CHAPTER 3: THE DESTITUTE : PART 2
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, divided the poor people among the Companions, so that they were fed:
Ibn Seereen (a scholar) said: “In the evening, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would divide some poor people between some of his Companions, so it would be that a man would go with one man, another with two men, another with three, and so forth, up until ten men.” (Reported by Ibn Abu Shaybah in his book Al-Musannaf (27154).)
Al-Hasan (a scholar) said: “And the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would take any of them that remained into his home and would feed them whatever he had.” (Reported by Al-Bayhaqi in his book Shu`ab Al-Eemaan (10333).)
Ya`eesh ibn Tikhfah Al-Ghifaari (a Companion) said:
“My father was one of the people of As-Suffah, and the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ordered that they be cared for, so a man would take a man or two men, until I remained, along with four others.
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Let us go.’
So we went with him to the house of `Aa’ishah, and he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘O `Aa’ishah, feed us.’
`Aa’ishah brought some Hasheeshah (a type of food that is made from slightly ground wheat that is then cooked and then meat or dates are added to it) and we ate from it. Then she brought some
Haysah (a meal made from dates, fine flour, cheese and fat) that was like a bird (not plentiful), and we ate.
Then he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘O `Aa’ishah, give us something to drink.’
She brought a large cup and we drank from it, then she brought a small cup that had some milk in it, and we drank from that.
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘If you wish to stay, you can, and if you wish, you can go back to the mosque.’
So we said: ‘No, but we will go back to the mosque.’ (Reported by Abu Dawood (5040) and Ibn Majah (752).)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, shared whatever food he had with them:
Al-Miqdaad ibn `Amr (a Companion) said:
“I came with a friend of mine, and we almost could not hear or see due to our intense hunger, so we began presenting ourselves to people, but no one invited us for food. So we went to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, we are extremely hungry, and we presented ourselves to the people to be invited, but no one invited us, and now we have come to you.
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, took us to his house, and there were three she-goats, and he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Milk these goats for us.’
We milked the she-goats, and each of us would drink their share, and we would give the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, his share.
His habit was to come at night (to his guests), say greetings of Salaam in a way that would neither wake a sleeping person, nor allow anyone awake to hear, then he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would go to the mosque, pray, and would then go to his drink (of milk) and would drink.
One night, Satan came to me after I drank my share, and said: ‘Muhammad goes to the Ansaar, and they present him with things and he eats with them. He does not need this drink.’ Then I went to his share and drank it.
Right when it entered my stomach, and I knew that there was no way of getting rid of it and I was to digest it, Satan made me feel guilty, and said: ‘Woe to you! What have you done? Have you drunk the share of Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, so that when he comes and does not find it, he would supplicate against you, then you would be destroyed and your worldly life and Hereafter go to waste?’
I was wearing a cloak that, if I were to put it on my feet, my head would be exposed, and if I were to put it on my head, my feet would be exposed. I could not sleep, but my two friends slept, as they had not done what I had done.
Then the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, came, said greetings of peace as usual, then went to the mosque, prayed, went to his dish to drink, uncovered it, but found nothing in it. Then he raised his head to the heavens, and I said to myself, ‘Now he will supplicate against me, and I will be destroyed.’ Instead, he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘O Allah, feed whomever fed me, and give drink to whomever gave me drink.’
So I took the cloak and tightened it to myself, took a blade, and went to whichever she-goat was the fattest, so that I may slaughter it for the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, but found that it was a milking goat, and that the rest, too, were milking goats.
So I took a bowl belonging to the family of Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, that they used to drink from and milk in, so I milked the goat into the bowl until it was frothy with foam, then I went to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Have you all drunk your share tonight?’
So I said: ‘Drink, O Messenger of Allah,’ so he drank, then gave it to me. I said again, ‘Drink, O Messenger of Allah,’ and he drank and then gave it to me.
When I knew that the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, had become satisfied, and that I had the supplication he invoked for me, I laughed until I fell on the floor. So he, sallallahu
‘alayhi wa sallam, said to me: ‘This must be one of your mischiefs O Miqdaad.’ So I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, such and such happened to me, and I did such and such.’
So the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to me: ‘The fact that the she goat had milk at such an unusual time is a mercy from Allah; why did you not ask me, so that we could wake your two friends, and they could have from it as well?’
So I said: ‘By Him Who sent you with the truth, I do not mind if you give them or anyone else, as long as I, out of all people, was able to share it with you.’” (Reported by Muslim (2055).)
