A Meal for an Army

[seeker_of_ilm]

The following is an excerpt from Muhammad: Man and Prophet by Adil Salahi.

A Meal for an Army​

There were several incidents during the digging of the moat which confirmed that Muhammad truly was a Prophet. As has already been pointed out, the Prophet worked in the digging of the moat as an individual among the community. As they dug, the Muslims chanted in chorus and the Prophet joined in. The Muslims were very poor. At the time, most of them suffered from hunger. With their hard work, hunger was especially biting. Many of them used the device of putting a stone against their stomach and wrapping it tight to overcome the pangs of hunger. The Prophet had two stones on his stomach. As he was working, one of his companions noticed he must have been extremely hungry. This man, Jabir ibn Abdullah, was deeply affected by the sight and sought permission for a temporary absence. He went straight home and said to his wife: "I have seen the Prophet in a condition I cannot tolerate. Have you got any food?" She told him that she had a small quantity of barley and a small goat. He immediately slaughtered the goat and prepared it for cooking. His wife ground the barley and started to cook the goat in a large saucepan.

When the cooking and baking were nearly finished, Jabir went to the Prophet and said: "Messenger of God, I have some food at home. Would you like to be my guest with one or two of your companions?" The Prophet asked him how much food he had, and when he heard Jabir's reply he said: "This is good and plenty. Tell your wife not to take her saucepan off the fire, or her bread out of the oven until I come." Then he addressed his companions and invited them to Jabir's dinner. All those digging the moat, from among the Muhajirin and the Ansar, went with him.

In Jabir's own account of the story, he says that he was exceedingly embarassed because his little goat and small amount of bread were very inadequate for that large number of people. He preceded everybody, went straight to his wife and said: "The Prophet has come and brought with him all the Muhajirin and the Ansar." She said: "Has he asked you what food we have?" When he answered in the affirmative she said: "God and His Messenger know better" Her answer was enough to relieve Jabir of his embarassment.

When he arrived at Jabir's house, the Prophet said to his companions: "Come inside, but do not push one another." The Prophet himself started to cut the bread, put it in dishes and put meat on top of it. Meanwhile, he kept the pot simmering and covered it as well as the oven, after taking some bread from it. He served dish after dish to his companions until they had all eaten a full meal. Both the saucepan and the oven were still full of bread and meat when everyone had finished eating. The Prophet then said to Jabir's wife: "Eat of that and send presents to other people, for we have suffered something approaching a famine." She did so, and sent large quantities of bread and meat during the rest of that day.

There are several reports which relate this story. Some of them put the figure of those who shared in Jabir's dinner at 800. If everyone who was working on digging the moat accepted the Prophet's invitation to Jabir's house, the number would be much higher. This is not surprising, not because a little goat - or a large one, for that matter - was enough to feed such a large number of people, but because God blessed that repast and gave the Prophet such a privilege at that particular time.

A similar incident took place during the digging of the moat which confirms that the Muslims in Madinah were very short of food at the time when the Quraysh resolved to attack them along with other Arab tribes and the Jewish tribe of al-Nadir. A young daughter of Bashir ibn Sa'd reported that her mother, 'Amrah bint Rawahah, gave her a small quantity of dates and told her to take them to her father and her uncle. 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah, for their lunch. On her way, she passed the Prophet who asked her what she was carrying. She replied: "Some dates my mother has sent to my father, Bashir ibn Sa'd, and my uncle 'Abdullah ibn Rawahah, for their lunch.

The Prophet said: "Give them to me." She put them in the Prophet's hands and noted that he could have held more.The Prophet ordered a cloth to be spread and then put the dates all over it. He asked someone nearby to invite all the people to lunch. They all came and started eating. The dates increased and increased until everybody had eaten, with the cloth still full of dates.


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[- Qatada -]

:salamext:


Maasha Allaah really interesting! now i know who ibn rawahah is too alhamdulillah!

 

[seeker_of_ilm]

Infancy in the desert​

It was the tradition of the noblemen in Makkah to send their children to be breastfed by the Bedouin wet nurses. They felt that the open space of the desert was far better for the children in their early years than the close atmosphere in the city. They thought that when a child was nursed in the desert he was certain to grow up physically strong and healthy.

Every now and then, Bedouin women came to Makkah to seek newborn babies. They were prepared to wet-nurse them for the wages and gifts which were certain to be given to them by the babies' parents. There was no set fee for the task: it was left to the generosity of the father.

A group of such Bedouin women arrived in Makkah shortly after Muhammad was born. Each of them looked at Muhammad but declined to take him when she realized that his father was dead. Apparently, none of them thought the grandfather would do as well for them as the boy's own father.

Each one of them managed to get a child to nurse, except Halimah bint Abi Dhu'ayb. She later reported what she did that day:

I travelled with my husband and our young boy along with a number of women from our tribe, Sa'd ibn Bakr, to seek babies to nurse. It was a bad year in our area of the desert. We had nothing to survive on. I was riding a mule and we had with us an old she-camel which gave us not a drop of milk. We spent many a sleepless night because our little boy was always crying of hunger. I did not have enough milk to satisfy him. Our camel was hopeless, but we still hoped for rain and better days.

Because my mule was also weak, I kept falling behing my companions. I gave them so much trouble because of our weakness. When we arrived in Makkah every woman of us was offered Muhammad to nurse. When she learnt that he was an orphan, she declined. We simply hoped for gifts and presents from the baby's father. Hence, we always replied when we were offerered him: "An orphan! What could his mother or grandfather do for us!"

Every woman in the party was able to obtain a child to nurse except me. When we were about to set out on our journey back home, I said to my husband: "I hate to be the only one to go back empty-handed. I am going to take that orphan." He said: "It is a good idea. He may bring upon us blessings." I went back and brought him. As soon as I put him to my breast, I felt that both my breasts were full of milk. He had his fill, and so did his brother, my own son. Both went to sleep immediately afterwards: we had not had much sleep in the preceding nights because of our boy's crying.
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It is also reported that in those days the Prophet only sucked the same breast: he never accepted the other one. It was as if he was made to feel he had a partner, and he left him his share.

Halimah said: "My husband thought that it was worth trying to milk our old camel. He soon discovered that she had full breasts. He milked enough for both of us to have our fill. It was our best night for a long while. My husband said to me in the morning: 'You know, Halimah, you have taken a blessed child.' I said: 'I sincerely hope so.'"

We started our journey that morning and I rode the same mule and carried Muhammad with me. She was now moving fast, ahead of all my friends. They were amazed, and asked me whether it was the same mule I was riding on the way to Makkah. When I affirmed that it was, they were very surprised.

When we arrived at our quarters, it was hit by severe drought. Nevertheless, my sheep were always full of milk. We had more than we needed, while no one else had enough. Most of their sheep had no milk at all. People would tell their shepherds to keep their sheep alongside mine, hoping to have some milk. It was only my sheep which had their breasts bursting with milk every evening. We continued to have this Divine blessing untul he was two years of age, when I weaned him. He was growing like no other child did. When he was two, he was very strong for his age. I took him back to his mother, forming in my mind the best argument I could muster to persuade her to allow me to keep him for a while longer. I said to her: "I wish you would leave my child with me for a little longer until he gets stronger. I fear that he may catch an infection of some sort or another in Makkah." I tried hard until she was persuaded to send him back with me.
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