Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 201
and I saw that there was still plenty of milk in it. In my
case also he insisted that I should drink my fill and
made me drink a second and a third time and at the end
he drank what was left in the cup himself and rendered
thanks to God and shut the door" (Bukhari, Kitabul
Riqaq). The Holy Prophet's sa object in offering the milk to
Abu Huraira ra last of all may have been to indicate to
him that he should have continued to endure the pangs
of hunger, trusting in God, and should not have drawn
attention to his condition even indirectly.
He always ate and drank with his right hand and
always stopped three times to take breath in the middle
of a drink. One reason for this may be that if a person
who is thirsty drinks water at one stretch he is apt to
drink too much and thus upset his digestion. In the
matter of eating the rule that he followed was that he
partook of all things that are pure and permissible but
not in a manner which would savour of indulgence or
would deprive other people of their due share. As has
been stated, his normal food was always very simple but
if anybody presented him with something specially
prepared he did not decline it. He did not, however,
hanker after good food, though he had a particular
liking for honey and for dates. As regards dates, he used
to say that there was a special relationship between a
Muslim and the date tree whose leaves and bark and
fruit, both ripe and unripe, and even the stones of
whose fruit could all be put to some use or the other
and no part of which was without its proper use. The
same was the case with a true Muslim. No act of his was
without its beneficence and all that he did promoted the
welfare of mankind (Bukhari and Muslim).
The Holy Prophet sa preferred simplicity in dress. His
own dress normally consisted of a shirt and an izar 1 or a
shirt and a pair of trousers. He always wore his izar or
his trousers so that the garment covered his body up to
1 A piece of cloth wrapped round the waist and hanging to the ankles—Ed.