Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
The subject of this chapter has already been addressed in chapter nine under which two hadīths were listed, and it is addressed here again to emphasise his (peace be upon him) concern regarding the Hereafter and his disinterest regarding the worldly pleasures.
369. Al-Nu’mān ibn Bashīr said: “You are in enough luxury to eat and drink all that you wish! By Allāh, I have seen your Prophet (peace be upon him) not having the worst type of dates to fill his stomach.” [427]
370. Aisha narrated: “We, the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him) would pass a whole month without kindling a fire in our homes. [During this time] we would sustain ourselves on dates and water.” [428]
Abū Bakr ibn al-Arabī said,
Al-Tirmidhī reported from al-Zubair ibn al-‘Awwām that when the ayah: {Then you will surely be asked that Day about the delight [you indulged in, in this world]!}[429] was revealed, he asked, “O Messenger of Allāh! What delight will we be asked about when all that we have is just dates and water?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, “Indeed, it will happen.”[430]
Ibn Battal said,
This shows the rigorous self-denial and self-restraint of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his favouring of the Hereafter over the worldly pleasures. This is because when he was given the choice between receiving the pleasures of this worldly life and the pleasures of the Hereafter, he chose the latter, and when he was given the choice either to be a Prophet and a slave to Allāh or a Prophet who is a king, he chose the former. It is also an evidence for those who favour poverty over possessing riches.
371. Abu Talhah narrated: “We complained to the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) regarding the hunger we suffered, and showed him the stones fastened on our stomachs. Thereupon, he (peace be upon him) raised his garment and revealed two stones that he had fastened onto his stomach.”
Al-Tirmidhī said: “They fastened stones on their stomachs due to the severe exhaustion and hunger they suffered from.” [431]
Alī al-Qārī said,
It was said that the benefit of fastening a stone onto the stomach is that it averts intestinal emphysema, gives support to the back and thus allows easy movement. Al-Hafith ibn Hajar mentioned that this was the habit of Arabs or the people of Madīnah.
372. Abu Hurairah narrated: “Once, the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) exited his house at such a time that he would not normally leave his home, a time at which people would not meet him. Abū Bakr came to him and so he (peace be upon him) asked, ‘O Abū Bakr! Why have you come out?’ Abū Bakr replied, ‘I came out to meet the Messenger of Allāh, to look at his face and greet him.’
Soon after, ‘Umar came and so he (peace be upon him) said, ‘O Umar! Why have you come out?’ ‘Umar replied, ‘O Messenger of Allāh, due to hunger!’ The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said, ‘I too am slightly hungry.’ They then proceeded to the house of Abū al-Haytham al-Tayhān al-Ansārī. He owned many date palms, trees and sheep, but he did not have any servants. However, after arriving, they did not find him present. They asked his wife, ‘Where is your husband?’ She replied, ‘He has gone to bring us fresh water.’ It was not long until he arrived whilst carrying a water bag with difficulty. He placed it to the ground, embraced the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, ‘May my father and mother be sacrificed for you.’
He then invited them to his garden where he spread out for them a mat to sit upon and then went to a palm tree and brought a large cluster of dates, placing it before his guests. The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said, ‘Why did you not just pick for us the ripe ones [rather than bringing forth a whole cluster?]’ The host replied, ‘O Messenger of Allāh! I wanted that you could eat what pleases you from it.’ They ate from the ripe dates and drank from the water. The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said, ‘I swear by the One in whose Hand is my soul that this is also included amongst those blessings of which one will be asked on the Day of Judgment; the cool shadow, fresh and pure dates, and cold water.’
Abū al-Haytham then went to prepare some food, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him, ‘Do not slaughter a sheep that gives milk.’ So, he slaughtered for them a sheep that had not yet reached four months. After they ate, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the host, ‘Do you have any servants?’ He replied, ‘No.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, ‘When we receive captives of war, remind us.’
Thus at a later point, two slaves were brought to the Messenger (peace be upon him) upon which Abū al-Haytham came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) who said to him, ‘Pick from them.’ He (peace be upon him) said, ‘O Messenger of Allāh! I would prefer if you chose for me.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘The one whose advice is sought ought to be honest in his advice. I hence choose this slave for you, as I saw him praying. My advice to you is to treat him well.’
