When we are in difficulty, we may do things that we would not contemplate in comfortable circumstances. Hardship can lead us to overlook what is wrong in an action we are contemplating. We only think of how to remove the hardship. This is the reason why Islam lays great emphasis on the duty of the Muslim community to look after its members and cooperate in removing all difficulties faced by any of them. Mutual cooperation is an essential quality of the Muslim community. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says: “Whoever removes a difficulty a Muslim is facing, God will relieve him of a difficulty on the Day of Judgment.” Needless to say, the difficulties people face on that day are much harder to cope with, because we cannot do anything to relieve them unless God turns to us with His mercy.
That hardship could lead to wrong action is indisputable. We all know cases where poverty led some people to steal or to do what they know to be wrong or even criminal. The pangs of hunger can be so severe that they could drive a person to justify what he would normally look at with horror. Hence the Prophet describes poverty as “close to unbelief.” Both lead to the commitment of what is unlawful. We have been speaking over the last couple of weeks about the extreme circumstances the Prophet’s companions endured. It is not unreasonable to ask whether this led some of them to do what is wrong.
Al-Miqdad ibn Al-Aswad reports: “I came with two friends of mine and we were so hungry that we were almost unable to see or hear. We tried to get some help from other companions of the Prophet, but none was available. Then the Prophet took us to his place. His family had three goats that they milked. The Prophet used to give us our shares of milk, and we would keep his share for him until he came back at night. When he came in, he would greet us in a voice that can be heard by one who is awake but without disturbing the one who is asleep. One night, Satan whispered to me that I could drink the Prophet’s share of milk, saying: ‘The Prophet visits the Ansar and partakes of their hospitality.’ He continued to urge me until I drank it. When I did, he began to cause me to regret my action, saying: ‘What have you done? Now Prophet Muhammad will come and will not find his drink. He will pray against you and you will perish.’ My two friends had their drink and slept, but I could not sleep. I was covering myself with a cover that was too short for me. If I covered my head, my feet would be exposed, and if I covered them, my head was apparent.
“Then the Prophet came in and prayed as long as God willed. Then he looked for his drink but found nothing. I thought he would now pray against me and I would perish. But the Prophet said: ‘My Lord! Give plenty of food to anyone who feeds me and plenty of drink to anyone who gives me to drink.’ I took a broad knife, wrapped myself with the cover I had, went to the goats and started feeling them to choose the fattest to slaughter for the Prophet. I found all three with their breasts full of milk. Therefore, I took a bowl belonging to the Prophet’s family, which they hoped to use for milking the goats. I milked them until the bowl was topped with froth. I brought it to the Prophet and he drank of it, then he gave it to me to drink. I did, then I gave it back to him and he had some more and handed it over to me, and I drank again. I was then laughing heartily and fell to the ground. The Prophet said: ‘You must have done something wrong, Miqdad!’ I told him what I did. He said: ‘This was only an act of grace God has given us. You should have awakened your two friends to have a share.’ I said: ‘By Him who sent you with the message of the truth! I do not care who misses out after you had some and I had what you left.’” (Related by Muslim.)
The story does not require any comment, but we will briefly mention three points in it. The first is the contrast between the Prophet’s actual behavior and how he was expected to react when he did not find his milk. It was normal of Al-Miqdad to expect a prayer against him, which could land him in perpetual trouble since a prayer by the Prophet was guaranteed to be answered in the clearest of manners. His dread, therefore, was fully justified. The Prophet, however, did not pray against him. On the contrary, he prayed for everyone who gave him to eat or drink. This was taken by Al-Miqdad as a signal to try to get him something.
The second point concerns the Prophet’s treatment of his companions. When he saw Al-Miqdad laughing so heartily, he realized that there was something wrong. He asked him about it in a very casual manner, encouraging him to tell him. Al-Miqdad did not hesitate to tell him, knowing that he would not take it against him. Then the Prophet attributed the fact of the availability of milk at a time when the goats would have none to an act of grace by God. The fact is that Al-Miqdad was in such a dread after his action that he would have done anything to retrieve the situation. However, the Prophet’s prayer ensured that God would turn to him in mercy. Hence, He caused the goats to be full of milk again that night, which is extremely unusual.
The third point is the extreme poverty the Muslim community was in at the time. This story took place in Madinah, as Al-Miqdad mentions the Ansar and how hospitable they were to the Prophet. Even there, Muslims were in poverty. Here we find three of the Prophet’s companions in such a state of hunger that they would almost beg, but nothing was given them. This means that whoever they approached had nothing to give them. Muslims would normally give away whatever they had to a hungry person.
Yet it was not unusual for the Muslims to be so poor at the time. In Makkah they endured much worse conditions when the Quraysh imposed sever economic and social sanctions on them, pledging to God not to buy from them or sell them anything, and not to marry their women or give them any woman in marriage. This boycott lasted three years. In those three years they suffered great hardship. A report by Saad ibn Abi Waqqas gives us a glimpse of what they had to endure: “I went out one night to relieve myself. (The Arabs did not have toilets in their homes at that time.) The urine fell over something that crackled. I picked it up. It was a piece of camel skin that had dried. I washed it well before burning it and mixing it thoroughly with water. It was my food for three days.”