*Riyad al-Salihin* (The Meadows of the Righteous), from the words of the Master of the Messengers, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Chapter: The Excellence of Hunger and an Austere Life,
and Contenting Oneself with Little Food, Drink, and Clothing,
as well as other worldly pleasures, and Renouncing Desires.
On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would spend consecutive nights hungry,
and his household could find no dinner,
and most of their bread was barley bread."
Related by al-Tirmidhi.
*Tawiyan* means having an empty stomach, having eaten nothing.
Among the lessons of the hadith:
An illustration of his asceticism (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
his taking only little of worldly comforts,
and his patience during its hardships.
The great virtue of the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him),
in enduring hardships alongside him
without expressing discontent with their condition.
A demonstration of the austere life they lived,
for they did not live merely to eat and enjoy themselves as cattle enjoy themselves;
rather, they lived as callers to Islam, guardians of Tawhid, and custodians of the Sunnah,
so Allah elevated their renown and subdued their enemies.
On the authority of Fadalah ibn 'Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him):
When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
used to lead the people in prayer,
men would collapse from their standing positions in prayer due to extreme hunger—
and they were the People of the Suffah—
to the extent that the bedouins would say,
"These are madmen."
When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) finished his prayer,
he turned to them and said:
"If you only knew what is stored for you with Allah Almighty,
you would wish to be granted even more destitution and need."
Related by al-Tirmidhi.
*Al-Khasasah*
means destitution and severe hunger.
*Yakhirru* means falls down.
*Min qamatihim* means from their standing position.
Among the lessons of the hadith:
When in deprivation, a person should
look toward the reward stored for them,
rather than pining over what they missed of their worldly desires.
An illustration of the livelihood of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
and the asceticism and austerity they adhered to,
along with patience and absence of complaint.
Not all assumptions based on analogy are correct;
the bedouins assumed they collapsed due to madness
because they analogized what they saw to what they previously knew,
which shows that mere external resemblance is not a valid basis for sound analogy.
Whoever judges by outward appearances
is not to be punished or blamed once they observe matters firsthand.
The keenness of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to comfort the hearts of his Companions
regarding the hurtful remarks they heard.
On the authority of Abu Karimah al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:
"No human fills a vessel worse than his stomach.
It is sufficient for the son of Adam to have a few mouthfuls to keep his back straight.
But if it must be, then a third for his food,
a third for his drink, and a third for his breath."
Related by al-Tirmidhi.
*Ukaylat* means small morsels.
*Bi-hasb* means sufficient to sustain him.
*Sulbuhu* means his back.
*La mahalah* means if it is inevitable.
Among the lessons of the hadith:
This hadith is a foundational principle encompassing all the principles of medicine.
Had people applied these words,
they would have been spared illnesses and ailments.
The recommendation to eat sparingly
and to be content with small amounts of food.
The best portion a believer can eat fills a third of his stomach,
drink for another third,
and leave a third for breathing.
An excess of food causes lethargy,
harms health, and induces excessive sleep.
As for taking little nourishment,
it brings about tenderness of the heart, sharpness of intellect,
humility of the soul, and the subsiding of whim and anger.
On the authority of Abu Umamah,
Iyas ibn Tha'labah al-Ansari al-Harithi (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be blessings of Allah be upon him)
mentioned the worldly life one day in his presence,
whereupon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
"Will you not listen?
Will you not listen?
Simple living is part of faith!
Simple living is part of faith!"
That is, rough and simple living.
Related by Abu Dawud.
*Al-Badhadhah* means a modest, simple appearance
and renouncing luxurious garments.
As for *al-taqahhula*,
it refers to a man with dried, weathered skin from a rugged life
and renouncing luxury.
Among the lessons of the hadith:
The recommendation to redirect the conversation of a gathering
whenever the talk becomes burdened by worldly pleasures,
its desires, and its adornments,
turning hearts away from the remembrance of Allah Almighty.
Encouraging humility and taking little of this world;
that is, doing so inspires high resolve for worship and obedience.
It is not to be understood from the hadith that hygiene should be neglected,
for Islam has strongly encouraged it,
and it is among the requisites of faith.
On the authority of Abu 'Abdullah, Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:
"The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) dispatched us,
and placed Abu 'Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) in command over us,
to intercept a caravan belonging to Quraysh.
He provided us with a leather bag of dates,
finding nothing else to give us.
Abu 'Ubaydah would give each of us a single date at a time."
It was asked: "What did you do with it?"
He replied: "We would suck on it just as a child does,
then drink water after it,
and it would suffice us for the entire day until nightfall.
We also used to strike down leaves with our sticks,
then moisten them with water and eat them."
He said: "Then we proceeded to the seashore,
and there appeared to us on the shore something like a huge sand dune.
When we approached it, we found it to be a sea creature called al-'Anbar (the sperm whale).
Abu 'Ubaydah said: 'It is carrion.'
Then he said: 'No,
rather, we are the emissaries of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
and we are in the cause of Allah,
and you have been compelled by necessity,
so eat!'
We remained eating from it for a month,
being three hundred men,
until we grew stout.
I remember us scooping fat from its eye socket using large earthenware jugs,
and cutting meat chunks from it as large as a bull, or the size of a bull.
Abu 'Ubaydah took thirteen men from our group
and seated them inside its eye socket.
He then took one of its ribs and set it upright,
saddled the largest camel we had,
and it passed beneath it without touching.
We also stocked strips of its cured meat for provisions.
When we arrived in Medina,
we came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)
and mentioned that to him,
whereupon he said:
'It was a provision that Allah brought forth for you.
Do you have any of its meat with you to feed us?'
So we sent some of it to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),
and he ate it."
Related by Muslim.
*Al-Jirab*
is a well-known leather container.
His saying *al-khabat*
refers to well-known tree leaves
that camels eat.
*Al-Kathib*
is a dune of sand.
*Al-Waqb*
is the eye socket.
*Al-Qilal*
are large clay jars.
*Al-Fidar*
are large pieces or chunks of meat.
*Rahala al-ba'ir*
means placing the saddle upon the camel.
*Al-Washa'iq*
is meat cut into strips to be dried and cured.
And Allah knows best.
*'Ir*
refers to a camel caravan
carrying food provisions.
*Al-'Anbar*
is a massive sea creature (whale).
Among the lessons of the hadith:
The permissibility of taking the property of combatant disbelievers.
A miracle of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) regarding the sufficiency of food,
where a single date sustained a Companion for an entire day.
A demonstration of the Companions' asceticism and detachment from worldly comforts (may Allah be pleased with them),
and their endurance of hunger and austere living.
The Companions' endurance of hardships for the sake of spreading Islam
and striving in the cause of Allah to raise His banner.
The permissibility of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad),
and the subsequent permissibility of revising it;
for Abu 'Ubaydah initially forbade them from eating the sea creature,
then revised his reasoning and instructed them to eat from it.
Allah Almighty's care and guardianship over the Companions of His Messenger (peace be upon him),
and His honoring them,
by providing them with wholesome sustenance
when He knew their pressing need and sincerity.
What dies in the sea is permissible to eat,
as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ate from it.
On the authority of Asma' bint Yazid (may Allah be pleased with her), who said:
"The sleeve of the shirt of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) reached to the wrist."
Related by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi.
*Al-Rusgh* (spelled with sad),
which can also be pronounced *al-rusgh* with sin,
is the joint between the hand and the forearm.
Among the lessons of the hadith:
Encouragement toward modesty in clothing and avoiding excessively long garments,
as it may lead to arrogance and ostentation,
or hinder a person's mobility.
*Riyad al-Salihin*.