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Piety and Scrupulousness.The habits and traits of character of the Sahabah, as a whole, are worth following, as they were the people specially chosen and selected by Allah to be the companions of His beloved Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam). The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam) says, "I have been sent in the best period of human history." The time of the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam) was itself a blessed period, and the people favored with his company were really the cream of that age
1. The Prophet (Sallallahu alaihe Wasallam) accepts a woman's invitation.The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam) was once returning from a funeral, when a woman invited him to partake of some food at her house. He went in with some of his Sahabah. When the food was served, it was noticed that the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam) was trying to chew a morsel, but it would simply not go down his throat. He said, "It seems that the animal has been slaughtered without the permission of its owner." The woman said, "Oh Prophet of Allah! I had asked a man to purchase a goat for me from the market, but he could not obtain one. My neighbor also had recently purchased a goat. So I sent the man thither with some money to buy the same from him. My neighbor was out and his wife made over the goat to my man." The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam) directed her to go and serve the meat to the captives. It has been noted of pious and saintly Muslims that food obtained from doubtful sources would simply not go down their throats. So this is not such a surprising thing in the case of the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam), who is the fountainhead of all piety. 2.The Prophet's (Sallallahu alaihe Wasallam) Sleepless Night.Once the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam) spent a sleepless night. He would turn from side to side and could not sleep. His wife asked him, "Oh Prophet of Allah! Why can you not sleep?" He responded, "A date was lying about. I took it up and ate it, lest it should be wasted. Now I am troubled lest it might be from Sadaqah." Most probably the date belonged to the Prophet himself, but because people sent him their Sadaqah as well (for distribution), he could not sleep with the apprehension that it might be of Sadaqah. This is the last word in scruples from the prophet himself, that he could not sleep because of a suspicion in his mind. How would it go with those who claim themselves to be the slaves of that Master but indulge in usury, corruption, theft, plunder and every other type of forbidden business without the least scruples. 3. Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallahu Anho) and a soothsayer's food.Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho Anho) had a slave who used to give him a portion of his daily income as the master's share. Once he brought him some food, and Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho Anho) took a morsel out of it. Then the slave remarked, "You always inquire about the source of what I bring to you, but today you have not done so." He replied, "I was feeling so hungry that I failed to do that. Tell me now, how did you come by this food?" The slave said, "Before I embraced Islam, I practiced soothesaying (fortune telling). During those days I came across some people for whom I practiced some of my charms. They promised to pay me for that later on. I happened to pass by those people today, while they were engaged in a marriage ceremony, and they gave me this food." Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho Anho) exclaimed, "Ah! You would have surely killed me!" Then he tried to vomit the morsel he had swallowed, but could not do so, as his stomach had been quite empty. Somebody suggested to him to take water to his fill and then try to vomit. He sent for a goblet of water and kept on taking water and forcing it out, till the morsel was vomited out. Somebody remarked, "May Allah have mercy on you! You put yourself to such trouble for one single morsel." To this he made reply, "I would have thrust it out even if I had to lose my life. I have heard the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe Wasallam) saying. 'The flesh nourished by haram food, is destined for the fire of Hell.' I, therefore, made haste to vomit this morsel, lest any portion of my body should receive nourishment from it." Many stories of this nature have been reported about Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho Anho). As he was very scrupulous and would not taste anything but that about which he was perfectly sure, even the slightest doubt about its being lawful would make him vomit what he had taken. 4. Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallahu Anho) vomits out milk of Sadaqah.A person once brought some milk for Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho Anho). When he took it, he noted its queer taste, and asked the person as to how he had come in possession of the milk. He replied, "The camels given in Sadaqah were grazing in the desert, and the attendants gave me this milk out of what they got from them." Upon this, Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho Anho) put his hand in his throat and vomited all that he had taken. These Allah-fearing people not only totally abstained from unlawful food, but were most anxious to avoid any doubtful morsel finding its way inside them. They could not dare taking anything that was unlawful, which is so usual these days. 5. Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallahu Anho) gives his garden to Bait-ul-Maal (House of Charity).Ibn Seereen writes:
When Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho Anho) passed away, Aishah (Radhiyallaho Anha) asked Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho Anho) to take over that garden, as desired by her late father. Hadhrat Umar (Radhiyallaho Anho) remarked, "May Allah bless your father! He has left no chance for anybody to open his lips against him." Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho Anho) received his subsistence allowance from the Bait-ul-maal in the interest of all the Muslims, and that too at the request of the most prominent Sahabah. Again the amount taken was almost the minimum possible, and hardly sufficient for him, as we have already seen in the story (in the last chapter) about his wife's inability to cook one sweet dish during the whole month. In spite of all this he was so scrupulous that he made over his garden to the Bait-ul-maal in lieu of what he had received from the public funds. |
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