In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
With pens of longing,
And the ink of love,
We inscribe words more precious than gold,
In describing the Master of all creation,
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
The Prophetic characteristics (Shama'il).
Chapter: What has been narrated regarding the description of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) side-dishes.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Meat was brought to the Prophet (peace be upon him),
And the shoulder (arm) was raised toward him,
For he used to like it.
He took a bite from it.
In this hadith,
It is mentioned that meat was brought to the Prophet (peace be upon him),
And the shoulder was raised toward him,
Meaning it was brought near to him and presented to him.
"For he used to like it,"
Means that he (peace be upon him)
Loved the shoulder,
Because it is the most delicious part,
And because it is at the front of the body,
It is the meat that cooks the fastest,
And is the most beneficial,
Along with its increased deliciousness,
And the sweetness of its taste,
And its distance from the places of impurity
In the animal.
His (peace be upon him) love
For certain foods
Means that when it was present before him,
He would partake of a good portion,
Because he would not burden people
By asking them to bring it or cook it,
Or other such things.
His saying, "He took a bite (nahasha) from it,"
Means he gripped the meat
With the tips of his teeth,
And pulled it from the bone.
In a narration in the two Sahihs,
It says "he took a bite (nahasa) from it,"
And both are authentic.
"Nahasa" is done with the tips of the teeth,
And "nahasha" is done with the molars.
From Ibn Mas‘ud
(may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The Prophet (peace be upon him)
Used to like the shoulder.
He said:
"And it was poisoned," referring to the shoulder.
And he believed that the Jews
Had poisoned it.
This hadith indicates
That the Prophet (peace be upon him)
Used to like the shoulder,
And it was poisoned.
Meaning, they placed poison in it for him.
This occurred during the expedition of
Khaybar.
His saying, "And he believed that the Jews,"
Means that Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) believed that the Jews had poisoned it.
Many evidences have come to show that it was indeed the Jews who placed poison for him in the sheep on the day of Khaybar.
They instructed a woman among them, called Zaynab bint al-Harith, to prepare food for him,
And to put poison in it to kill him.
She asked which part of the meat he liked best, and was told it was the shoulder.
So she put poison in the entire sheep, but she concentrated the amount in the shoulder.
When he (peace be upon him) took a bite from it, Allah made the shoulder speak,
And it informed him that there was poison in it.
So he (peace be upon him) spat out what was in his mouth.
Then this woman was brought to the Prophet (peace be upon him),
And she confessed, saying: "I thought if you were a king, we would be rid of you,
But if you are a Prophet, Allah will protect you."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not retaliate against her for anything.
Bishr ibn al-Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) had eaten from the meat and died,
So his family sought retribution for his blood, and she was executed.
From ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say during his final illness:
"O ‘A’ishah, I still feel the pain of the food I ate at Khaybar;
This is the time I feel my aorta being cut by that poison."
The aorta is a vein connected to the heart;
If it is severed, a person dies.
So Allah, the Exalted, protected His Prophet (peace be upon him) from that poison,
And it did not kill him.
Yet Allah willed that the effect of what he had put in his mouth would remain until he died three years later.
From Abu ‘Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
I cooked a pot for the Prophet (peace be upon him),
And he liked the shoulder, so I handed him the shoulder.
Then he said, "Hand me the shoulder," so I handed it to him.
Then he said, "Hand me the shoulder," so I said, "O Messenger of Allah, how many shoulders does a sheep have?"
He replied, "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, had you remained silent, you would have continued to hand me the shoulder as long as I asked."
This hadith mentions that Abu ‘Ubayd, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
Cooked a sheep for the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a pot.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him for the shoulder, so he handed it to him.
Then he asked him a second time, so he handed it to him.
Then he said a third time, "Hand me the shoulder."
Abu ‘Ubayd said in astonishment, "O Messenger of Allah, how many shoulders does a sheep have?"
Meaning, I have already handed you two shoulders, and a sheep only has two.
He (peace be upon him) said, "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, had you remained silent, you would have continued to hand me the shoulder as long as I asked,"
Meaning, if you had gone to the pot without questioning me, you would have handed me the shoulder even if I had asked you repeatedly,
Because Allah the Exalted would have created in it shoulder after shoulder,
As a miracle and honor for him (peace be upon him).
This is one of the signs of his Prophethood.
From Umm Hani’ (may Allah be pleased with her), who said:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) entered upon me and said, "Do you have anything?" I said, "No, only dry bread and vinegar."
He said, "Bring it; a house is never destitute of side-dishes if it has vinegar."
In this hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) entered upon Umm Hani’, who was his cousin.
He said, "Do you have anything?" meaning, do you have any food? She said, "No, only dry bread and vinegar."
