The Man Who Borrowed 1,000 Dinars

• A man of the Children of Israel asked another to lend him a thousand dinars. When the lender asked for witnesses, he answered: "Allah is sufficient as a witness." When he asked for a guarantor, he answered: "Allah is sufficient as a surety." The lender accepted and gave him the money until a fixed date.[1]
• Al-Durar al-Saniyyah explains what the guarantor would have been: someone who takes responsibility for the money and is bound to repay it if the borrower does not.[4]
• The borrower travelled by sea. When the date came he could find no ship to take him back, so he hollowed out a piece of wood, put the thousand dinars and a letter inside it, sealed it, and threw it into the sea, telling Allah that the lender had accepted Him as guarantor and witness: "I hand over this money to You."[1]
• Al-Durar al-Saniyyah describes this moment: he threw it relying on Allah and entrusting it to Him, hoping that Allah would bring it to its owner by His power. He was truthful in what he said, and Allah answered him.[4]
• Even after this, the borrower kept looking for a ship. On the other shore the lender went out to see whether a ship had come with his money, found the piece of wood, and took it home as firewood. When he sawed it open, he found his money and the letter.[1]
• Then the borrower arrived with another thousand dinars and apologised for the delay. The lender told him: "Allah has delivered on your behalf the money you sent in the piece of wood", and sent him away with his thousand dinars, "guided on the right path."[1]
• Al-Durar al-Saniyyah points out the honesty of both men: each was true to Allah after accepting Him as guarantor and witness. The borrower did not treat the wood as settling his debt, and the lender did not take the money twice.[4]
• It adds that Allah rewards those who lend to help others by protecting their money, as He returned it to this lender, besides the reward kept for them in the Hereafter.[4]
• Ibn Hajar (vol. 4, p. 550) notes that in the narration of Abu Salamah the sum is six hundred dinars. He judges a thousand more likely, because it agrees with a report from Abdullah ibn Amr, and suggests that the two numbers may refer to count and weight.[5]
• In the same narration of Abu Salamah, Ibn Hajar (vol. 4, p. 551) quotes Abu Hurairah saying that the Companions, in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him), argued at length over which of the two men was the more trustworthy.[5]
• Ibn Hajar (vol. 4, p. 551) explains why al-Bukhari placed this story in the Book of Guarantees: the Prophet (peace be upon him) told it and approved of it, and he told it so that it would be followed.[5]

• A loan may be given until a fixed date, and keeping that date is an obligation; Ibn Hajar also mentions a view that it is only a matter of good conduct.[5]
• Asking for witnesses and a guarantor when lending is legitimate.[5]
• The virtue of trusting Allah: whoever trusts Him truly, Allah takes care of helping him.[5]
• Whoever borrows intending to repay, and asks Allah's help to do so, Allah makes repayment easy for him; and if he cannot repay in this world, Allah will satisfy his creditor in the Hereafter.[4]
• Encouragement to repay debts well and to make every effort to do so.[4]
• Allah rewards well those who rely on Him.[4]
• It is right to tell the remarkable things that happened among the Children of Israel and others, to draw a lesson and an example from them.[5]
• Trading at sea and travelling by sea are permitted.[5]
• A writer begins a letter with his own name, as this man did in the letter he put in the wood.[5]

These questions are written by Qabas Academy to help you reflect. They are not part of the hadith or its commentary.

1. When you make a promise, would you still keep it if no one could hold you to it except Allah?
2. The borrower did everything he could and then left the rest to Allah. Where in your life are you doing the second part without the first, or the first without the second?
3. The lender refused to be paid twice. What does honesty look like when a mistake would work in your favour?
4. Is there a debt, of money or of a promise, that you have been putting off? What is one step you can take this week?