Abū al-Haytham went to his wife, and told her what the Messenger (peace be upon him) had advised him to do with the slave. His wife said, ‘You will not be able to fulfil that which the Prophet (peace be upon him) has commanded except by freeing him.’ He said, ‘Then, he is free.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘Allāh has not sent a Prophet or a vicegerent except that He (peace be upon him) made for them two types of close advisers. One of which ordains the good and forbids the evil. The other tries to corrupt the individual. The one that is saved from the corrupt advisor is saved from ruin and destruction.’” [432]
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
It is evident that the Prophet (peace be upon him) experienced periods of time when he had nothing and periods of time when he possessed riches but it was his habit to distribute the wealth he received between the needy ones and spending upon the army and delegates etc.
Al-Hulaymī said in Shu’ab al-Imān that the Prophet (peace be upon him) should be given his due respect by not describing him as a poor person. Al-Badr al-Zarkashī quoted some latter jurists who said the Prophet (peace be upon him) was not poor; rather he was rich for Allāh sufficed him in his worldly life.
The fiqh of this hadith is:
· It is permissible to express one’s pain and hunger if it is intended to help oneself to endure it. This is because if the intent is to complain, it is ugly and disliked.
· It is allowed to drink fresh water and look for it and that does not contradict zuhd.
· Serving one’s family is from the good manners and humbleness.
· It is recommended to honour the guest and show happiness for hosting them.
· It is recommended to serve fruit before serving the food and to hasten serving the food that can be eaten right away, especially if the host believes the guest is hungry. Some of the salaf disliked the host burdening himself with that which is beyond his capacity as that will affect one’s sincerity and may result in showing worry.
· The host should serve the best food he has even if this may take more time to cook.
· It is allowed to eat to a full stomach and the hadīths condemning overeating relate to when it is harmful or when it becomes regular as this hardens the heart and makes one forget about the needy ones.
· Al-Nawawī said, “The mention of the questioning on the Day of Judgement regarding the bounties that Allāh has bestowed upon us, which is mentioned in the hadīth, was to draw attention to His favours upon us and it was not intended for the purpose of condemnation or questioning.”
· The advisor should mind the best interest of the one asking for advice and must not withhold information that may benefit him.
· It shows that those who pray are better than those who do not pray.
· It is from evil to remain silent about evil and being good requires the person to order the good and forbid the wrong.
373. Sa’d ibn Abī Waqqās reported: “I was the first man to spill blood in the path of Allāh, and I was the first man to shoot an arrow in the path of Allāh. I found myself fighting besides a group of people from the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and we were in such a state where we ate nothing except the leaves of trees and shrubs. As a result, the corners of our mouths were sore and when we relieved ourselves, what came out appeared as if a camel or sheep had relieved itself. And now, the people of Banu Assad come to criticise my worship. Indeed, I am ruined and in loss if their [false] claim is true.” [433]
Alī al-Qārī said,
The companions used to pray in secret and it happened that some disbelievers saw Sa’d with a few other companions praying in secret. Thus, they started to abuse them and the dispute escalated so Sa’d hit one of them and made him bleed.
The battle referred to in the hadīth is the battle of al-Khabat which happened in the eighth year. The number of companions was three hundred and their leader was Abū ‘Ubaydah. Before they left Madīnah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave them a bag of dates and so Abū ‘Ubaydah used to divide it between the companions and reduce the share of each until it dwindled down to one date per person. After they finished the dates and endured a great degree of suffering, Allāh gave them from the sea an extremely large fish that they lived on for approximately one month. It was said that the battle that Sa’d referred to was a battle that the Prophet (peace be upon him) participated in, which is reported in Sahīh al-Bukharī and Sahīh Muslim. Regardless of which battle it was, the relevance of this hadīth in the context of this chapter is that it indicates the minimal resources that the Prophet (peace be upon him) possessed, because if he had more he would have given his companions more.
The reason Sa’d ibn Abī Waqqās was upset with Banī Assad is because he was appointed as the ruler of Basra during the time of ‘Umar and they falsely claimed that he did not know how to pray. So he expressed his objection to this, indicating to them the absurdity of their claim when he was from the first ones who embraced Islām and accompanied the Prophet (peace be upon him) for such a long time.
