The Book of Miscellany

كتاب المقدمات

Chapter 54: Excellence of Leading an Ascetic Life, and Virtues of Simple Life

Ka'b bin 'Iyad (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Verily, there is a Fitnah (trial) for every nation and the trial for my nation (or Ummah) is wealth."[At- Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

'Uthman bin 'Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "There is no right for the son of adam except in these (four) things: A house to live in, a cloth to cover therewith his private parts, bread and water."[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Sahih].

'Abdullah bin Ash-Shikhkhir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was reciting (Surat At-Takathur 102):"The mutual rivalry (for hoarding worldly things) preoccupy you. Until you visit the graves (i.e., till you die). Nay! You shall come to know! Again nay! You shall come to know! Nay! If you knew with a sure knowledge (the end result of hoarding, you would not have been occupied in worldly things). Verily, you shall see the blazing Fire (Hell)! And again, you shall see it with certainty of sight! Then (on that Day) you shall be asked about the delights (you indulged in, in this world)!" (102:1-8)(After reciting) he (ﷺ) said, "Son of adam says: 'My wealth, my wealth.' Do you own of your wealth other than what you eat and consume, and what you wear and wear out, or what you give in Sadaqah (charity) (to those who deserve it), and that what you will have in stock for yourself."[Muslim].

'Abdullah bin Mughaffal (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I love you." He (ﷺ) said, "Think about what you are saying." The man repeated thrice, "I swear by Allah that I love you." He (Prophet (ﷺ)) said, "If you love me, you should be ready for acute poverty; because poverty comes to those who love me, faster than a flood flowing towards its destination."[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan].

K'ab bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Two hungry wolves sent in the midst of a flock of sheep are no more destructive to them than a man's greed for wealth and fame is to his Deen."[At- Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

'Abdullah bin Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) slept on a straw mat and got up with the marks left by it on his body. Ibn Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him) said, "O Messenger of Allah! Would that you make us spread out a soft bedding for you." He (ﷺ) replied, "What have I to do with the world? I am like a rider who had sat under a tree for its shade, then went away and left it."[At- Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The poor will enter Jannah five hundred years before the rich."[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Sahih].

Ibn 'Abbas and 'Imran bin Al-Husain (May Allah be pleased with them) reported

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I looked into Jannah and saw that most of its dwellers are the poor; and I looked into Hell and saw that most of its inmates were women."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Usamah bin Zaid (May Allah be pleased with them) reported

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "I stood at the gate of Jannah and saw that most of those who enter it were poor, whereas the rich were held back; but those who were destined to go to Hell were ordered to be sent there (immediately)."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The most truthful statement a poet has ever made is the saying of Labid: Everything besides Allah is vain."[Al- Bukhari and Muslim].

Chapter 55: Excellence of Simple Living and being Content with Little

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported

The family of Muhammad (ﷺ) never ate to the fill the bread of barley for two successive days until he died.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].Another narration is: 'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) said: Never did the family of Muhammad (ﷺ) eat to the fill, since their arrival to Al-Madinah, the bread of wheat for three successive nights until his death.

'Urwah from 'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported that she used to say to Urwah (May Allah be pleased with him)

"O son of my sister, by Allah, I used to see the new moon, then the new moon, then the new moon, i.e., three moons in two months, and a fire was not kindled in the house of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). "I ('Urwah) said, "O my aunt, what were your means of sustenance?" She said; "Dates and water. But it (so happened) that Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had some Ansar neighbours who had milch animals. They used to send Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) some milk of their (animals) and he gave that to us to drink."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Abu Sa'id Maqburi reported

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said that he happened to pass by some people who had a roast lamb before them. They invited him, but he declined, saying: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) left the world without having eaten his fill with barley bread."[Al- Bukhari].

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

The Prophet (ﷺ) neither ate on a dining cloth, nor ate soft bread throughout his life.[Al-Bukhari].One narration adds: He (ﷺ) never even saw a Samit lamb.Samit is an animal prepared for food by removing its hair by boiling water, and then roasted without being skinned. This type of food is preferred by wealthy people. (Editor's Note)

An-Nu'man bin Bashir (May Allah be pleased with them) reported

I have seen your Prophet (ﷺ) when he did not find enough of even the inferior quality of dates to eat and fill his belly.[Muslim].

Sahl bin Sa'd (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had never seen bread made out of fine flour throughout his life, since Allah commissioned him until his death. He was asked, "Did you not have sieves at the time of the Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never saw a sieve." He was asked, "How did you manage to eat barley bread made of unsieved flour?" He said, "We used to ground it and then blew away the husk, and what remained we kneaded into dough."[Al-Bukhari].

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went out (of his house) one day, or one night, and there he met Abu Bakr and 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) also. He (ﷺ) said, "What made you leave your houses at this hour?" They said, "It is hunger, O Messenger of Allah." He said, "By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, what made you leave, made me also leave, so come along!" And he went along with them to a man from the Ansar, but they did not find him in his house. When the wife of that man saw the Prophet, she said, "You are most welcome." Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to her, "Where is so-and-so?" She said, "He went to fetch some fresh water for us." In the meantime, the Ansari came back, saw Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his two companions and said: "Praise be to Allah, today no one has more honourable guests than I." He then went out and brought them a bunch of date fruit, having dates, some still green, some ripe, and some fully ripe, and requested them to eat from it. He then took his knife (to slaughter a sheep). Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to him, "Do not kill a milch sheep." So he slaughtered a sheep for them. After they had eaten and drunk to their fill, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to Abu Bakr and 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them), "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, you will certainly be questioned about this treat on the Day of Resurrection. Hunger brought you out of your homes, and you do not return to your homes till you have been blessed with this treat."[Muslim].

Khalid bin 'Umar Al-'Adawi reported

'Utbah bin Ghazwan, the governor of Basrah, delivered a Khutbah. He praised Allah, glorified Him, then said: "Amma b'adu, verily, the world has been given the news of its end and is running to meet its end swiftly. Nothing is left out of it but a very little amount. Similar to the remainder in a dish whose owner is collecting it to drink; and you are going to move to an abode which knows no end, and you should proceed there with the good before you, for we have been informed (by the Prophet (ﷺ)) that a stone would be thrown at one side of the Hell and it would travel down for seventy years but would not reach its bottom. By Allah, it will be filled (with men and jinn). Do you find it strange? We have been informed (i.e., by the Prophet (ﷺ)) that the distance between two shutters of the gate of Jannah is forty years (distance). And a day would come when it would be fully packed; I was the seventh amongst the seven who had been with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and we had nothing to eat but the leaves of the tree until the sides of our mouth were injured. We found a sheet which we tore into two and divided between myself and Sa'd bin Malik. I made the lower garment with half of it and so did Sa'd. Today, there is none amongst us who has not become the governor of a city, and I seek refuge with Allah that I should consider myself great while I am insignificant to Allah."[Muslim].

Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) showed us a sheet and a thick lower garment and said to us Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was wearing them when he died.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Sa'd bin Abu Waqqas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported

By Allah, I am the first Arab who shot an arrow in the Cause of Allah. We fought along with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when our food was only the leaves of Hublah and Samur trees (wild trees) until one of us would defecate like the droppings of sheep.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].