As it is seen in these reports, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) always responded to people’s rude and ignorant treatment kindly and patiently. He educated them withoutoffending them.