The Prophet Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam Comes To Eat At Your House!

By (Mufti) Muadh Chati

Imagine if the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam came to your home as a guest. What would you notice?

1. Well, the first thing is that he would accept your invitation to eat at his home irrespective of how far you lived, in the hadith of Sahih Muslim, the tribe of Banu Salimah called the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam and said:

إنا نريد أن ننحر جزورا لنا ونحن نحب أن تحضرها

We’re planning to slaughter a camel that we have and we wish for you to be present and eat with us.

Immediately the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said, “Yes.” And he came to eat in their locality after Asr salah. Banu Salimah lived 4 kilometres away from the Masjid which in those times is a decent distance to go to accept an invitation.

Reference: Sahih Muslim, hadith number: 624

2. The second thing you would notice is that he wouldn’t reject your invitation simply because you may not be a very important person, rather, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam accepted the invitation of even the freed slaves and even the grandmother of his servant Anas ibn Malik RA, whose name was Mulaykah RA.

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith number: 380

3. The third thing you would realise is that you wouldn’t need to worry about making anything extravagant, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam was a simple man, to the extent that he said:

لو دعيت إلى كراع لأجبت

If I were to be called to eat the feet of a camel, I would attend

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith number: 2568

To the extent that when ‘Itban bin Malik RA, a man with impaired eyesight, invited the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam to his home, he simply made a broth called Khazeerah for the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam which was just a small soup with little pieces of meat.

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith number: 425

4. The fourth thing you would notice is that there would be no over-formalities or takalluf as we call it when the Prophet would come to your house. When a tailor invited the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam to his home, he simply made a stew with gourd and dried meat inside with some bread. Anas ibn Mālik RA says:

إن خياطا دعا رسول الله ﷺ لطعام صنعه، قال أنس بن مالك: فذهبت مع رسول الله ﷺ إلى ذلك الطعام، فقرب إلى رسول الله ﷺ خبزا ومرقا، فيه دباء وقديد، فرأيت النبي ﷺ يتتبع الدباء من حوالي القصعة، قال: فلم أزل أحب الدباء من يومئذ

Indeed, a tailor called the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam for some food that he had made him, Anas ibn Malik states that he went with the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam for that food,

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith number: 2092

5. The fifth thing you would notice is that when he would knock on your door, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, he would probably say ‘Assalamu Alaykum’, and if you’re smart like Sa’d ibn ‘Ubadah RA, you may want to do what he did. Imam Ahmad RA narrates that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam came to Sa’d ibn Ubadah and said Assalamu Alaykum, so Sa’d responded very quietly ‘Wa Alaykumus Salam’, because the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam never heard it, he said, ‘Assalamu Alaykum’ again, again Sa’d responded very quietly, this happened a third time and now the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam was about to walk off when Sa’d opened the door and said:

يا رسول الله بأبي أنت وأمي ما سلمت تسليمة إلا هي بأذني ولقد رددت عليك ولم أسمعك أحببت أن أستكثر من سلامك ومن البركة

O Messenger of Allah may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, I heard each of your salams and I responded quietly so that I could have more of you seeking peace and blessings upon me!

Reference: Musnad Ahmad, hadith number: 12406

6. The sixth thing you would notice is that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam would not bring an extra uninvited individual to the meal unless the host permitted this.  Once a man from the Ansar invited the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam and 4 other people to a meal at his home. However, one more individual accompanied the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam to the home and so the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam asked the host:

إنك دعوتنا خامس خمسة وهذا رجل قد تبعنا فإن شئت أذنت له وإن شئت تركته

Indeed, you called 5 of us and this man has accompanied us, if you wish, you can grant him permission or if you wish you may leave him out.

The host gave permission.

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith number: 5434

7. The seventh aspect you would notice is that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam himself would probably help you in dishing out the food. In the famous incident during the Battle of the Trenches, when Jabir RA invited the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam to a meal, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said to Jabir RA to tell his wife:

قل لها لا تنزع البرمة ولا الخبز من التنور حتى آتي

Tell her not to open the pot of food or bread from the clay oven until I come

Then the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam himself came and served the food to all the guests.

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith number: 4101

8. The eighth aspect you would notice is that the Prophet ṣallallahu ʿalayhi wasallam will never make a negative comment regarding any of the food that you would present to him. Rather, if he doesn’t like any of the food you have made, he will just gently avoid eating that food and make no negative comment. But if he enjoyed your food, he would make a comment to really praise your food so that you the host feel elated. When Jabir RA invited the Prophet ṣallallahu ʿalayhi wasallam to a meal, there was some meat presented to the Prophet, immediately the Prophet ṣallallahu ʿalayhi wasallam exclaimed:

كأنك قد علمت حبنا للحم

It seems you know about my love for meat!

Reference: Musnad Aḥmad, hadith number: 15281

9. The ninth aspect is that although the Prophet ṣallallahu ʿalayhi wasallam would praise the food and make his host happy, he would remind both the host and the guests that this food is an amanah that Allah the Almighty will ask us about. Thus, encouraging both the host and the guest to use the energy from this food for the worship of Allah the Almighty. Once, the Prophet ṣallallahu ʿalayhi wasallam visited Abu’ Haytham ibn al-Tayhan with Abu Bakr RA and ʿUmar RA and he was given some water and dates. The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam ate these dates and then commented:

لتسألن عن هذا النعيم يوم القيامة ظل بارد وماء بارد وتمر طيب

Indeed, you will be asked about this bounty on the day of judgement, a cold shade, cold water and fresh dates!

Reference: Jami’ al-Tirmidhi, hadith number: 2369

10. The tenth aspect you would notice is that after eating at your home, he would probably make a du’a for you because ‘Abdullah ibn Busr RA states that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam ate at their home and after finishing eating, he said:

اللهم بارك لهم فيا رزقتهم واغفر لهم وارحمهم

O Allah, grant them blessing in that which You have provided them and forgive them and have mercy upon them.

Reference: Sahih Muslim, hadith number: 2042

Sa’d ibn Ubadah states that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said after eating some bread at his home:

أفطر عندكم الصائمون وأكل طعامكم الأبرار وصلت عليكم الملائكة

May those who are fasting break their fast in your home and may the pious eat your food and may the angels supplicate for blessings to be showered upon you.

Reference: Sunan Abi Dawud, hadith number: 3854