The companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were keen to report whatever the Prophet did, even very ordinary matters, such as his eating and drinking. We, therefore, have a picture of how the Prophet behaved in all situations. We thus know that the Prophet was an easy-going person who was satisfied with whatever was available, causing no inconvenience to others. He ate any food presented to him, and if he did not like something, he would not criticize it; he would simply refrain from eating it. Likewise, in his drink, he was happy to have what caused no inconvenience. Jabir reports: “The Prophet and one of his companions entered the place of a man from the Ansar who was at the time diverting irrigation water into his farm. The Prophet and his companion greeted the man and he returned their greeting. The Prophet then said to him: ‘If you have water that you have kept in a water-skin from last night, let us please have a drink; otherwise, we will take a gulp from this water.’ The man said: ‘Messenger of God! I have water from last night.’ He went over to his hut and poured water in a cup, then milked a home-kept sheep, adding the milk to the water. The Prophet had a drink and the man did the same to give the Prophet’s companion the same drink.” (Related by Al-Bukhari, Abu Dawood and Ibn Majah.)
This Hadith gives us a clear picture of the Prophet’s attitude to the essentials of life. Whatever was available was good enough for him. We go to every length to ensure that we have fresh, refrigerated drinks made out of the best and most exotic fruits. The Prophet was happy to take a gulp of the water from the little stream shared out by farmers to irrigate their land. He certainly preferred the water kept in a water-skin from the day before, because it would be cleaner and cooler, but if it was not available, he would have taken something to quench his thirst.
We also note how the Prophet’s companions were keen to give him the best they had. The farmer added some fresh milk to the water to give to the Prophet and his guest.
The Prophet’s companions realized that whatever the Prophet touched or handled was blessed. If he drank from a container, the drink would go round even if its quantity was too small for the number of people present. If he sat to eat, the food appeared plentiful whatever its quantity. Therefore, they were keen to drink from the same cup he used, putting their mouths where he had put his. Ibn Abbas, who was a young lad during the Prophet’s lifetime, reports that one day he entered with the Prophet and Khalid ibn Al-Waleed the home of lady Maymoonah, the Prophet’s wife who was Ibn Abbas’ maternal aunt. “She brought us a jug of milk. The Prophet drank of it. I was to his right and Khalid to his left. The Prophet said to me: ‘It is your turn to drink, but if you wish you may give Khalid first.’ I said to him: ‘I would give no one preference over myself to drink where you have put your mouth.’ The Prophet then said: ‘Whoever has some food provided by God should say: Our Lord, bless it for us and give us even better food. And whoever has some milk to drink should say: Our Lord, bless it for us and give us more of it. Nothing can replace both food and drink other than milk.’” (Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.)
What sort of drinks did the Prophet prefer? Lady Ayesha reports: “The drink the Prophet liked best was a cool, sweet drink.” (Related by Ahmad, Al-Tirmidhi and Al-Hakim.) Anas reports: “I gave God’s Messenger in this cup all types of drink: water, fruit juice, honey and milk.” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.) He often drank milk in place of eating, particularly when food was scarce. When he did so, he rinsed his mouth afterwards, as Ibn Abbas reports: “The Prophet once drank milk, then asked for water and he rinsed his mouth. He said: ‘Milk has fat in it.’” (Related in all six authentic anthologies.)
A question is sometimes asked with regard to the Prophet’s drinking and whether he ever had any wine before it was prohibited. We have a number of Hadiths that give us some details. Ayesha reports: “We used to make a drink for God’s Messenger in a container which would be tied at its top and which had a tap at the bottom. If we put it in the morning, he would drink of it in the evening, and if we put it at night, he would drink it in the morning.” (Related by Muslim, Abu Dawood and Al-Tirmidhi.) Once Ayesha was asked about fermented drink and she pointed to an Abyssinian maid saying that she used to make the Prophet’s drink. The maid said: “I used to put a drink for the Prophet in a container and tie it up at night. When he woke up in the morning, he would drink of it.” (Related by Muslim.)
What sort of drink was this? It would be some dates mixed with water, and keeping them like this overnight, or during the day, would give a refreshing drink that would not intoxicate. In fact this was the most common practice of the Prophet, but such fermentation could go for much longer without starting to have any intoxicating effect. This appears from the following Hadith. Ibn Abbas reports: “A drink was made to ferment for the Prophet at night, and he would drink of it during the following day and night, as also during the day and night that followed and the morning after that up to early afternoon. If there was anything left of it, he would give it to a servant, or cause it to be thrown away.” (Related by Muslim, Abu Dawood, Al-Nassaie and Ibn Majah.) A closely similar Hadith is also reported by Jabir. We also have a Hadith in which Ayesha reports that she used to put a handful of raisins in such a drink to give it a sweeter taste.
These Hadiths show that the Prophet was very careful with his drink. He would drink of it for as long as it had no intoxicating effect whatsoever. When it had been left for two days and approached the point where alcohol was about to appear in a small trace, he would make sure that it was used up or thrown away. The Prophet never had any drink that could make a person merry, let alone drunk, even after having a very large quantity of it.
