Riyadh Al-Salehin | Episode (74) | Chapter on the virtue of hunger, harsh living, and abandoning desires (4)

0:00 *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.

0:09 Chapter: The Excellence of Hunger and an Austere Life,

0:15 and Contenting Oneself with Little Food, Drink, and Clothing,

0:20 as well as other worldly pleasures, and Renouncing Desires.

0:25 On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:

0:31 "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would spend consecutive nights hungry,

0:38 and his household could find no dinner,

0:42 and most of their bread was barley bread."

0:46 Related by al-Tirmidhi.

0:48 *Tawiyan* means having an empty stomach, having eaten nothing.

0:53 Among the lessons of the hadith:

0:57 An illustration of his asceticism (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),

1:01 his taking only little of worldly comforts,

1:03 and his patience during its hardships.

1:06 The great virtue of the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him),

1:11 in enduring hardships alongside him

1:14 without expressing discontent with their condition.

1:17 A demonstration of the austere life they lived,

1:21 for they did not live merely to eat and enjoy themselves as cattle enjoy themselves;

1:27 rather, they lived as callers to Islam, guardians of Tawhid, and custodians of the Sunnah,

1:33 so Allah elevated their renown and subdued their enemies.

1:38 On the authority of Fadalah ibn 'Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him):

1:44 When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

1:47 used to lead the people in prayer,

1:50 men would collapse from their standing positions in prayer due to extreme hunger—

1:55 and they were the People of the Suffah—

1:58 to the extent that the bedouins would say,

2:00 "These are madmen."

2:03 When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) finished his prayer,

2:07 he turned to them and said:

2:10 "If you only knew what is stored for you with Allah Almighty,

2:14 you would wish to be granted even more destitution and need."

2:19 Related by al-Tirmidhi.

2:22 *Al-Khasasah*

2:24 means destitution and severe hunger.

2:27 *Yakhirru* means falls down.

2:30 *Min qamatihim* means from their standing position.

2:34 Among the lessons of the hadith:

2:38 When in deprivation, a person should

2:41 look toward the reward stored for them,

2:44 rather than pining over what they missed of their worldly desires.

2:49 An illustration of the livelihood of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

2:54 and the asceticism and austerity they adhered to,

2:58 along with patience and absence of complaint.

3:01 Not all assumptions based on analogy are correct;

3:04 the bedouins assumed they collapsed due to madness

3:08 because they analogized what they saw to what they previously knew,

3:12 which shows that mere external resemblance is not a valid basis for sound analogy.

3:20 Whoever judges by outward appearances

3:22 is not to be punished or blamed once they observe matters firsthand.

3:26 The keenness of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to comfort the hearts of his Companions

3:32 regarding the hurtful remarks they heard.

3:37 On the authority of Abu Karimah al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

3:44 I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:

3:49 "No human fills a vessel worse than his stomach.

3:54 It is sufficient for the son of Adam to have a few mouthfuls to keep his back straight.

3:59 But if it must be, then a third for his food,

4:04 a third for his drink, and a third for his breath."

4:08 Related by al-Tirmidhi.

4:10 *Ukaylat* means small morsels.

4:14 *Bi-hasb* means sufficient to sustain him.

4:19 *Sulbuhu* means his back.

4:22 *La mahalah* means if it is inevitable.

4:25 Among the lessons of the hadith:

4:29 This hadith is a foundational principle encompassing all the principles of medicine.

4:34 Had people applied these words,

4:38 they would have been spared illnesses and ailments.

4:41 The recommendation to eat sparingly

4:44 and to be content with small amounts of food.

4:47 The best portion a believer can eat fills a third of his stomach,

4:51 drink for another third,

4:53 and leave a third for breathing.

4:56 An excess of food causes lethargy,

5:00 harms health, and induces excessive sleep.

5:03 As for taking little nourishment,

5:06 it brings about tenderness of the heart, sharpness of intellect,

5:09 humility of the soul, and the subsiding of whim and anger.

5:13 On the authority of Abu Umamah,

5:16 Iyas ibn Tha'labah al-Ansari al-Harithi (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

5:22 The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be blessings of Allah be upon him)

5:26 mentioned the worldly life one day in his presence,

5:29 whereupon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

5:32 "Will you not listen?

5:35 Will you not listen?

5:37 Simple living is part of faith!

5:40 Simple living is part of faith!"

5:43 That is, rough and simple living.

5:46 Related by Abu Dawud.

5:49 *Al-Badhadhah* means a modest, simple appearance

5:52 and renouncing luxurious garments.

5:55 As for *al-taqahhula*,

5:57 it refers to a man with dried, weathered skin from a rugged life

6:01 and renouncing luxury.

6:03 Among the lessons of the hadith:

6:08 The recommendation to redirect the conversation of a gathering

6:11 whenever the talk becomes burdened by worldly pleasures,

6:14 its desires, and its adornments,

6:17 turning hearts away from the remembrance of Allah Almighty.

