Day: February 1, 2025

Section 20 – The refraining of the Prophet from worldly things

We have already mentioned many traditions depicting the Prophet’s simplified life style in previous sections and it suffices to say that he was content with little, and turned away from worldly attractions. On many occasions he was given the riches of the world, yet he did not keep them, rather, he immediately gave them away, and when he died he owned nothing except his armor which he had pawned to a Jew so that he might feed his family. His supplication for his family was, “O Allah, make the provision of the family of Muhammad nourishment with no excess.” Lady Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her,

confirmed, “The Messenger of Allah left neither a single dirham nor dinar, nor a sheep nor a camel.”

Al Harith’s son, Amr said, “The Messenger of Allah, left only his armor, his mule and some land which he had gifted as charity.”

Lady Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, tells us that until the time the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, passed away he never had his fill of bread on three consecutive days. It has also been reported “barley bread for two consecutive days. If he had wished, Allah would have given him things that are unimaginable.” And, “The family of the Messenger of Allah never had their fill of bread until he met Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic.”

At the time of his death Lady Ayesha said, “There was nothing in his house that a living creature could eat except some barley on one of my shelves. He told me, ‘I was offered the entire valley of Mecca filled with gold but said: O Lord, I prefer to be hungry one day and full one day. On the day I am hungry I will supplicate and invoke You. On the day when I have eaten I will praise You.”

She also tells us that the Prophet’s stomach was never full, yet he never complained to anyone. He preferred poverty to wealth and even when he suffered from the pangs of hunger during the night, it would not prevent him from fasting the following day. If he so wished he could have asked his Lord for all the treasures and fruits of the earth, and a life of plenty. She tells us that she would weep for him on account of the state in which she saw him, and massage his stomach with her hand because of his hunger. She said to him, “May I be your ransom! If you had but enough of this world to feed you!” Whereupon he replied, “O Ayesha, what do I have to do with this world? My brethren among the unyielding Messengers were patient and steadfast when they faced worse than this. They passed away as they were and went on to their Lord, how honored were they! Allah has been very generous in rewarding them. I am too shy to enjoy a life of ease if it means that tomorrow I will fall short in comparison to them. There is nothing I desire more than to be joined to my brethren and close friends.” The Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, passed away within the month.

She also tells us, “Sometimes we, the family of Muhammad, went for a month without lighting a fire. There was nothing except dates and water.”

Abbas’ son, tells us that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and his family, would not find anything for their evening meal on many consecutive nights.

We find another example of his abstinence in a transmission in which we learn the Archangel Gabriel came to him and asked, “Allah greets you and asks, would you like Me to give you this mountain in gold to accompany you

wherever you go?” Whereupon he bowed his head for an hour and replied, “Gabriel, this world is the dwelling place of someone who has no dwelling place and the property of someone who has no property. It is accumulated by those without intellect.” Then Gabriel said, “Allah has made you steadfast, O Muhammad, confirming you with the firm word.”

The dining habits of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, have been recorded by Anas who tells us that he neither ate from a table nor plate, fine bread was not prepared for him neither was a broiled sheep.

As for his bed, Lady Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, tells us that it was a skin stuffed with palm fiber. Lady Hafsa, may Allah be pleased with her, spoke of his bed in her room and said that it was made from sacking folded twice, and said, “One night we doubled it four times for him, and in the morning he asked, ‘What kind of bed did you make for me last night?’ We told him and he said, ‘Put it back the way it was, its softness prevented me from praying during the night.’ Sometimes he slept on a bed of palm rope that left welts on his side.”