Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 13898

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When Allah Almighty intended to guide Sayyiduna Zayd bin Sa'nah (may Allah be pleased with him), Zayd bin Sa'nah said: "Every one of the signs of prophethood I recognised in the face of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) when I looked at him, except two things, which I would test in him: first, that his forbearance would outstrip his harshness, and second, that the more severely he was treated with rudeness, the more forbearing he would be. So I began to keep company with him, so that by mixing with him I might observe his forbearance in the face of harshness." Zayd bin Sa'nah narrates: One day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out of the apartments, and Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was with him. A man riding a mount came to him; he looked like a Bedouin. He said: "O Messenger of Allah! In the territory of Banu so-and-so there are some people who are companions of mine; they have accepted Islam, they have entered Islam. I had told them that when they accepted Islam, abundant provision would come to them, but drought and hardship have engulfed them, and no rain is falling. O Messenger of Allah! I fear that just as they entered Islam out of greed, so they will leave Islam out of greed. So if you see fit to send them something with which you may help those people, that would be appropriate." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at the man at his side, I think it was Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and he said: "O Messenger of Allah, nothing at all is left." Zayd bin Sa'nah says: I went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Would you be interested in making a deal with me for a specified quantity of dates from the orchard of Banu so-and-so, after a specified period, and its term will be such-and-such?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No! O Jew! I will make a deal with you for dates which will be specified, and its term will be specified, which will be such-and-such a term, but you cannot specify any particular orchard in it." I said: "All right." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) concluded this deal with me. I opened my purse and gave the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) eighty mithqals of gold in exchange for specified dates under an agreement for a specified term. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave those mithqals to that man and said: "Go to those people and help them with these." Sayyiduna Zayd bin Sa'nah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When two or three days remained before the end of that specified term, one day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out, and with him were Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) and some other Companions. He offered a funeral prayer, then he went towards a wall so as to sit by it. I came to him, seized the collar of his shirt and his cloak, looked at him with harsh eyes and said to him: "O Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Why are you not paying me my due? I know about you people, Banu Abd al-Muttalib, that you people delay and procrastinate, and I have come to know this by mixing with you people." Then I looked at Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and his eyes were boiling with rage. He looked at me and said: "O enemy of Allah! Are you saying to the Messenger of Allah what I am hearing, and doing to him what I am seeing? By the One in whose hand is my life! Were it not for the thing whose loss I am guarding against, I would have struck off your head with my sword." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) kept looking at me with calm and gentleness, and he said: "O Umar! He and I were more in need of something other than this, which is that you should tell me to pay in a good manner and tell him to collect in a good manner. O Umar! Take him, give him his due, and give him twenty sa' of dates extra, which will be in compensation for the threat you made to him." Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) took me with him, paid me my due and gave me a further twenty sa' of dates. I said: "O Umar! What is this extra payment for?" He told me: "The Messenger of Allah has ordered me to give you an extra payment in place of the threat I made to you." Sayyiduna Zayd bin Sa'nah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Umar! Do you know me?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No! Who are you?" I said: "I am Zayd bin Sa'nah." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "The one who is the great scholar of the Jews?" I said: "Yes! The great scholar of the Jews." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Why did you treat the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) like that, and why did you say the kind of thing you said?" I said: "O Umar! I had recognised every one of the signs of prophethood in the face of the Messenger of Allah when I saw him, but two things remained which I wanted to investigate in him: that his forbearance would outstrip his harshness, and that the more severely he was treated with rudeness, the greater his forbearance would be. Now I have tested both these things. I make you my witness, O Umar, and say that I am pleased with Allah Almighty as Lord, with Islam as religion and with Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) as Prophet. And I also make you a witness that half of my wealth is charity for the Ummah of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Make it for some portion of them; you will not have enough capacity for (all of) them." I said: "Or else for some portion of them." Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) came back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and His Messenger." So Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) believed in the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), accepted Islam at his blessed hand and took part with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in many battles. Then he was martyred on the occasion of the Battle of Tabuk, facing the enemy without turning his back. May Allah Almighty have mercy on Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Ibn Majah has recorded a part of this narration.
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).