Muhammad (saw) – The Perfect Man — Page 500
CHAPTER 20 The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa 's good Conduct 500 Self Sacrifice and Hospitality Once a destitute person came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa and told him that he was starving. H u du r sa enquired from his wives if they had any food. Those were extremely hard times and all the wives sent messages that there was no food in their homes except water. The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa announced to his Companions, "Is there anyone who would show hospitality to this person?" Self-sacrificing Ab u T al ha An sa r i ra stood up and offered to look after this guest. He took him home and asked his wife Hadrat Umm-e-Sulaim ra (who was a very intelligent, devoted and self sacrificing lady) if there was any food in the house. He told her that it was the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa 's guest, so they should give him full respect and do their utmost to entertain him. His wife replied, "By God, today we have food for children only and there is no food for ourselves. " Hadrat T al ha said, "Do not worry, today we would let our children go hungry. When they ask for food, we would play some trick and make them go to sleep. You better prepare the food for the guest. " I instructed her that she should extinguish the lamp at meal time, so that the guest of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa eats to his fill and we ourselves can go hungry. For his honour and giving him the impression that we too are eating, we would keep pretending to eat while our mouths would