— It is authentically reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would supplicate in the prayer: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the torment of the grave; I seek refuge in You from the trial of the Antichrist (al-Masīḥ al-Dajjāl); I seek refuge in You from the trials of life and death. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from sin and from debt.” Someone remarked to him, “You seek refuge from debt so often!” He replied, “When a man falls into debt, he speaks and lies, and he makes a promise and breaks it.” Ibn Ḥajar says in Fatḥ al-Bārī: “What is meant is that this is usually the condition of a person who borrows.” End quote.

Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim records from Abū al-Yusr Kaʿb ibn ʿAmr (may Allah be pleased with him): “So-and-so ibn So-and-so al-Ḥizāmī [al-Ḥarāmī] owed me some money. I went to his family, greeted them with salām, and asked, ‘Is he here?’ They said, ‘No.’ Then one of his young sons came out. I asked him, ‘Where is your father?’ He replied, ‘He heard your voice and went into my mother’s canopy-bed.’ I said, ‘Come out to me, for I know where you are.’ He came out, and I asked, ‘What made you hide from me?’ He said, ‘By Allah, I will tell you the truth and will not lie to you. By Allah, I feared that I might speak to you and then lie, or promise you and then break my promise. I was a Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and by Allah I am in straitened circumstances.’”

The rest of the narration follows, but what concerns us here are his words: “By Allah, I feared that I might speak to you and then lie, or promise you and then break my promise.” This Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ concealed himself from his creditor because of his insolvency, fearing that he would fall into lying and breaking promises—the very condition from which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to seek refuge in his prayer from taking root