The previously mentioned story of Salmaan Al-Faarisi is similar to this, when he went to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, with some food as a gift, he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ate from it, and asked the Companions to eat with him. (Reported by Ahmad (23225).)
If the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not have anything to give to the poor, he would send the poor person to one of his Companions:
Abu Hurayrah said: that a man came to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and said: “O Messenger of Allah, poverty has struck me.” The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, sent a messenger to one of his wives (to bring something for that man to eat) but she said: “By the One who sent you with the truth, I only have water.” He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, sent to another one of his wives (to bring something for that man to eat), but she said the same, until all of them said the same thing.
Then Allah’s Messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Who will take this one as a guest in exchange for Allah’s Mercy?” A man from the Ansaar said: “I will, O Messenger of Allah.” So he took the man to his home, and said to his wife, “Treat the guest of the Messenger of Allah well.” She said: “By Allah! We have nothing except the meal for my children.” He said: “Get the food ready, and light the lamp, and put your children to sleep if they ask for dinner. Then when the guest enters, dim the lamp, and make it seem as if we are eating, and when he reaches for the food to eat, then stand up to the lantern and turn it off.” She got the food ready, turned the lamp on, and put the children to sleep. She then went to the lamp as if she was fixing it, and turned it off. Then they pretended that they were eating and they both went to sleep hungry. In the morning, the man from the Ansaar went to Allah’s Messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who said: “Allah has laughed (implying His acceptance to the deed), from your actions last night.” Then Allah revealed His saying (which means): «And they give them preference over themselves even though they were in need of that.» [Quran: 59:9] (Reported by Al-Bukhari (3798) and Muslim (2054).)
Another example:
Ibn `Abbas (a Companion) said: “Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, came to two men who had the same need. One of them spoke, and Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, noticed that his breath smelled as if he had not eaten. The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked him: ‘Do you not brush your teeth?’ The man said: ‘I do, however, I have not eaten in three days.’ So the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ordered some men who accommodated him and took care of his needs.” (Reported by Ahmad (2405).)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, shared their hardship, so that he could be their role model in patience and forbearance:
Simaak ibn Harb (a Companion) said: “I heard An-Nu`maan delivering a sermon, saying, `Umar mentioned what the people had earned in the worldly life, and commented on that, saying, ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, spend a whole day in pain and in a state of disturbance, while he could not find even the lowest quality of dates to fill his stomach.’” (Reported by Muslim (2978).)
Abu Haazim (a Follower; belonging to the generation succeeding the Companions) said: “I saw Abu Hurayrah point with his finger repeatedly, and say, ‘By Him in Whose hand is Abu Hurayrah’s soul, Allah’s Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, died before he and his family were ever full from wheat bread for three straight days.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari (5374) and Muslim (2976), and the wording is for Muslim.)
The wording of Al-Bukhari (a scholar) reads: “The family of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, were not full from food for three straight days until he passed away.”
`Aa’ishah (the wife of the Prophet) said to `Urwah (a Companion): “O nephew, we would see three crescents over the course of two months, and throughout this time, no fire for cooking would be lit in any house of the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam!
`Urwah said: “I said: ‘O Aunt, what used to sustain you and keep you alive?’
She said: “Two things: dates and water. The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, had some neighbours from the Ansaar who had camels, and they would give the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, some of its milk, and he would give it to us to drink.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari (2567) and Muslim (2972).)
`Aa’ishah said: “The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, died while leaving nothing on my shelf that a living creature would eat, besides some barley bread. I ate from it for a long time until I weighed it, and then it finished after a short while.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari (3097) and Muslim (2973).)
`Aa’ishah said: “The family of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not eat two meals in one day, except that one of the meals was dates.”(Reported by Al-Bukhari (6455) and Muslim (2971).)
The narration of Jaabir ibn `Abdullaah (a Companion) about the hole that was being dug during the battle of Trench: “On the day of the Trench, we were digging, but were prevented by a very large rock. We went to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and said: ‘There is a very large rock (preventing us from continuing our digging).’ So the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘I am coming.’ When he stood, he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, had a rock tied to his stomach, because we had not eaten in three days. When he got there, the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, took a pickaxe and struck the rock, and turned it to a pile of dust and sand.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari (6455) and Muslim (2971).)
Abu Talhah (a Companion) said: “We complained to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, that we were hungry, and each of us lifted a rock off his stomach, but the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, lifted two rocks.” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi (2371).)
By Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid
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