Bowl
of milk and seventy companions
Sayyidunā Abū Ĥurayraĥ has stated,
'By Allah , who has no partner! I used to tie a stone to my stomach and place
it on the floor owing to extreme hunger. One day, I sat on the pathway where
people walk. The Holy Prophet ﷺ passed by me smilingly.
Seeing me in this state, he immediately realized my condition. Then, he said,
"O Abū Ĥurayraĥ!" I replied, "Labbayk (I am present) Yā
Rasūlallāĥ!" He said, "Come with me." I followed him until we
arrived at one of his blessed homes. Seeking permission, I entered the blessed
house. Seeing a bowl of milk, the Beloved and Blessed Prophet ﷺ asked his family members as to where it had come from. They
replied that a companion had sent it as a gift for the Noble Rasūl. Looking at
me, the Beloved and Blessed Prophet ﷺ
said, "O Abū Ĥurayraĥ!" I replied, "Labbayk Yā Rasūlallāĥ!"
He then said, "Go and call the Aĥl-e-Ṣuffaĥ."'
Sayyidunā Abū Ĥurayraĥ has further
stated that the Aĥl-e-Ṣuffaĥ were the guests of Islam. They had no houses and
wealth, nor did they take help from anyone. Whenever anything came as Ṣadaqaĥ
(i.e. alms) to the Beloved Prophet ﷺ
he used to send it to the Aĥl-e-Ṣuffaĥ without taking anything from it, and
whenever the Holy Prophet ﷺ received any gift, he
used to send a portion of it to the Aĥl-e-Ṣuffaĥ and would eat from it.
Sayyidunā Abū Ĥurayraĥ goes on to say that he felt rather distressed due to
calling all the Aĥl-e-Ṣuffaĥ because just one bowl of milk could not be
sufficient for all of them. He also felt that he was certainly more deserving of
the milk because he would gain some strength by drinking it. He also knew that
the Holy Prophet ﷺ would instruct him to
feed the Aĥl-e-Ṣuffaĥ when they arrived, and it would be unlikely that he would
get even a few sips of the milk. But he was also aware that it was mandatory to
abide by the commandment of Allah and His Holy Prophet ﷺ.
He goes on to say, 'I then went to
the Aĥl-e-Ṣuffaĥ and called them. They came, sought permission, entered the
blessed house and sat down.' The Holy Prophet ﷺ
then said, 'O Abū Ĥurayraĥ!' I replied, 'Labbayk Yā Rasūlallāĥ!' The Holy
Prophet ﷺ said, 'Take the bowl of milk and make them
drink.' I then gave the bowl of milk to the first person and after drinking as
much as he could he returned the bowl to me. I kept giving the bowl of milk to
one another until all of them drank milk. Then, taking the bowl of milk in his
blessed hand, the Holy Prophet ﷺ looked at me
smilingly and said, 'O Abū Ĥurayraĥ!' I responded, 'Labbayk Yā Rasūlallāĥ!' He
said, 'Now only I and you are left.' I said, 'Yā Rasūlallāĥ! You have spoken
the truth.' He then said to me, 'Sit down and drink.' I sat down and began to
drink the milk. He then said, 'Drink.' He kept asking me to drink until I said,
'I swear by the One who has sent you with the truth, I am not able to drink
anymore.' He ordered me to give him the bowl. I handed over the bowl to him. He
then glorified Allah and drank the remaining milk reciting بِسْمِ اللّٰه.
(Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, vol. 7, pp. 230,
Ḥadīš 6452)
سُبْحٰنَ
اللّٰه! This is one of the great miracles of
the Holy Prophet ﷺ that all the
Aĥl-e-Ṣuffaĥ who were nearly seventy in number could not finish a small bowl of
milk. Referring to this very incident, A'lā Ḥaḍrat has written the following
couplet:
Kyūn
janāb Bū Ĥurayraĥ ! Thā woĥ kaysā jām-e-shīr
Jis say sattar Ṣāḥibon kā dūdĥ say munĥ pĥir gayā
O Bū
Ĥurayraĥ ! How was the sweet beverage!
That filled the mouth of seventy companions with milk
Independence
from people
Sayyidunā Abū Yaḥyā Mālik Bin Dīnār
has stated that he once told Sayyidunā Abū 'Abdullāĥ Muhammad Bin Wāsi', 'O Abū
'Abdullāĥ! Fortunate is the person who is content with just a little amount of
grain and is indifferent to others.' When he heard this, he said to me, 'O Abū
Yaḥyā! Glad tidings are for the person who is hungry in the morning and evening
and the Almighty is pleased with him.'
(Iḥyā-ul-'Ulūm, vol. 3, pp. 90)
Ineffective
advice
It is narrated that the advice of
the one whose stomach is full has no effect (on others) and when he is given
advice, his mind refuses to accept it.
(Nuzĥa-tul-Majālis, vol. 1, pp.
178)
Smell
at time of death
Amīr-ul-Mūminīn, Sayyidunā 'Umar
Fārūq A'ẓam has stated, 'Refrain from filling your stomach as it is a burden in
life and foul smell at the time of death.'
(Iḥyā-ul-'Ulūm, vol. 3, pp. 90)
When
you eat a lot, you also have to earn a lot
Dear Islamic brothers! Sayyidunā
'Umar Fārūq A'ẓam has spoken an outright truth. Really, not applying the Madanī
guard to the stomach and eating excessively causes a heavy burden in life as
the more one eats, the more he has to earn. He has to work hard to cook the
food; then he has to carry its burden in the stomach. Excessive eating is
detrimental to the digestive system. As a result, the one who eats excessively
is burdened with excessive gas, constipation and many other problems including
the burden of doctors' fee and expenses for medication. As soon as the food
goes down the throat, the taste disappears and the stomach has to bear the
burden for a long time. This leads to one hardship after another. Abstaining
from those few moments of pleasure, if only we would develop the mindset of
saving ourselves from all these heavy burdens throughout our life, and from
foul smell at the time of our death!
No
pleasure in worship
It is narrated that if you are in the
habit of filling your stomach with food then you should not hope for the
pleasure of worship. How can you have light in your heart if you do not carry
out worship? And if this worship is performed without (spiritual) pleasure,
then how can Nūr (light) enter your heart?
(Minĥāj-ul-'Ābidīn, pp. 107)
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