EVEN IF I DIE TRYING

 

EVEN IF I DIE TRYING

 

Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu anhu) owned a slave whose work was to earn an income for Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu anhu).

 

One night, the slave presented Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu anhu) with some food that he had earned. As soon as the food was placed before him, Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu anhu) picked up a morsel and began to eat. Seeing this, the slave was surprised and asked, “What is the matter? You normally ask me every night (as to how I earned the wealth). Why have you not asked me tonight?” Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu anhu) replied, “I was overcome by extreme hunger. From where did you get this food?” The slave answered, “During the days of Jaahiliyyah (the days of ignorance, before the advent of Islam), I once passed by a certain tribe and recited some words (of Sihr - black magic) and blew, as a form of treatment for them. On account of my service, they had promised me that they would later compensate me. It so happened that I passed by this tribe today while they were engaged in wedding festivities. As they still owed me for my service, they gave me some food from the wedding as payment.”

 

When Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu anhu) heard this, he exclaimed, “You almost destroyed me (by feeding me haraam)!” He then began to stick his hand into his throat in an effort to spew out the haraam morsel. However, although he retched and gagged, the morsel could not be expelled (as his stomach was too empty). Seeing this, somebody remarked, “The morsel will not be expelled from your stomach unless you drink water.” Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) thus asked for a large bowl of water and began to drink. After he had filled his stomach with water, he again began to stick his hand into his throat, forcing himself to vomit, until the haraam morsel was finally expelled.

 

A person who had witnessed the scene said to Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu anhu), “May Allah have mercy on you! You underwent all this difficulty for just one morsel?” Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu anhu) responded, “Even if I had to lose my life to remove the morsel, I would have done so! I heard Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) mention, ‘That body which is nourished by haram, the fire (of Jahannum) is more worthy of it.’ I was thus afraid that some part of my body would be nourished by this haraam morsel.” (Hilyatul Awliyaa vol. 1, pg. 64)

 

Lessons:

 

1. It is every Muslim’s responsibility to ensure that he consumes only that which is completely Halaal. In this regard, we cannot be lax and complacent. When purchasing a house or a car, we ensure that everything is above board and meets our expectations. Similarly, when nourishing our bodies, which house our Imaan and are our vehicles to Jannah, we should never settle for anything besides that which is completely halaal.

 

2. ‘Halaal’ entails more than slaughtering correctly and avoiding haraam e-codes. Rather, we have to ensure that our wealth, which is what we use to acquire all our food, is totally halaal. If our wealth is haraam, then everything that results from it will also be tainted with the effects of haraam and will thus be void of barakah (blessings).