He said, "Bring it," meaning, present it to me. "A house is never destitute of side-dishes if it has vinegar."
Meaning, if a house contains vinegar, it is not devoid of side-dishes.
The hadith encourages not looking at bread and vinegar with contempt.
It also shows there is no harm in asking for food from someone who would not be embarrassed by the requester, due to sincere love and the knowledge that the person asked would be pleased to provide it.
From Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "The superiority of ‘A’ishah over women is like the superiority of Tharid over all other food."
Tharid is bread crumbled and topped with broth from meat or similar, making it soft.
It may contain meat, or it may be without it.
The hadith indicates the superiority of the Mother of the Believers, ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him), over all other women.
This preference does not necessitate absolute superiority,
So that it would not exclude those like Maryam, Asiyah, Khadijah, and Fatimah.
This reconciles this hadith with the hadith regarding the best women of Paradise.
Rather, the intent is her superiority over the women of this Ummah, or her superiority over the other wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that he saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) perform wudu’ after eating from a piece of dried curd (aqit).
Then he saw him eat from the shoulder of a sheep, then pray without performing wudu’.
In this hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) performed wudu’ after he had eaten from a piece of dried curd.
Meaning a piece of aqit, and aqit is milk that has solidified and hardened.
A piece of it is called "thawr aqit" because it has separated (thara) from the rest.
The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) wudu’ after eating the aqit was because it had been touched by fire.
"Then he saw him eat from the shoulder of a sheep, then pray without performing wudu’."
This part of the hadith shows that he (peace be upon him) abandoned wudu’ after eating what had been touched by fire.
The reconciliation between the two is that the obligation of wudu’ after eating what was touched by fire was in the early days of Islam,
Then it was abrogated, and it remained only as a recommended act.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) intended by this hadith to show that the previous ruling,
Which was performing wudu’ after eating what was touched by fire, had been abrogated at the end of his (peace be upon him) life.
From Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) held a wedding feast for Safiyyah with dates and Sawiq (barley meal).
In this hadith, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) married the Mother of the Believers,
Safiyyah bint Huyayy ibn Akhtab (may Allah be pleased with her), who was among the captives of the battle of Khaybar,
He freed her and made her manumission her dowry, and held a feast for her with dates and Sawiq.
Sawiq is what is made from wheat or barley flour.
It is mentioned in the Sahih that he held a feast for her with Hays.
Hays is food made from dates and ghee, with either dried curd or flour added.
One learns from the hadith the recommendation of the wedding feast and that it should be according to the husband’s means.
It also shows the lack of affectation and the distance from extravagance that he (peace be upon him) practiced.
From Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) came to our house, so we slaughtered a sheep for him.
He said, "It is as if they knew that we love meat."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) intended by that to comfort them and bring joy to them,
Not out of a passion for meat or an excess in loving it.
This hadith has a story, which is that Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
I came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) seeking his help regarding a debt that was upon my father.
He said, "I will come to you."
He said, "So I returned and said to my wife, 'Do not speak to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and do not ask him.'"
He said, "So he came to us, and we slaughtered a young sheep we had for him."
He said, "O Jabir, it is as if you knew our love for meat."
He said, "When he left, my wife said to him, 'Pray for me and my husband,' or 'Pray for us.'"
He said, "O Allah, bless them."
He said, "I said to her, 'Did I not forbid you?'"
She said, "Do you see the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) entering upon us without praying for us?"
From Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went out, and I was with him.
He entered upon a woman from the Ansar,
And she slaughtered a sheep for him, so he ate from it.
She brought him a tray of fresh dates, so he ate from it.
Then he performed wudu’ for Dhuhr and prayed, then left.
She brought him the leftovers of the sheep, so he ate.
Then he prayed ‘Asr and did not perform wudu’.
In this hadith, Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says:
"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went out, and I was with him."
In this style is a demonstration of the perfect manners of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them)
In their speech regarding the Prophet (peace be upon him).
They use expressions that convey that they are his followers,
And that he (peace be upon him) is the one followed.
His saying, "He entered upon a woman from the Ansar,"
"And she slaughtered a sheep for him, so he ate from it."
"She brought him a tray of fresh dates, so he ate from it."
The tray (qina‘) is the dish upon which dates are eaten,
And it is made from palm fronds.
She presented the sheep to him first,
And he (peace be upon him) ate from it.
Then she presented the dates to him, and he ate from them.
Then he performed wudu’ for Dhuhr and prayed.
It does not necessarily follow that he (peace be upon him)
Performed wudu’ because he ate from the sheep,
Rather, he performed wudu’ for a ritual impurity or to renew his wudu’.
His saying, "Then he left," meaning after the Dhuhr prayer.
"She brought him the leftovers of the sheep."
The leftovers (‘alalah) are the remainder of something.
