In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
With pens of longing and the ink of love,
We record lines more precious than gold,
Describing the Master of Creation, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
The Prophetic Characteristics (Shama'il).
Chapter: What has been narrated regarding the lifestyle of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
Muhammad Ibn Sirin narrated:
We were with Abu Hurayrah,
And he was wearing two garments dyed with red clay, made of linen.
He blew his nose into one of them,
Then said, "Well, well!
Abu Hurayrah blows his nose into linen!
I remember when I would fall unconscious between the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
And the chamber of ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
Fainting from hunger.
A passerby would come,
And place his foot upon my neck,
Thinking I was possessed by madness,
Yet I had no madness;
It was nothing but hunger."
In this hadith,
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, recalls his past condition,
And compares it to his present state.
He mentions that once,
Hunger became so severe for him,
That he could find no food to nourish his body,
Or satisfy his need,
To the point that he would writhe in the Mosque of the Prophet, peace be upon him, from hunger,
Until he would lose consciousness.
Those who saw him thought he was writhing due to madness,
While it was only the intensity of the hunger he was experiencing.
Yet today,
He wears two garments dyed with red clay, made of linen,
And uses them to blow his nose.
The meaning of "garments dyed with red clay" (mumashaqan),
Is that they were dyed with *mashaq*,
Which is red clay.
Linen is a well-known type of fabric;
Its garments are moderate in heat, cold, and dryness,
They do not cling to the body,
And it is considered a fine type of clothing.
The reason this hadith is mentioned in this chapter,
Is that it demonstrates the austerity of the life of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
For had he possessed anything,
He would not have left Abu Hurayrah hungry,
To the point that he would collapse from the intensity of his hunger.
Sa‘d Ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
"I am the first man to have shed blood in the path of Allah, the Almighty.
And I am the first man to have shot an arrow in the path of Allah.
I remember fighting in a group,
Eating nothing but tree leaves and *hublah* (acacia fruit),
Until the corners of our mouths became ulcerated.
One of us would defecate just as a sheep or camel does,
Yet now, the Banu Asad rebuke me regarding my religion.
I would have failed and lost, and my deeds would have been in vain."
In this hadith, Sa‘d Ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him, mentions,
His precedence in Islam and some of his deeds.
He said, "I am the first man to have shed blood in the path of Allah, the Almighty,"
Meaning that the first blood of the polytheists shed in the path of Allah was by his hand.
This occurred when he was praying in Makkah in secret during the early days of Islam;
Some polytheists saw him, rose against him, and he wrestled them,
Striking one of them with a camel's jawbone and drawing blood.
Thus, it was the first blood shed in the path of Allah.
His saying, "And I am the first man to have shot an arrow in the path of Allah,"
Occurred during the expedition of ‘Ubaydah Ibn al-Harith, may Allah be pleased with him.
That battle was the first conflict between the polytheists and the Muslims,
In the first year of the Hijrah,
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, sent a group of Muslims to Rabigh,
To intercept a caravan of Quraysh; they exchanged arrows, but there was no hand-to-hand combat.
So Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him, was the first to shoot an arrow in the path of Allah.
His saying, "I remember fighting in a group of the Companions of Muhammad, peace be upon him,
Eating nothing but tree leaves and *hublah*, until the corners of our mouths became ulcerated,"
Means he was fighting with a group of the Companions,
And they had no provisions except tree leaves and *hublah*.
*Hublah* is the fruit of the *samur* (acacia) tree.
His saying, "Until the corners of our mouths became ulcerated,"
Means we suffered sores on the sides of our mouths from the roughness and heat of the leaves we ate.
His saying, "One of us would defecate just as a sheep or camel does,"
Means that when one of us relieved himself, the waste resembled that of a sheep or camel,
Because he ate what they ate.
Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him, mentioning these matters has a backstory;
The people of Kufa complained about Sa‘d to ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,
While Sa‘d was their governor,
Claiming that he did not pray properly.
So ‘Umar sent for him,
And said, "O Abu Ishaq,
These people claim you do not pray properly."
Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him, replied,
"As for me, by Allah,
I would lead them in the prayer of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
Without omitting anything.
I would perform the ‘Isha’ prayer,
Lengthening the first two rak‘ahs,
And shortening the last two."
‘Umar said,
"That is what I expected of you, O Abu Ishaq."
In this hadith, Sa‘d says,
"Yet now, the Banu Asad rebuke me regarding my religion."
In a narration by al-Bukhari,
"They rebuke me regarding Islam,"
Meaning they discipline me and teach me how to pray,
Or accuse me of not knowing how to do it well.
The point is that Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him,
Denied the right of the Banu Asad to teach him the rulings,
Given his precedence, his long-standing companionship,
And his sacrifices for Islam.
His saying,
"I would have failed and lost,"
Means if I did not know how to pray,
And needed their instruction,
I would be a failure and a loser,
"And my deeds would have been in vain,"
Meaning all my past prayers.
Sa‘d, may Allah be pleased with him, was compelled,
To praise himself,
And while it is the way of the believer to avoid such things,
When the ignorant accused him,
Of not knowing how to pray,
He was forced to mention his virtues,
His precedence in Islam, and his deeds.
A person praising himself,
When free from arrogance and haughtiness,
And when the speaker's intention is to manifest the truth,
Is not considered blameworthy in his case.