6:21 Encouraging humility and taking little of this world;

6:25 that is, doing so inspires high resolve for worship and obedience.

6:29 It is not to be understood from the hadith that hygiene should be neglected,

6:34 for Islam has strongly encouraged it,

6:37 and it is among the requisites of faith.

6:41 On the authority of Abu 'Abdullah, Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:

6:47 "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) dispatched us,

6:51 and placed Abu 'Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) in command over us,

6:55 to intercept a caravan belonging to Quraysh.

6:58 He provided us with a leather bag of dates,

7:01 finding nothing else to give us.

7:03 Abu 'Ubaydah would give each of us a single date at a time."

7:07 It was asked: "What did you do with it?"

7:11 He replied: "We would suck on it just as a child does,

7:16 then drink water after it,

7:19 and it would suffice us for the entire day until nightfall.

7:22 We also used to strike down leaves with our sticks,

7:25 then moisten them with water and eat them."

7:28 He said: "Then we proceeded to the seashore,

7:32 and there appeared to us on the shore something like a huge sand dune.

7:37 When we approached it, we found it to be a sea creature called al-'Anbar (the sperm whale).

7:43 Abu 'Ubaydah said: 'It is carrion.'

7:46 Then he said: 'No,

7:49 rather, we are the emissaries of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

7:53 and we are in the cause of Allah,

7:55 and you have been compelled by necessity,

7:57 so eat!'

7:59 We remained eating from it for a month,

8:01 being three hundred men,

8:03 until we grew stout.

8:05 I remember us scooping fat from its eye socket using large earthenware jugs,

8:11 and cutting meat chunks from it as large as a bull, or the size of a bull.

8:16 Abu 'Ubaydah took thirteen men from our group

8:21 and seated them inside its eye socket.

8:24 He then took one of its ribs and set it upright,

8:28 saddled the largest camel we had,

8:31 and it passed beneath it without touching.

8:33 We also stocked strips of its cured meat for provisions.

8:37 When we arrived in Medina,

8:39 we came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

8:43 and mentioned that to him,

8:45 whereupon he said:

8:47 'It was a provision that Allah brought forth for you.

8:50 Do you have any of its meat with you to feed us?'

8:54 So we sent some of it to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

8:59 and he ate it."

9:02 Related by Muslim.

9:04 *Al-Jirab*

9:05 is a well-known leather container.

9:08 His saying *al-khabat*

9:10 refers to well-known tree leaves

9:12 that camels eat.

9:14 *Al-Kathib*

9:15 is a dune of sand.

9:17 *Al-Waqb*

9:19 is the eye socket.

9:21 *Al-Qilal*

9:22 are large clay jars.

9:24 *Al-Fidar*

9:26 are large pieces or chunks of meat.

9:28 *Rahala al-ba'ir*

9:30 means placing the saddle upon the camel.

9:32 *Al-Washa'iq*

9:34 is meat cut into strips to be dried and cured.

9:38 And Allah knows best.

9:40 *'Ir*

9:43 refers to a camel caravan

9:45 carrying food provisions.

9:48 *Al-'Anbar*

9:49 is a massive sea creature (whale).

9:52 Among the lessons of the hadith:

9:54 The permissibility of taking the property of combatant disbelievers.

9:59 A miracle of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) regarding the sufficiency of food,

10:05 where a single date sustained a Companion for an entire day.

10:11 A demonstration of the Companions' asceticism and detachment from worldly comforts (may Allah be pleased with them),

10:19 and their endurance of hunger and austere living.

10:23 The Companions' endurance of hardships for the sake of spreading Islam

10:27 and striving in the cause of Allah to raise His banner.

10:31 The permissibility of independent legal reasoning (ijtihad),

10:34 and the subsequent permissibility of revising it;

10:36 for Abu 'Ubaydah initially forbade them from eating the sea creature,

10:40 then revised his reasoning and instructed them to eat from it.

10:44 Allah Almighty's care and guardianship over the Companions of His Messenger (peace be upon him),

10:51 and His honoring them,

10:53 by providing them with wholesome sustenance

10:56 when He knew their pressing need and sincerity.

10:59 What dies in the sea is permissible to eat,

11:02 as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ate from it.

11:09 On the authority of Asma' bint Yazid (may Allah be pleased with her), who said:

11:13 "The sleeve of the shirt of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) reached to the wrist."

11:19 Related by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi.

11:23 *Al-Rusgh* (spelled with sad),

11:25 which can also be pronounced *al-rusgh* with sin,

11:28 is the joint between the hand and the forearm.

11:33 Among the lessons of the hadith:

11:35 Encouragement toward modesty in clothing and avoiding excessively long garments,

11:39 as it may lead to arrogance and ostentation,

11:42 or hinder a person's mobility.

11:45 *Riyad al-Salihin*.

Riyadh Al-Salehin | Episode (74) | Chapter on the virtue of hunger, harsh living, and abandoning desires (4)

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