The Prophet - A Mercy to the Worlds

1. Jabir bin ʿAbd Allah narrated:

There was a Jew in Madina who would lend me money up to the date-harvest season. - Jabir had a piece of land which was on the way to Ruma. -

One year the trees produced little, so repayment was delayed. The Jew came to me at the time of harvest but I could gather nothing from my land. I asked him to give me another year's respite but he refused. The news reached the Prophet ﷺ whereupon he said to his companions, "Let us go and ask the Jew for a respite for Jabir."

They all came to me in my garden and the Prophet ﷺ began to speak with the Jew but the latter kept saying, "Abu al-Qasim, I will not grant him respite!" When the Prophet ﷺ saw this, he stood up and walked around the orchard then came back and talked to the Jew some more, but the latter kept refusing his request.

I got up and brought some fresh ripe dates (rutab) and put them in front of the Prophet ﷺ . He ate, then said to me, "Where is your hut, O Jabir?" I informed him and he said, "Spread out a bed for me in it." I spread out a bed and he entered and napped. When he woke up, I brought him some more dates and he ate again then got up and talked to the Jew once more but the latter again refused his request.

Then the Prophet ﷺ took another walk amid the date-palms - their branches were now full of fruit - and said, "O Jabir! Harvest your dates and repay your debt." The Jew stayed with me while I was plucking the dates until I repaid him his debt in full and there remained with me the same amount of dates. I went out until I reached the Prophet ﷺ and told him of the good news, whereupon he said, "I testify that I am the Messenger of Allah."

Al-Bukhari narrated it in his Sahih.

2. ʿUmar - Allah be well-pleased with him - narrated:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out one day with ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab . A woman came up to them and said to the Prophet: "O Messenger of Allah, I am a respectable Muslim woman but I have a husband in my house who is like a woman."

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Call your husband." She called him - he was a cobbler - and the Prophet ﷺ said to him: "What do you say about your wife , ʿAbd Allah?" He replied: "By the One Who honored you! I have tried my best with her. [lit.: My head has not remained dry away from her.]" His wife said: "Hardly once a month!"

The Prophet ﷺ said to her: "Do you hate him?" She said Yes. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Bring your heads close together." He placed the woman's forehead against her husband's and said: "O Allah! Make harmony between them and make them love one another."

Later, the Prophet ﷺ was passing by the bedding market together with ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, whereupon the same woman came out carrying skins on top of her head. When she saw the Prophet ﷺ she threw them down, came over to him, and kissed his feet.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "How are you with your husband?" She replied: "By the One Who honored you! There is no new possession, nor old inheritance, nor child of mine dearer to me than him!"

The Prophet ﷺ said: "I bear witness that I am the Messenger of Allah." Whereupon ʿUmar said: "And I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah."

Al-Bayhaqi narrated it with his chain through al-Tirmidhi and his Shaykh al-Bukhari - and also from Jabir without mention of ʿUmar - in Dala'il al-Nubuwwa "The Proofs of Prophethood".

GF Haddad ©