Al-Maaroor ibn Suwayd reports: “I met Abu Dharr at Rabadhah when he was wearing half a suit and his servant half a suit. I questioned him on this and he said: ‘I had a heated argument with someone and I abused his mother.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to me: ‘Are you, Abu Dharr, speaking ill of his mother? You still have remnants of ignorance, or Jahiliyyah. Your servants are your brethren whom God has placed under you. Whoever has a brother of his under him should feed him of the food he eats and clothe him of the same clothes he wears. Never ask them to do what is too hard for them. Should you do, then help them.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari).

To start with, the suit worn by Arabs at the time consisted of a shirt and a jacket of the same material. In some cases, the term is used to refer to three matching pieces. What Abu Dharr did in this case was to give his servant either the shirt or the jacket leaving the other piece for himself.

There are several reports of this Hadith. From these we learn that Abu Dharr’s argument was with Bilal, who was a black man of Abyssinian origin. Apparently, in the heat of their argument Abu Dharr said to him, ‘You, son of an Abyssinian woman,’ or, ‘son of a black woman!’ The Prophet said to him that this was intolerable, smacking of the pre-Islamic days of Jahiliyyah. The term Jahiliyyah is derived from the root Jahl, which means ignorance, and refers to the state that prevailed in pre-Islamic days or to any state where people conduct their affairs in isolation of divine guidance. Abu Dharr was very sorry and wanted to make amends. He put his head on the grounds, swearing that he would not lift it until Bilal had stepped over it.

From that point onward, Abu Dharr was careful that his conduct must always be exemplary in the implementation of Islamic rules. We see this in the way he treated his servant, giving him half his suit to wear, while he himself wore the other half. He took the matter literally. This is not required. What is required is that a Muslim must treat his servant in a fair and reasonable manner, so as the servant is not made to feel inferior. The Prophet makes clear that we must feed our servants of the food we eat and give them clothes of the type we wear. This does not mean that servants should sit at table with the family employing them, but rather they should eat of the same type of food the family eats. When Abu Dharr gave his servant half his suit, some of the Prophet’s companions mentioned to him that he should wear both parts himself and give his servant something else to wear. He preferred to take the Prophet’s remonstration literally.

The other point the Hadith makes clear is that servants must not be asked to perform duties that are too hard for them. Unfortunately this is often the case. A maid or a servant is often asked to perform task after task all day long, giving her little time to rest. The Prophet makes clear that when such people are expected to perform such tiring tasks, help should be provided for them. Such help may be by providing tools that make the performance of the required duties easier, or by providing more manpower to perform the tasks in hand.

We note also that the Prophet refers to servants as “your brethren.” This emphasizes the fact that Islam considers all human beings equal. No distinction is permissible on account of race, color, nationality or social status. We are all equal in God’s sight and we must always be aware of this equality when treating the weaker elements in society.