Last week we quoted several Hadiths suggesting that the Prophet (peace be upon him) led a life of poverty when he could have had all the riches any person could imagine. He preferred this type of life which allowed him to endure with patience when going hungry, and to praise God and give thanks in times of plenty. What is more is that this seemed to be permanent. Anas quotes the Prophet as saying: “I was placed in a situation of fear when no one was in fear, and this was for God’s sake; and I was subjected to harm when no one else was harmed, for nothing other than God’s cause. I spent thirty days or nights when neither myself nor Bilal had anything to eat other than what Bilal could hide under his arm.” (Related by Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban.)

Apparently this Hadith speaks about a time when the Prophet was still in Makkah. After his emigration to Madinah, the Prophet was not in a particular situation of fear or harm directed at him alone. But to be for a month on a very scanty diet is something we hardly hear of. Yet the Prophet was in this position, which he endured patiently, knowing that God could have changed it for him if he only asked. He in fact continued to live in poverty throughout his life. Anas Reports: “On several occasions I brought the Prophet barley bread and some stew that had begun to go bad. I also heard him saying, ‘Muhammad’s homes do not have even a small quantity of food.’ At the time, they were nine homes.” (Related by Ahmad, Ibn Majah and Ibn Hibban.)

That the Prophet had nine homes refers to his wives’ quarters. Each of his nine wives had a small room for herself, and these were next to each other, opening to the mosque. In the last couple of years of his blessed life, the Prophet had nine wives, but in the homes of all nine, there were occasions when they together did not have even a small quantity of food.

Another Hadith narrated by Anas mentions that “the Prophet was brought a piece of barley bread by his daughter, Fatimah. He said to her: ‘This is the first food your father is eating for three days.’” (Related by Ibn Saad and Ibn Hibban.) Yet this was the rule, rather than the exception. Aishah reports: “By God! People in Muhammad’s household never had their fill of wheat bread for three consecutive nights until he passed away. When this took place, all world riches poured on us from everywhere.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad and Al-Tirmidhi.) The fact that the Prophet’s household had things easier after his death confirms that his poverty was a matter of choice. He could have had all he wanted of the luxuries of this world, but he wished that he should experience the pains of poverty so that he could be nearer to ordinary and poor people and learn through his own experience the suffering of those whose means are stinted.

This experience was not limited to a short period of his life. When he experienced times of plenty, he gave away whatever was surplus to his needs. He never feared poverty, because he was certain that all provisions come from God, and God would not abandon him. He had enough to survive throughout his life. When he died, he had nothing. Umar ibn Al-Harith, the Prophet’s brother-in-law, reports: “God’s Messenger left behind neither money in gold and silver, nor a male or female slave, nor anything at all except his white mule, personal arms and a plot of land which he left to charity.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Saad.)

A similar Hadith is narrated by Aishah who says: “God’s Messenger did not leave behind any male or female slave, sheep or camel.” (Related by Muslim, Abu Dawood and Al-Tirmidhi.)

Indeed all that the Prophet left behind went to charity in compliance with his instructions. Abu Hurayrah quotes him as saying: “My heirs shall not share any money. Whatever I have other than my wives’ maintenance and my employee’s salary goes to charity.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Dawood.)

The exception he made is to pay what remains of his commitments. When a man dies, his wife observes a waiting period of four months and ten days, during which she remains in his home and is entitled to maintenance from his estate. As for employees, the reference here is to those the Prophet appointed to discharge some public services, such as the collection of zakah and the administration of justice. That the Prophet does not leave his heirs anything is a rule that applied to all prophets before him. He said: “We, prophets, do not leave anything to be shared out by heirs. Whatever we leave behind goes to charity.” This is to prevent any possibility of anything left by a prophet becoming an icon to be revered in anyway similar to worship. All prophets were ordinary human beings and they could not posthumously have any status above that of human beings.

We conclude our discussion of the Prophet’s poverty with this Hadith that also shows how the Prophet cared for the welfare of everyone in his community. Abu Hurayrah reports: “God’s Messenger went out of his home one night and soon he met Abu Bakr and Umar. He asked them: ‘What brings you out at this time?’ They replied: ‘Hunger, Messenger of God!’ He said: ‘By Him who holds my soul in His hand, I came out for the same reason. Let us walk.’ They went with him and soon they were at the door of a man from the Ansar who was not at home. When the man’s wife saw the Prophet, she said: ‘You are most welcome.’ The Prophet asked her where her husband went.’ She replied: ‘He went out to get us some water.’ Soon the Ansari man came, and when he saw them he said: ‘All praise be to God. No one is entertaining more honorable guests. He brought them a bunch of date branches with some unripened, some half-ripened and some fully ripened dates, and said: ‘Have some of these.’ He then took his knife out and was about to go out, but the Prophet stopped him saying: ‘Do not touch the one giving you milk.’ He slaughtered a sheep and they ate of its meat as well as some dates. When they had had enough to eat and drink, the Prophet said to Abu Bakr and Umar: ‘By Him who holds my soul in His hand, you will be asked on the Day of Judgment about this joy. You were driven out of your homes by your hunger, and you did not return home without having shared this joy.’” (Related by Al-Tirmidhi.)

We may very briefly note how the Prophet cared for his two companions, trying to find them some food to eat. He did not go alone, knowing that every Muslim would welcome him as a guest. He wanted to share with them whatever he may have. When he realized that the Ansari host was about to slaughter a sheep for them, he insisted that he must not slaughter the one that was giving them milk. The man could have slaughtered that, because all Muslims would not deny the Prophet anything they had. But the Prophet wanted the family to continue to have the milk. Finally the Prophet reminds his companions that it was a great joy that they found such a dinner when they had nothing at home. They would inevitably be questioned about it on the Day of Judgment.