‘Utbah Ibn Ghazwan, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
"I remember being one of seven,
With the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
Having no food except tree leaves,
Until the corners of our mouths became ulcerated.
I found a cloak,
And divided it between myself and Sa‘d.
Now, there is not one of those seven,
Who is not a governor of a city among the cities."
"And you will test the governors after us."
This hadith has a story,
Which is that ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him,
Sent ‘Utbah Ibn Ghazwan with a group of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them,
To be stationed at the frontiers of the lands of Islam,
And he designated a region for them to occupy.
When they arrived at the location,
‘Utbah, may Allah be pleased with him, delivered a sermon to his companions,
A long sermon which Muslim recorded in his Sahih.
The part relevant to this chapter,
Is the statement of ‘Utbah, may Allah be pleased with him,
"I remember being one of seven,
With the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
Having no food except tree leaves,
Until the corners of our mouths became ulcerated."
This indicates the austerity of life and the hardship,
That they were in at the beginning.
His saying, "I found a cloak,
And divided it between myself and Sa‘d,"
Means he found a cloak lying,
On the ground, worn out,
So he picked it up and divided it between himself and,
Sa‘d Ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him,
Due to the extreme need they were in.
Then he says, "There is not one,
Of those seven, except,
That he is a governor of a city among the cities."
‘Utbah, may Allah be pleased with him, mentions,
The blessing that their affairs had reached,
After that state of hardship and scarcity of life,
As they became governors over the cities.
His saying, "And you will test the governors,
After us," means that,
The governors who come after them will not be like,
The Companions in justice, piety,
And turning away from the worldly life.
And it was indeed so,
Which is one of the miracles regarding the foretelling of,
Unseen matters. He pointed to the difference,
That they saw from him, peace be upon him,
What served as a means for their discipline,
Their striving, and their austerity,
In their lifestyle,
So they continued after him upon that path,
While others who came after them,
Were not like that.
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"No one has been feared,
As I have been feared in the path of Allah.
And no one has been harmed,
As I have been harmed.
Thirty nights and days have passed for me,
When Bilal and I had no food that a living creature could eat,
Except for what Bilal could hide under his armpit."
In this hadith,
The Prophet, peace be upon him, informs us,
Saying,
"I have been threatened in the path of Allah, as no one else has been threatened,"
Meaning I was threatened,
With torture and death,
Because of my manifesting the religion of Allah, the Almighty.
And no one else was being threatened at that time.
His saying, "And I have been harmed,
In the path of Allah, as no one else has been harmed,"
Meaning that he was actually harmed for the sake of
Allah, and for the sake of His cause.
And no one among the people was harmed
during that time
as he was, for he said: "Thirty days and nights have passed for me,
between day and night,
and neither Bilal nor I had any food that a living creature could eat,
except for what Bilal could conceal under his arm."
This means that Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him,
was my companion at that time.
Thirty days and nights passed over us,
in their entirety and completeness,
and we had no food that any living being could eat,
except for a very small amount,
only as much as Bilal could carry under his arm.
We did not even have a vessel in which to store food.
All of this was a result of the persecution
by his people against him, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
to force him to stop his call to the faith.
Yet he, peace be upon him,
continued with patience and struggle,
until Allah caused the religion to prevail through him.
On the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him,
it is reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
never had both lunch and dinner gathered before him,
consisting of bread and meat, except when there were many hands sharing it.
'Abdullah said:
"Some say it means the abundance of hands."
In this hadith, Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, informs us
that the Prophet, peace be upon him,
never had both lunch and dinner
on the same day, consisting of bread and meat,
except when there were many hands sharing it.
'Abdullah, who is the teacher of Al-Tirmidhi, said:
"Some say 'dafaf'
means the abundance of hands."
Malik Ibn Dinar, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"I asked a man from the desert, 'What is dafaf?' He replied, 'It is to eat with many people.'"
The abundance of hands over food is part of its blessing. Imam Ahmad said: "If food possesses four qualities, it is complete:
if the name of Allah is mentioned at its beginning, Allah is praised at its end, many hands share it, and it is obtained from a lawful source."
On the authority of Nawfal Ibn Iyas Al-Hudhali, he said: "‘Abd Al-Rahman Ibn ‘Awf, may Allah be pleased with him, used to sit with us,
and he was an excellent companion. One day, he returned with us until we entered his house, where he went in, bathed, and then came out.
We were brought a platter containing bread and meat. When it was placed before ‘Abd Al-Rahman, he began to weep. I said, 'O Abu Muhammad, what makes you weep?'
He replied, 'The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passed away without having ever had his fill of barley bread, he and his household.
I fear that we have been granted our share of good things in this worldly life.' This hadith is weak, but a similar account is found in Sahih Al-Bukhari:
‘Abd Al-Rahman Ibn ‘Awf, may Allah be pleased with him, was brought his food one day, and he said, 'Mus'ab Ibn ‘Umayr was killed, and he was better than me,
yet he had nothing to be shrouded in except a mantle. And Hamzah, or another man, was killed, and he was better than me, yet he had nothing to be shrouded in except a mantle.
I fear that our good things have been hastened for us in our worldly life.' Then he began to weep."
The hadith has a continuation, 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.