Meaning she brought him the remainder of the sheep.
He ate, then prayed ‘Asr and did not perform wudu’.
This shows that his (peace be upon him) first wudu’
Was not because of his eating from the sheep,
Otherwise, he would have performed wudu’ again for the ‘Asr prayer.
The hadith shows that the Prophet (peace be upon him)
Ate meat twice in one day,
Once before the Dhuhr prayer and once after it.
This does not contradict the statement of ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her):
"He never ate his fill of bread and meat twice in one day,"
Because it does not necessarily mean that he (peace be upon him)
Ate until he was full.
He had only eaten a little of it before the Dhuhr prayer.
When he finished the prayer, it was presented to him again.
He ate a little of it once more.
On the authority of Umm al-Mundhir, may Allah be pleased with her, she said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, came to visit me,
and ‘Ali was with him.
We had hanging clusters of dates.
She said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, began to eat,
and ‘Ali was eating with him.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to ‘Ali:
"Stop, ‘Ali, for you are recovering from an illness."
She said:
So ‘Ali sat down while the Prophet, peace be upon him, continued to eat.
She said: I then prepared some chard and barley for them.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to ‘Ali:
"Eat from this, for it is more suitable for you."
This hadith indicates that the Prophet, peace be upon him, visited Umm al-Mundhir,
who was one of his maternal aunts.
‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was with him.
Regarding her statement, "We had hanging clusters of dates,"
the word *dawali* is the plural of *daliyah*,
which refers to a cluster of fresh or ripening dates.
They used to hang the dates to ripen and then eat the ones that became ready.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, began to eat from the dates, and ‘Ali ate with him.
Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to ‘Ali:
"Stop, ‘Ali," meaning, cease eating.
"For you are recovering from an illness,"
meaning you have recently recovered from a sickness.
A *naqih* is one who has recently recovered from an illness,
and whose health has not yet fully returned to its normal state.
She said: I prepared some chard and barley for them.
Chard is a plant similar to arugula,
which is eaten cooked.
So she cooked the barley with the chard and served it to them.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to ‘Ali:
"Eat from this,"
"for it is more suitable for you."
Meaning, eat from this food, as it is more beneficial for you.
Scholars have mentioned
that when barley is cooked with chard,
it is very beneficial for the sick,
especially during the period of convalescence
and the beginning of the return to good health.
On the authority of ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, she said:
The Prophet, peace be upon him,
would come to me and ask:
"Do you have any food for the morning?"
I would say: "No."
He would say:
"Then I am fasting."
She said:
He came to me one day,
and I said:
"O Messenger of Allah,
we have been given a gift."
He asked:
"What is it?"
I said:
"Hays (a dish of dates, ghee, and dried yogurt)."
He said:
"I began the day fasting."
She said:
Then he ate.
This hadith shows
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
whenever he entered his house,
would ask ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
saying:
"Do you have any food for the morning?"
*Ghada* refers to what is eaten at the beginning of the day.
If she said no,
he would say:
"I am fasting,"
meaning he formed the intention to fast from that moment.
Then some food was brought to him,
and she said to him: "O Messenger of Allah,
we have been given a gift."
He asked what it was,
and she said:
"Hays."
Hays
is dates mixed with ghee and dried yogurt (aqt),
or with ghee and flour.
He, peace be upon him, said:
"I began the day fasting,"
but she said:
Then he ate.
We learn from this hadith
that for voluntary fasting, it is not a condition to form the intention from the night before.
If a person wakes up and has not eaten or drunk anything,
and then decides during the day to fast,
he may do so.
This is unlike obligatory fasting,
for which it is a condition to form the intention from the night before.
Also, in this hadith,
it is shown that he, peace be upon him,
had intended to fast,
but then found food after arriving home,
and so he broke his fast.
This is evidence that one who is voluntarily fasting
may break his fast at any time he wishes during the day,
for he is the master of his own decision.
On the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him,
that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
used to like the *thufal*.
‘Abdullah said:
Meaning what remained of the food.
This hadith shows
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
used to like the *thufal*.
*Thufal* was explained by the author’s teacher,
‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Darimi,
as that which remains of the food,
meaning what is left at the bottom of the pot,
whether it be meat, flour, or otherwise.
It is distinguished by being more thoroughly cooked
and better in taste.
It contains an indication of humility, patience,
contentment with little,
and seeking the blessing in the remainder of the food.
In concluding this chapter,
it is good to mention that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
was not in the habit of restricting himself
to only one type of food,
as that is often harmful to one's health,
even if it is the best of foods.
Therefore, he would eat whatever was available to him,
such as meat, fruit, dates, and other things.
The hadith has more to follow, if Allah wills.
And Allah knows best.
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad,
and upon all his family and companions.