Importance of food and drink miracles
This post includes miracles related to food and drink. Such miracles performed by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ are many, recorded in authentic hadith literature and scholars have written books describing and commenting on them. I have mentioned only three to help understand their importance. It is logical that many miracles of the Prophet ﷺ are found related to food and drink because the society in which he was raised and chosen by Allah ﷻ to deliver the message was a desert environment and food and water scarcity was common suffering of the society. Hence when the Prophet ﷺ was performing such miracles it would not only satisfy the hunger and thirst but as a result make their faith stronger in the message of Allah ﷻ: Miracle of dates multiplying Al Suyuti in his Khasais ul Kubra mentions a miracle narrated from Abu Huraira (r.a): “During a battle, the Muslim army had nothing to eat. The Prophet ﷺ asked me, ‘Do you have anything?’ I said that I had some dates in my bag. He asked me to bring the bag. I brought it. There were 21 dates in the bag. The Prophet ﷺ then said, ‘Call ten people.’ I called ten people, they came and ate till they were satisfied and left. Again, I was ordered to call ten people, they also ate and left. In groups of ten, people continued to come and eat to their satisfaction and then leave until the whole army ate. Thereafter, pointing towards the remaining dates he said, ‘O Abu Hurayrah put them in your bag and eat from it whenever you like, but do not empty out the bag.’ Abu Hurayrah (r.a) goes onto say, ‘I ate dates from that bag not only in the time of the Prophet ﷺ but also in the reign of all three successors of the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr (r.a), Umar (r.a) & Uthman (r.a). In addition to distributing dates among people, I also gave about fifty Wasq of dates in the path of Allah and ate more than two hundred Wasq of dates myself. When Uthman (r.a) was martyred that bag was stolen from my home.’[1] (A wasq is equivalent to sixty sa’a and one sa’a is equal to 270 Tola. Tola is a weighing unit used in the sub-continent. It is approximately 12 grams. In other words, from those twenty one dates, nearly 40,000 kilograms of dates were eaten.) Miracles of Bowl of Milk and 70 Companions Abu Huraira (r.a) stated “By Allah except Whom none has the right to- be worshipped, (sometimes) I used to lay (sleep) on the ground on my liver (abdomen) because of hunger, and (sometimes) I used to bind a stone over my belly because of hunger. One day I sat by the way from where they (the Prophet (ﷺ) and his companions) used to come out. Finally the Prophet (ﷺ) passed by me and he smiled when he saw me, for he knew what was in my heart and on my face. He said, "O Aba Hirr (Abu Huraira)!" I replied, "Labbaik, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" He said to me, "Follow me." He left and I followed him. Then he entered the house and I asked permission to enter and was admitted. He found milk in a bowl and said, "From where is this milk?" They said, "It has been presented to you by such-and-such man (or by such and such woman)." He said, "O Aba Hirr!" I said, "Labbaik, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" He said, "Go and call the people of Suffa to me." These people of Suffa were the guests of Islam who had no families, nor money, nor anybody to depend upon, and whenever an object of charity was brought to the Prophet ﷺ, he would send it to them and would not take anything from it, and whenever any present was given to him, he used to send some for them and take some of it for himself. The order of the Prophet upset me, and I said to myself, "How will this little milk be enough for the people of As- Suffa? though I was more entitled to drink from that milk in order to strengthen myself" So I took the bowl (of milk) and started giving it to one man who would drink his fill and return it to me, whereupon I would give it to another man who, in his turn, would drink his fill and return it to me, and I would then offer it to another man who would drink his fill and return it to me. Finally, after the whole group had drunk their fill, I reached the Prophet (ﷺ) who took the bowl and put it on his hand, looked at me and smiled and said. "O Aba Hirr!" I replied, "Labbaik, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" He said, "There remain you and I." I said, "You have said the truth, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" He said, "Sit down and drink." I sat down and drank. He said, "Drink," and I drank. He kept on telling me repeatedly to drink, till I said, "No. by Allah Who sent you with the Truth, I have no space for it (in my stomach)." He said, "Hand it over to me." When I gave him the bowl, he praised Allah and pronounced Allah's Name on it and drank the remaining milk.”[2] Feast at home of Jabir bin Abdullah (r.a) We were digging (the trench) on the day of Al-Khandaq (i.e. battle of trench)) and we came across a big solid rock. We went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: "Here is a rock appearing across the trench." He said, "I am coming down." Then he got up, and a stone was tied to his belly for we had not eaten anything for three days. So the Prophet (ﷺ) took the spade and struck the big solid rock and it became like sand. I said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Allow me to go home." (When the Prophet (ﷺ) allowed me) I said to my wife, "I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) in a state that I cannot treat lightly. Have you got something (for him to eat?" She replied, "I have barley and a she goat." So I slaughtered the she-kid and she ground the barley; then we put the meat in the earthenware cooking pot. Then I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) when the dough had become soft and fermented and (the meat in) the pot over the stone trivet had nearly been well-cooked, and said, "I have got a little food prepared, so get up O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), you and one or two men along with you (for the food)." The Prophet (ﷺ) asked, "How much is that food?" I told him about it. He said, "It is abundant and good. Tell your wife not to remove the earthenware pot from the fire and not to take out any bread from the oven till I reach there." Then he said (to all his companions), "Get up." So the Muhajireen (i.e. Emigrants) and the Ansar (Helpers) got up. When I came to my wife, I said, "Allah's Mercy be upon you! The Prophet came along with the Muhajirin and the Ansar and those who were present with them." She said, "Did the Prophet (ﷺ) ask you (how much food you had)?" I replied, "Yes." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Enter and do not throng." The Prophet (ﷺ) started cutting the bread (into pieces) and put the cooked meat over it. He covered the earthenware pot and the oven whenever he took something out of them. He would give the food to his companions and take the meat out of the pot. He went on cutting the bread and scooping the meat (for his companions) till they all ate their fill, and even then, some food remained. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said (to my wife), "Eat and present to others as the people are struck with hunger."[3] References: [1] Razavi, Muhammad Ilyas Qadiri. 2013. Faizan e Sunnat (Blessings of Sunnah). Karachi: Maktaba-tul-Madinah. [2] Sahih al-Bukhari 6452 – Sunnah.com [3] Sahih al-Bukhari 4101 – Sunnah.com
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AuthorZaid Shah Archives
May 2020
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