Preface
Leaders, celebrities and the like are accustomed to having their public life to appear before people, and to having another private life that contains their secrets and many peculiar aspects of their manners and ways of life. This private life, they are keen on concealing.
Despite the fact that Muhammad (peace be upon him) led a densely populated nation and was greatly famous, He led a one-sided life in private and in public.
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born and lived His life in the full circle of light – as it is said – nothing private was concealed even minute things. The remarkable matter here is that He never got upset with recurrent enquiries about His peculiar life, even He Himself divulged aspects of His private life. People asked Him about minor and major things, which He willingly answered, even women asked His wives about Him and His attitudes, which they answered clearly.
Perhaps Urwah bin Zubair asked his aunt Aisha about her life with the Prophet (peace be upon him). She used to say to Urwah (May Allah be pleased with him), “O son of my sister, by Allah, I used to see the new moon, then the new moon, then the new moon, i.e., three moons in two months, and a fire was not kindled in the house of Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).”`
I (Urwah) said, “O my aunt, what were your means of sustenance?”
She said, “Dates and water. But it (so happened) that Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had some Ansar neighbors who had milk animals. They used to send Messenger of Allah some milk of their (animals) and he gave that to O us to drink.”
In another tradition, someone asked Aisha the wife of Muhammad (Peace be upon him), who was nicknamed ‘Mother of the Believers; about some very special aspects of His life, which she bluntly answered, as she knew that the questioner wanted to know about the habitual practices of the Prophet to imitate them. Narrated by Abdullah bin Abi Qais that, “He asked Aisha, ‘What did He do after having sexual intercourse? Did He take a bath before going to sleep or did He sleep before taking a bath?’
She said, ‘He did all these. Sometimes He took a bath and then slept, and sometimes He performed ablution only and went to sleep.’
I (the narrator) said, ‘Praise be to Allah, who has made things easy (for human beings).”’
We will attempt in this chapter to live with Muhammad (peace be upon him) in His daily life to know some of its aspects.
At Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) Table
Muhammad’s taking of food was not merely an organic act, but rather constituted His outlook on life, manners and features of character. Here is an aspect of His life; that is, the taking of food.
Satisfaction and Asceticism
Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not turn back any food, if He desired it He ate it, if not He just kept silent. He never found fault with any food, not even saying it was spicy or salty. His companion, Abu Hurairah said, “The Messenger of Allah never found fault with food. If He had an inclination toward eating it. He would eat; and if He disliked it, He would leave it.”
In a funny situation, His host offered Him a roasted lizard, which He loathed, but did not find fault with – not even a word. Ibn Abbas (may Allah bless them both) narrated that, “A roasted mastigure was brought to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Khalil bin Al-Walid, one of the senior army leaders. The Prophet suddenly withdrew His hand after He had stretched it towards it to eat it.
Khalid asked, “Is it unlawful to eat?”
The Prophet said, “No, but it is not found in the land of my people and that is why I do not like eating it
So Khalid started eating (it), while Allah’s Apostle was looking at him.
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was not greedy in His taking of food; never ate to the full; it sufficed Him to eat to keep fit to the extent that He advised His nation by way of disparaging gluttony, “No man fills a container worse than his stomach. A few morsels that keep his back upright are sufficient for him. If he has to, then he should keep one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for his breathing.”
Of the above advice, scholars of medicine said that it comprised all the aspects of prevention from diseases in a unique unprecedented statement.
His cousin, Umm Hanea, narrated, “The Messenger of Allah entered upon me and said,’Do you have anything?’
I said, ‘No, except a piece of hard bread and vinegar.’
So He said, ‘Bring it, for a house that has vinegar is not impoverished of condiments.’’’
Allow us, dear reader, to wonder with you at the simplicity of the life of such people and that of Muhammad’s dealing with them; He came to a female relative of His asking if she had some food, and she replied just bread and vinegar, which He took praising that unwanted food saying h decently that r is a poor one.
His companion, Annauman bin Bashir (may Allah bless both) blamed his (Bashir’s) friend for having too much pleasure saying.” Are you not in the luxuries of eating and drinking? Whereas I have not seen the Prophet (peace be upon him) having ordinary dinar types of dates to full His stomach?”
The Prophet’s cousin, Ibn Abbas (may Allah bless them both) narrated, The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went to bed hungry for several successive nights, nor did his family have a thing for supper for many consecutive nights.”
The one we are talking about here is a leader of His community, and a principal (one to whom service and obedience are rendered) in His nation. If He had wanted to accumulate food in His home, He would have done so, but He led that type of transparent life as did any poor one in His community -therefore, He appreciated and lived their life without assuming a better life.
Let us consider the evidence provided by a companion of His that tells us what people knew about Him. Abu Hurairah (may Allah bless him) says, “By Him in Whose Hand is my life, and Ibn Abbad also said, ‘By One in Whose hand is the life of Abu Hurairah; Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) could not afford to provide adequate food to his family which could (fill their bellies) with bread and wheat for three days successively until He left the world.”
One day, Abu Hurairah passed by a group of people eating of a roasted a sheep, to which they invited him but he declined saying, “Till the demise of the Prophet (peace be upon him), nor did he, nor his family members ever fill their stomachs – and even if it was only with bread that was made of barley.”
The Prophet’s servant Anas Ibn Malik described another unforgettable situation saying, “There were brought to Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) dates. He distributed them in the state that He had been sitting upright (in an easy posture) and He had also been eating them a (hit) quickly.”
