From Riyad al-Salihin, from the words of the Master of the Messengers, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him:
Chapter on the Virtue of Hunger and an Austere Life,
and Being Content with Little Food, Drink, Clothing,
and other bodily desires, and renouncing worldly passions.
On the authority of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
On the Day of the Trench, while we were digging,
a huge, impenetrable rock obstructed us.
So they came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and said:
"This hard rock has appeared in the trench."
He said, "I am going down."
Then he stood up with a stone tied over his stomach,
for we had remained for three days without tasting any food.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) took the pickaxe and struck it,
and it turned into a mound of soft, flowing sand.
So I said, "O Messenger of Allah,
grant me permission to go home."
I said to my wife:
"I have seen something in the Prophet (peace be upon him)
that I can no longer bear patiently.
Do you have anything?"
She said:
"I have some barley and a young female goat."
So I slaughtered the young goat and she ground the barley,
until we placed the meat into the cooking pot.
Then I went to the Prophet (peace be upon him),
as the dough had softened and fermented,
and the cooking pot on the hearthstones was almost done.
I said:
"I have a small meal,
so come, O Messenger of Allah, along with one or two men."
He asked, "How much is it?"
So I mentioned it to him.
He said:
"That is plenty and good!
Tell her not to remove the cooking pot or the bread from the oven until I arrive."
Then he said:
"Get up!"
So the Emigrants (Muhajirun) and the Ansar stood up.
I entered upon my wife and said:
"Woe to you!
The Prophet (peace be upon him) has come,
along with the Emigrants, the Ansar, and all who are with them!"
She asked:
"Did he ask you?"
I said, "Yes."
He said:
"Enter, and do not crowd one another."
He began breaking the bread,
putting the meat upon it,
and covering the cooking pot and the oven whenever he took from them.
He would serve it to his Companions and then take more.
He continued breaking bread and ladling stew until they were all full, and food still remained.
Then he said:
"Eat of this and give it as a gift,
for the people have been stricken with severe hunger."
Agreed upon.
And in another narration:
Jabir said:
When the Trench was being dug,
I noticed severe hunger in the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
So I returned home to my wife and said:
"Do you have anything?
For I saw severe hunger in the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
She brought out a leather bag containing a sa' of barley,
and we had a tame young goat.
So I slaughtered it,
and she ground the barley,
finishing when I finished.
I cut up the meat into its cooking pot,
then I turned to head towards the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
She said:
"Do not humiliate me before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and those with him!"
So I went to him and whispered to him,
saying:
"O Messenger of Allah,
we have slaughtered a small goat of ours,
and ground a sa' of barley,
so please come with a small group."
But the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called out aloud, saying:
"O people of the Trench!
Jabir has prepared a feast,
so come along!"
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"Do not take down your cooking pot,
nor bake your dough until I arrive."
I came home, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) arrived leading the people,
until I reached my wife,
and she said:
"May this and that happen to you!"
I said:
"I did only what you told me."
She brought out the dough,
and he spat slightly into it and blessed it.
Then he went over to our cooking pot,
spat slightly into it and blessed it.
Then he said:
"Call another woman to bake alongside you,
and ladle out from your cooking pot,
but do not take it off the fire."
And they were one thousand men.
I swear by Allah,
they ate until they left it and turned away,
while our cooking pot was still boiling with stew just as it was,
and our dough was still being baked into bread just as it was.
His saying:
"A hard rock obstructed us" (aradat kudyah):
It is a thick, solid piece of earth
which an axe cannot break.
And al-katheeb (mound):
It originally means a sand dune,
and what is meant here
is that it turned into fine dust,
which is the meaning of aheel (flowing smoothly).
And al-athafi (hearthstones):
The stones upon which the cooking pot rests.
And "do not crowd one another" (la tadaghatu):
Do not push or jostle each other.
And al-maja'ah:
Hunger.
And hunger...
And al-khamas:
It means hunger and an empty stomach.
And "I returned" (inkafa'tu):
Meaning, I turned back and went home.
And al-bahimah:
The diminutive of bahmah,
which is a young female goat ('anaq).
And al-dajin:
An animal that is domesticated and kept at home.
And al-su'r:
Food to which people are invited,
and the word has Persian origins.
And "hayya hala":
Meaning, come along.
Meaning, she scolded him and showed distress,
because she thought that what they had would not suffice them,
so she felt embarrassed,
unaware of the honor that Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, bestowed upon His Prophet (peace be upon him)
through this evident miracle and magnificent sign.
Basaqa:
Meaning, he spat slightly (basaqa),
and it is also pronounced bazaqa,
three dialectal variants.
And 'amada:
Meaning, he went directly toward.
Iqdahi:
Meaning, ladle out.
And al-miqdahah:
The ladle.
And taghittu:
Meaning, it was bubbling and boiling with a sound.
And Allah knows best.
"We had not tasted any food":
Meaning, we did not eat anything during that time.
Al-mi'wal:
Meaning, the pickaxe.
Al-'anaq:
The young female goat.
"The dough had softened" (inkasara):
Meaning, it became soft, moist,
and thoroughly leavened.
Al-tannur:
The clay oven in which bread is baked.
"Woe to you" (wayhaki):
A word expressing mercy and sympathy.
"He covered the cooking pot and the oven":
Meaning, he placed a cover over them both.