374. Khālid ibn ‘Umayr and Shuwaysa narrated: “‘Umar ibn al-Khattab instructed ‘Utbah ibn Ghazwān and those under his command to travel to the farthest point of the lands of the Arabs and the nearest part of the lands of the non-Arabs and camp there. The army embarked on the journey and when they reached al-Mirbad, they saw some strange white stones. They asked, ‘What is this?’ The people replied, ‘This is Basra.’ Then, they proceeded until they reached a small bridge. The people said, ‘This is the place that ‘Umar had ordered us to set up our camp.’” [The narrator mentioned the story in its totality.]
‘Utbah ibn Ghazwān said: “By Allāh, I was the seventh of the first seven with the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him), eating nothing but the leaves of trees until the corners of our mouths were sore. I picked up [from the floor] a garment and then I cut it into two halves and gave one half to Sa’d and I wore the other half. Each one from the seven became a leader of a city from amongst the cities. After us, you will find leaders that are in no way similar to us.” [434]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
‘Umar ibn al-Khattab sent ‘Utbah ibn Ghazwān with a group of people to guard the boarders from where the attacks of the disbelievers were feared. He appointed for them the location where they needed to set up their camp in.
Al-Tirmidhi did not include the full story due its irrelevance to the chapter; thus he jumped to the parts that are related to the title of the chapter.
The reason ‘Utbah ibn Ghazwān mentioned that he and the other six companions became rulers eventually was to show them how life was difficult at that time and how it changed afterwards.
The full incident is mentioned in Sahīh Muslim[435] and part of the remaining statement of ‘Utbah was, “I seek refuge in Allāh from being great in this world whilst being small in His sight.”
375. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said: ‘I was made to fear [for striving] in the path of Allāh at a time when no one else was threatened. I was harmed [for striving] in the path of Allāh at a time when no one else experienced harm. Thirty consecutive nights and days passed wherein I and Bilal had no food that even an animal would eat, except for the minute, hidden under the arm of Bilal .’” [436]
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalānī said,
Narrated Aisha: “I asked the Prophet (peace be upon him), ‘Have you encountered a day harder than the day [of the battle] of Uhud?’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, ‘Your tribes have troubled me a lot, and the worst trouble was the trouble on the day of ‘Aqaba when I presented myself to Ibn ‘Abd-Yalail ibn ‘Abd-Kulal and he did not respond to my request. So I departed, overwhelmed with sorrow and proceeded on. I could not relax until I found myself at Qarnath-Thalib where I lifted my head towards the sky to see a cloud shading me unexpectedly. I looked up and saw Jibra’īl in it. He called me saying, ‘Allāh has heard your people’s words to you, and what they have replied back to you, Allāh has sent the Angel of the Mountains to you so that you may order him to do whatever you wish to these people.’ The Angel of the Mountains called and greeted me, and then said, ‘O Muhammad! Order what you wish. If you like, I will let al-Akhshabain (i.e. two mountains) fall upon them.’ I said, ‘No but I hope that Allāh will let them beget children who will worship Allah Alone, and will worship none besides Him.’’”[437]
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
Al-Tirmidhī said that this was during the period when the Prophet (peace be upon him) left Makkah.
376. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) would not consume bread or meat in the morning or evening twice in one day, except if he was invited as a guest.” [438]
377. Nawfal ibn lyās al-Hudhalī narrated: “Abdul Rahman ibn al-‘Awf would host gatherings for us, and verily he was a good host. Once we were returning from a place with him. On returning we went with him to his house. When we entered his home he first took a bath and then came to us. Bread and meat was served upon a large platter. Thereupon he began to cry. I asked, ‘O Abu Muhammad! What causes you to cry?’ He said, ‘Until the demise of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him), neither did he or his family members fill their stomachs with something as little as the bread made of barley. I never thought that we would be delayed from that which is better for us.’” [439]
‘Abdullāh ibn Sa’īd said,
The crying of Abdul Rahman ibn al-‘Awf was due to his concern regarding the consequences of the ease which had come to engulf their lives. This is because the simple lifestyle of the best of mankind (peace be upon him) was such that he could not eat to his full even with the barley bread. The first generation used to become worried and concerned when life became easy for them as they feared that Allāh had made their reward in this worldly life instead of the Hereafter.