The Prophet Of Mercy

behaved harshly. He had risen far above the mindset of reacting with anger. Anas bin Malik says that once he was walking with the Prophet, who was wearing a rough cloak with thick edges. On the way, he met a man from the village. He was needy, but instead of asking politely, he acted rudely. He pulled his cloak so hard that it left marks on his neck. Then he said, “O Muhammad, give me some of the wealth of God that you have.” He didn’t scold him. He smiled and instructed that he be given something. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 3149) The Prophet had once taken a loan from a Jewish trader. One day, that Jew came and very rudely demanded his money. Not only did he speak harshly, but he also even said, “The people of Abdul Muttalib’s family are all like this—they don’t return loans.” Umar Farooq was present and became angry. He began scolding the man. But the Prophet stopped him and said, “O Umar, both I and this man deserved better behaviour from you. You should have advised me to repay gently and told him to ask politely.” (Mustadrak al-Hakim, Hadith No. 6547) Even though three days were still left before the loan was due, he said to Umar, “Go and pay his debt.” Once, the Prophet was sitting with his Companion in the Masjid-e-Nabawi, the mosque of Madinah. A villager came and stood in a corner of the mosque and began