Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
3. Exemplary Conduct
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poor Muslim sitting next to him. “Are you scared of
his poverty clinging to you?” the Prophet remarked.
Once the Prophet had to borrow some money from
a Jew by the name of Zayd ibn Sa’nah. A few days
before the date fixed for the repayment of the debt,
the Jew came to demand his money back. He went
up to the Prophet, caught hold of his clothes, and
said to him harshly: “Muhammad, why don’t you
pay me my due? From what I know of the
descendants of Muttalib, they all put off paying
their debts.” ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab was with the
Prophet at the time. He became very angry, scolded
the Jew and was on the point of beating him up. But
the Prophet just kept smiling. All he said to the Jew
was: “There are still three days left for me to fulfill
my promise.” Then he addressed ‘Umar “Zayd and
I deserved better treatment from you,” he said.
“You should have told me to be better at paying my
debts, and him to be better at demanding them.
Take him with you, ‘Umar, and pay him his due; in
fact, give him 20
sa’ahs
(about forty kilos) of dates
extra because you have alarmed him with your
threats.” The most remarkable thing about this
episode is that the Prophet could still behave with