Among the benefits derived from the hadith:
Encouragement of mutual cooperation in work that brings benefit to the Muslims,
and this is seen clearly in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) joining his Companions in the labor.
The immense love of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
The keenness of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that good should encompass all of his Companions,
as he invited them all to the meal.
A fighter should not leave his position except with the permission of the commander.
The miracle of multiplying the food for the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
The believers' empathy and care for one another,
and their preference of their brothers over their own selves.
The recommendation of giving food as gifts, especially in times of hardship and hunger.
On the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
Abu Talhah said to Umm Sulaym:
"I heard the voice of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sounding faint,
and I recognized hunger in it.
Do you have anything?"
She said, "Yes."
She brought out some loaves of barley bread,
then took a headscarf of hers,
wrapped the bread in part of it,
tucked it under my garment, and wrapped me with the rest of it.
Then she sent me to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
I went with it
and found the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sitting in the mosque with the people around him.
I stood by them,
and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to me:
"Did Abu Talhah send you?"
I said, "Yes."
He said, "With food?"
I said, "Yes."
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Stand up!"
So they set off, and I ran ahead of them until I reached Abu Talhah and informed him.
Abu Talhah said,
"O Umm Sulaym!
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has arrived with the people,
and we do not have enough to feed them."
She replied,
"Allah and His Messenger know best."
So Abu Talhah went out until he met the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
and the Messenger of Allah came along with him until he entered the house.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) then said,
"Bring whatever you have, O Umm Sulaym."
So she brought that bread,
and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered it to be broken,
so it was broken into pieces,
and Umm Sulaym squeezed a leather butter-container over it, making it into a seasoned dish.
Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) supplicated over it whatever Allah willed him to say,
and then said,
"Admit ten men."
So he admitted them,
and they ate until they were full, and then left.
Then he said,
"Admit ten men."
Until all the people had eaten and were completely full,
and they were seventy or eighty men.
Agreed upon.
In another narration:
"Ten would continuously enter and ten would leave,
until not one of them remained except that he entered and ate until he was full.
Then he gathered it until he was full—
then he gathered it together,
and it was just as full as it had been before they ate from it."
In another narration:
"So they ate ten at a time,
until he had done that with eighty men.
Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the household ate after that,
and they left behind leftovers."
In another narration:
"Then they had leftovers that they distributed to their neighbors."
And in a narration from Anas, he said:
"I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) one day,
and found him sitting with his Companions,
having bound a sash tightly around his stomach.
So I asked some of his Companions,
'Why has the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) bound his stomach?'
They replied, 'Out of severe hunger.'
So I went to Abu Talhah—
I went to Abu Talhah,
who was the husband of Umm Sulaym bint Milhan,
and said, 'O my father!
I saw that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has bound his stomach with a sash,
so I asked some of his Companions,
and they said it was out of hunger.'
So Abu Talhah went in to see my mother
and asked, 'Do you have anything?'
She said, 'Yes,
I have some crusts of bread and a few dates.
If the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) comes to us alone,
we can satisfy his hunger,
but if someone else comes with him,
it will be too little for them.'"
And he recounted the rest of the hadith.
*Khimar* means head-covering.
*Dassat*
means she slipped it in firmly and securely.
*Wa-raddatni bi-ba'dihi*
means she wrapped me in part of the head-covering.
*Halummi*
means bring forward.
*'Ukkah*
means a round leather container
specifically used for clarified butter (ghee) and honey,
most especially for clarified butter.
*Adamath*
means she turned what came out of it into a condiment for the bread.
*Hayya'aha*
means he gathered it together after all of them had eaten.
*Mithluha*
means in the exact same state it was in before they ate from it.
*Su'ran*
means leftover food.
*Afdalu*
means they retained extra food
*Ma balaghu jiranahum*
means which they sent as a gift to their neighbors.
*'Asaba*
means he tied tightly.
*Kisar*
means broken pieces of bread.
Among the derived lessons of the hadith:
The permissibility of acting upon intuition (*firasah*) and contextual cues (*qara'in*),
as Abu Talhah deduced the Prophet's severe hunger from the faintness of his voice.
The permissibility of inviting people to a meal while inside the mosque,
as well as accepting the invitation from there.
The permissibility of inviting someone for a meal even if it is not a formal feast.
The permissibility of inviting a large group to partake in a small amount of food.
If the invitee knows that the host does not mind others attending along with him,
then there is no harm in bringing others with him.
The hadith demonstrates the sharp intellect and sound discernment of Umm Sulaym,
as she realized that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
had intentionally invited the large gathering
in order for the miracle of multiplying the food to be manifested,
which is why she said:
"Allah and His Messenger know best."
The Companions' deep concern for the conditions and well-being of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
The miracle of the multiplication of food through the blessing (*barakah*) of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
The permissibility of eating until one is full,
for the hadith states: "and they ate until they were full."
The permissibility of admitting guests in groups of ten,
if the need arises to do so,
due to scarcity of food or lack of seating space.
Anas addressing Abu Talhah as "O my father"
was out of respect and good manners,
for Abu Talhah was otherwise his mother's husband (stepfather).
Umm Sulaym's statement:
"Allah and His Messenger know best"
was specific to the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
because he received knowledge through divine revelation.
As for after his death,
divine revelation has ceased,
so the correct practice is not to say this expression after his death (peace be upon him);
rather, one should simply say:
"Allah knows best."
*Riyad al-Salihin* (The Meadows of the Righteous).