The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 44
Seal of the Prophets - Volume III 44 the influence of such social affairs directly effects the heart. Similarly, the Holy Prophet sa also emphatically instructed that if a poor man invites a rich person for an invitation of food, it is unacceptable for the rich man to reject the invitation thinking arrogantly due to his affluence, that eating at the home of a poor man is degrading to his custom or disposition. Therefore, in order to open the way to such invitations, the Holy Prophet sa stated: ُ لَو ْ دُعِیْت ُ اِلی ٰ كُرَاع ٍ لَاَجَبْت “Even if a poor man prepares the foot of a goat or sheep, and invites me to a feast, I shall definitely accept the invitation. ” 1 It should be remembered that here the meaning of the word Kurā‘ is the lower part of the foot, which is below the ankle. 2 Verily, this is a simple type of food, because the portion below the ankle is really the hoof. However, even if the word Kurā‘ is taken to represent the whole foot, it is still found from Arab accounts that in that ancient era, the Arabs did not consider this a good meal. As such, there was a famous expression of the Arabs: ِ لَا تُطْعِم ِ الْعَبْد َ الْكُرَاع َ فَیَطْمَع َ فِی الذَّرَاع “Do not permit your slave to taste the foot or he will look up and demand the meat of the hindquarters and forelegs too. ” 3 In any case, in this Ḥadīth the Holy Prophet sa has presented his personal model to the Muslims and has encouraged them that irrespective of how poor the one who invites them may be, to not reject his invitation merely on the basis of his poverty. If not, he warned that such a schism could develop in society, which would gradually destroy everyone. With relevance to sitting harmoniously in gatherings, Islām gives the same golden teachings, whereby a peasant should not be moved to make space for a nobleman, if he arrives later. As such, it is mentioned in a Ḥadīth: 1 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābun-Nikāḥ, Bābu Man Ajāba Ilā Kurā’in, Ḥadīth No. 5178 2 Aqrabul-Mawāridi Fī Fuṣaḥil-‘Arabiyyati Wash-Shawāridi, By Sa‘īd Al-Khūrī Ash-Shartūnī, Under the root Ka-ra-‘a, Dārul-Uswati, Tehran (First Edition) 3 Tājul-‘Urūsi Min Jawāhiril-Qāmūs, By Muḥibbuddīn Abū Faiḍ Muḥammad Murtaḍā Ḥusainī, Bābul- ‘Ain, Faṣludh-Dhāl, Under the root Dha-ra-‘a, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut (2005)