Hadhrat
Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaho anho) says:
"I
wish you had seen some of us living on a starvation diet for several days,
successively, so much so that we could not even stand erect. On account of
spasms of hunger. I would lie on my belly and press my stomach against the
ground or keep a stone tied to my abdomen. Once, I intentionally sat in wait
for some notable people to pass that way. As Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Radhiyallaho
anho) came along, I joined in conversation with him, intending to continue the
talk till we reach his home, where I expected him to invite me to share his
meats, as was his wont. But his answer was brief, and my plan did not work. The
same thing happened with Hadhrat Umar, (Radhiyallaho anho) when he chanced that
way. The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) himself was the next to come. A
smile spread on his face when he saw me, for he at once divined why I was
sitting there. 'Come with me, Abu Hurairah', he said, and I accompanied him to
his house. He took me in, where a bowl of milk was brought before him. He
asked, Who brought this milk?" and was told that somebody had sent it as a
present. He bade me to go and invite all the Suffah friends. The Suffah people
were treated as everyone's guests by all the Muslims. They were such persons
who had neither hearth nor home of their own, nor any other means of
livelihood. Their number varied with time. But at this particular juncture,
they mustered seventy in all. The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) would
send them in groups of two or four each to the well-to-do Sahabah as guests. He
himself would pass on to them all that came to him as `Sadaqah', and would
share the gifts too with them."
Hadhrat
Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaho anho) says:
"When
the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) asked me to invite all these persons,
I naturally had some misgivings, for the milk was so little that it could
hardly suffice a single person. Also, I was aware that the Prophet (Sallallaho
alaihe wasallam) would ask myself to serve the milk to the others first, and a
server is always the last and, more often than not, gets the least of the lot.
Anyway, out I went, and fetched them all. The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe
wasallam) said to me: Hadhrat 'Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaho anho), do serve the
milk to them.' I took the bowl to each person in turn, and he drank the
contents to his heart's desire, and returned the same to me, till all of them
were served. The Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) then held the goblet in
his own hand, smiled at me, and remarked; 'Only two of us are left now!' Quite
so', I replied. 'Then take it,' he said. I needed no second bidding, and took
enough. He exhorted me to have more, and I had my fill; till I declared that I
had no room for any more. He then took hold of the bowl, and drained the still
remaining milk."
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