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

THE LIVES OF THE SAHABAH v-3 (Vol-I) 329
be mentioned in the chapter discussing the assistance that the Sahabah 'BGWj
received from unseen sources. Another narration( ') states that the Sahabah
W,W numbered eight hundred when they were digging the trench.
Hadhrat Aamir 3,GW said, f'Rasu/ullaah @@ once sent us on a military
expedition with only a bag oE dates as provisions. The commander would
(initially) distribute handfuls of it amongst us until he could give us on& one
each. " His son asked, "Of what use is one date.?" Hadhrat 'Aamir SEW> said, 'Do
not say that, dear son. We reaijsed the value of the one date when we did not
even have one date. " (2)
Hadhrat Abu Ubaydah B,Gw and his Companions
Experience Severe Hunger on a Journey
Hadhrat Jaabir S,= says, "Rasulullaah appointed Hadhrat Abu Ubaydah
SlWj as our commander and sent us to intercept a caravan of the Quraysh.
Unable to find anything else, we took a bag of dates with us for our provisions.
From there, Hadhrat Abu Ubaydah %.2- used to give us each a single date."
The narrator asked Hadhrat Jaabir W54%, "What would you do with just a single
date?" He replied, "We would suck on it as a child suckles and then drink water.
This would meet our requirements for the day until the night. We also used our
staffs to bring leaves down from the trees, which we soaked in water to eat." The
Hadith continues. (3)
A narration of Maalik, Bukhari, Muslim and others state that the Sahabah @,Wj
numbered three hundred on the expedition while a narration of Tabraani places
the figure above six hundred. (4) A narration of Imaam Maalik states that a
student of Hadhrat Jaabir !iBW!3 asked him, "Of what use was the one date?" He
replied, "When all the dates were finished, we missed even that one date."
The Hunger Rasulullaah @@ and the Sahabah
@GWj Suffered During the Tihaama Expedition
Hadhrat Abu Khunays Ghifaari 3!3&!4$ narrates that he accompanied Rasulullaah
@@ on the Tihaama expedition. When they reached Usfaan, the Sahabah 'B,G@&j
approached Rasulullaah and said, "0 Rasulullaah w! We are suffering
extreme hunger. Permit us to eat one of the riding animals." Rasulullaah
granted the permission. When Hadhrat Umar 3,GW was informed about this, he
came to Rasulullaah and said, "0 Nabi of Allaah w! What have you done?
If you have instructed the people to slaughter their riding animals, what will they
ride?" "What do you suggest, 0 son of Khattaab?" asked Rasulullaah m.
Hadhrat Umar ?B&Wj replied, "I suggest that you instruct them to bring all their
leftover provisions which you should gather together and place in a dish. You
(1) Ibn Abi Dunya as quoted in A1 Bidaaya wan Nihaaya (Vo1.4 Pg.98).
(2) Abu Nu'aym in Hilya (Vol.1 Pg.179). Ahmad, Bazzaar and Tabraani have also reported it. Haythami
(Vol.10 Pg.319) has commented on the chain of narrators.
(3) Bayhaqi as quoted in A1 Bidaaya wan Nihaaya (Vo1.4 Pg.276). The colnplete narration will Isha
Allaah appear in the chapter discussing the assistance that Allaah gave to the Sahabah H.W.
(4) Haythami (Vol.10 Pg.322) has commented on the chain of narrators.