Hayatus Sahabah - The Lives of the Sahabah - Part 1 of 3

THE LIVES OF THE SAHABAH @,@!&%(Vol-I) 325
taking it in his fingers said, 'Eat in the name of Allaah.' I swear by the Being Who
controls my life that I continued eating until I was full." ('1
Hadhrat Ibn Seereen narrates that they were with Hadhrat Abu Hurayra @-
who was wearing two reddish coloured cloths made in Kattaan. Wiping his nose
with one of them, he said, "Wow! Abu Hurayra is wiping his nose with a cloth
from Kattaan whereas there was a time when I seen myself fall down
unconscious in front of Rasulullaah W ' s pulpit and the room of Hadhrat
Aa'isha !333=. Someone would then come and place his foot on my neck
thinking that I was insane(2) whereas I was suffering extreme hunger." (3)
Another narration adds that Hadhrat Abu Hurayra BWj said, "I had seen the
time when I was the servant of the son of Affaan and the daughter of Ghazwaan.
My payment was my food and a turn to ride the animal when travelling. When
they rode, I would drive the animal from the rear and when they dismounted, I
would see to their needs. The daughter of Ghazwaan once said to me, 'You
should come barefoot to the animal and mount it while it is standing (because
we cannot wait for you whilst you wear your shoes and then you get to the
animal and then wait for it to sit down for you).' Now that Allaah has brought the
daughter of Ghazwaan into my marriage, I (jokingly) tell her, 'You should come
barefoot to the animal and mount it while it is standing'."
Yet another narration from Saleem bin Hayaan quotes from his father that
Hadhrat Abu Hurayra @,- said, "I was brought up as an orphan, migrated as a
pauper and worked for Bujra the daughter of Ghazwaan for a wage that was only
food for my stomach and a turn to ride the animal when travelling. I used to
serve them when they were not travelling and goaded the animals along when
they rode. Allaah has now given her to me in marriage. All praise
-
be to Allaah
Who has made the Deen a means by which the affairs of people are stabilised
and Who has made Abu Hurayra a leader in the matters of Deen." (4)
Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Shaqeeq narrates that he stayed in the company of
Hadhrat Abu Hurayra %@Wj for a year in Madinah. One day, they were near the
room of Hadhrat Aa'isha G@G@%, when Hadhrat Abu Hurayra said to him,
"I saw the time when we had nothing to wear besides coarse cloths and days
would pass when we would not have anything to eat that could keep our backs
straight. Eventually, we had to tie stones to our stomachs and then wrap our
clothes around so that we could keep our backs straight. (5)
Another narration quotes that Hadhrat Abu Hurayra i.@Z%!% said, "All the food we
had to eat with Rasulullaah @@$ was dates and water. By Allaah! We never used
to see wheat and did not even know what it was. The only clothing we wore
during the time of Rasulullaah @%% were the (untidy and hot) woollen shawls
(1) Ibn Hibbaan as quoted in Targheeb wat Tarheeb (Vo1.5 Pg.176).
(2) This was a form of treatment for insane people during those times.
(3) Bukhari and Tirmidhi as quoted in Targheeb wat Tarheeb (Vo1.3 Pg.39).
(4) Abu Nu'ayrn in Hilya (Vol.1 Pg.378), Abdur Razzaaq and Ibn Sa'd (Vo1.4 Pg.53).
(5) Ahmad as quoted in Targheeb wat Tarheeb (Vo1.5 Pg.177) with a reliable chain of narrators as
confirmed by Haythami (Vol. 10 Pg.32 1).