Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 228
228 He always tried to ascertain from the faces of those who were in his company whether any of them was in need of sustenance. Abu Hurayrah relates the following incident: On one occasion he had been without food for over three days. He stood at the entrance to the mosque and observed Abu Bakr passing near. He asked Abu Bakr the meaning of a verse of the Quran which enjoins the feeding of the poor. Abu Bakr explained its meaning and passed on. Abu Hurayrah when relating this incident used to say with indignation that he too understood the Quran as well as Abu Bakr did. His object in asking the latter to explain the meaning of the verse had been that Abu Bakr might guess that he was hungry and might arrange to get food for him. Shortly after, ‘Umar passed by and Abu Hurayrah asked him also to explain the meaning of the verse. ‘Umar also explained its meaning and passed on. Abu Hurayrah, like all Companions of the Holy Prophet, was loath to make a direct request and when he perceived that his indirect attempts to draw attention to his condition had failed, he began to feel very faint. Thereupon he heard his name being called in a very soft and tender voice. Looking to the side from which the voice came he saw that the Holy Prophet was looking out from the window of his house and was smiling. He inquired of Abu Hurayrah: "Are you hungry?" to which Abu Hurayrah replied: "Verily, O Messenger of Allah! I am hungry. " The Holy Prophet said: "There is no food in our house either, but somebody has just sent us a cup of milk. Go to the mosque and see whether there are any other persons there who may be hungry like you. " Abu Hurayrah goes on to relate: "I thought to myself, I am hungry enough to consume the whole of the milk in the cup, yet the Prophet has asked me to invite any other persons that may be in a similar situation, which means that I shall get very little of the milk. But I had to carry out the Prophet’s orders, so I went into the mosque and found six persons sitting there whom I brought with me to the Prophet’s door. He gave the cup of milk into the hands of one of them and asked him to drink. When he had finished and put away the cup from his mouth the Prophet insisted upon his drinking a second time and a third time till he had had his fill. In the same way he insisted upon every one of the six drinking his fill of the milk. Each time he asked anyone to drink I was afraid that little would be left for me. After all the six had drunk of the milk the Prophet gave the cup to me and I saw that there was still plenty of milk in it. In my case also he insisted that I should drink my fill and made me drink a second and a third time and at the end he drank what was left in the cup himself and rendered thanks to God and shut the door. " 256 The Holy Prophet’s object in offering the milk to Abu Hurayrah last of all may have been to indicate to him that he should have continued to endure the pangs of hunger, trusting in God, and should not have drawn attention to his condition even indirectly. He always ate and drank with his right hand and always stopped three times to take breath in the middle of a drink. One reason for this may be that if a person who