A man called Suhail ibn Amar had a voice suited to oratory, and used to employ this talent in making speeches against the Holy Prophet. He was captured by the Muslims at the battle of Badr and brought before the Holy Prophet. A Muslim suggested that some of Suhail's teeth should be knocked out to disable him from speaking well. The Holy Prophet replied:
"If I disfigure any of his limbs, God will disfigure mine in retribution".Once when the Holy Prophet divided some wealth among his followers, one man accused him to his face of being unfair and told him: "Fear God, O Muhammad". After the man had left, the following conversation took place between Khalid ibn Walid and the Holy Prophet, as recorded in Bukhari:
Khalid: "Shall I strike off his neck?"
Holy Prophet: "No, perhaps he is a man who says prayers."
Khalid: "There are many people who pray, but what they say is not what is in their hearts."
Holy Prophet: "I have not been commanded by God to cut open people's chests to see what is inside their hearts."
(Book: Maghazi, ch. 63.)
Here a man insults the Holy Prophet to his face, and a Muslim asks permission to kill the man. The Holy Prophet advances the possibility of there being some good in the culprit, but Khalid argues that the man's prayers are only for show. The Holy Prophet then makes it clear that we cannot know about people's motives or sincerity, but have to accept that what they are doing is in good faith.
- Some Jews, when addressing Muslims, would distort the greeting as-salamu alaikum and say it as as-samu alaikum, which means "death be upon you". When they once addressed the Holy Prophet in this manner, his wife Aisha retorted back in the same words. The Holy Prophet disapproved of this reply and said that God did not like harsh words.