His debts had swallowed up all his property, so he asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to intercede with his creditors. The Prophet spoke to them, but they would not reduce anything. Had anyone ever been spared repayment by another’s word, Muʿādh would have been spared by the word of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ therefore summoned him and did not rest until he had sold all of Muʿādh’s assets and distributed the proceeds among his creditors.
Muʿādh was left with nothing. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed Hajj, he sent Muʿādh to Yemen [so as to make good his loss]. Muʿādh was the first to trade with the money he earned there.
He later returned from Yemen to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had passed away. ʿUmar came and said, ‘Will you obey me? Hand this money over to Abū Bakr; if he gives it back to you, then accept it.’ Muʿādh replied, ‘Why should I give it to him? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me in order to compensate me.’ When he refused, ʿUmar went to Abū Bakr and said, ‘Send for this man, take the money from him, and then release him.’ Abū Bakr answered, ‘I would never do that. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent him to make it up for him, and I will not take anything from him.’
The next morning Muʿādh went to ʿUmar and said, ‘I think I shall do what you advised. Last night I saw myself in a dream—ʿAbd al-Razzāq thinks he said—being dragged toward the Fire while you held the hem of my garment.’ He then went to Abū Bakr with everything he had brought, even his whip, and swore that he had concealed nothing. Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘It is all yours; I will take nothing from it.’
Ibn Thawr also transmitted this account from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn [ʿAbd Allāh ibn] Kaʿb ibn Mālik and related the story, but added: when the year of the Conquest of Mecca came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed Muʿādh as commander over a contingent in Yemen. He remained there until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, then returned during the caliphate of Abū Bakr and went on to Syria.
Al-Bayhaqī said: We have already mentioned that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ left him in charge of Mecca alongside ʿAttāb ibn Usayd to teach its people, and that he was present at the Battle of Tabūk. It is therefore more plausible that his mission to Yemen occurred after that. Allah knows best.
Al-Bayhaqī then produced corroboration for Muʿādh’s dream through the isnād of al-Aʿmash, from Abū Wāʾil, from ʿAbd Allāh: among the property Muʿādh had brought were some slaves. He brought them to Abū Bakr, and when Abū Bakr returned everything to him Muʿādh took them back. He then arose to pray and they all prayed with him. When he finished he asked, ‘For whom did you pray?’ They said, ‘For Allah.’ He replied, ‘Then you are free for His sake,’ and he set them all free.