References :The baker said to young wayfarer, "O young man, trust in Allah and reliance on Him is the asset of the servants of Allah. It is an asset which renders its owner independent of everyone else. Anyone who is blessed with trust in Allah and reliance on Him finds himself released of everything. The Creator of the universe Himself is Responsible for his needs. Unique and unprecedented examples of His working come to be seen-in their lives." The he asked, "Would you like to listen a story a pious couple who were very poor and needy and lived a life of destitution, they faced extreme hunger but were blessed with faith and trust in Allah?" The young wayfarer said, "Of course, tell me!"
The baker said, "Abu Hurayrah, رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, said,
“A man and his wife from an earlier generation were poor. He went out to the desert in search of livelihood. His wife prayed behind him to Allah, 'O Allah! Grant us what we may knead into bread.'The young wayfarer said, "Please explain about the story!" The baker said, "Extreme hunger forced the husband to go to the desert and looked for food and his wife turned to Allah in her terrible predicament for He alone is the Support of those who have no one to lean on. She prayed to· Him, "O Allah! Give us some flour that we may grind it into bread."
Once when the man came back from a journey, he went to his wife saying to her, while feeling hunger and fatigued, ‘Do you have anything to eat?' She said, 'Yes, receive the good news of Allah's provisions.' He again said to her, 'If you have anything to eat, bring it to me.' She said, 'Wait a little longer.' She was awaiting Allah's mercy. When the matter was prolonged, he said to her, ‘Get up and bring me whatever you have to eat, because I am real hungry and fatigued.' She said, 'I will. Soon I will open the oven's cover, so do not be hasty.' When he was busy and refrained from insisting for a while, she said to herself, 'I should look in my oven.' So she got up and looked in her oven and found it full of the meat of a lamb, and her mortar and pestle was full of seed grains; it was crushing the seeds on its own. So, she took out what was in the mortar and pestle, after shaking it to remove everything from inside, and also took the meat out that she found in the oven.”
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "If he had left it to itself, the millstone would have circled on and on till the Day of Resurrection or kept on grinding the flour (which would never have exhausted)." [Tabarani, Bayhaqi, Bazzar, Ahmad; Sahih by Shaikh Al-Albani]
When the husband returned home, he observed an amazing scene. There was a vessel full of flour. Grinded flour was there and the millstone filled with wheat and it was grinding the flour and the oven was roasting fresh meat. He was surprised how they had fresh meat and plenty of flour. He asked his wife in amazement, "Where did this come from?" She said, "It is a provision from Allah." So, he sweeped the particles around the mill-stone with a broom.
The Prophet (ﷺ) revealed to us that if he had not swept the place, the mill-stone would have continued to grind in that manner until the Day of Resurrection.
Similarly, there was a miracle at the hands of the Prophet (ﷺ) in the Battle of Trenches. The food prepared by Jabir, رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, though little was enough for a large army. Here, too, the Prophet (ﷺ) had said to Jabir, "Do not open the vessel until I come." Then, he poured out the broth with his own hands but he covered the utensils again after taking out the broth and bread.
Some people refuse to believe in such events. They argue that this measure to the standard of men's knowledge and their intellect is unwilling to accept them. Denial of these cases which are confirmed by Hadith is tantamount to denial of Hadith and Shari'ah and the powers of Allah because Allah nourishes His slaves even without known agencies.
Man is dependant on means, but Allah is not dependent on anything. He is Rabb of worlds. In fact, the means too are created by Him. Hence, His ability encompasses all those things. It is wrong to measure such instances on the scale of man's intellect otherwise we will have to reject an important section of religion-miracles and supernatural occurences which are very true. Slaves of intelelct and materialists look at everything with this narrow approach. Why cannot Allah provide livelihood to His slave who believes in Him, obeys His commands and relies on Him? He is Allah who nourished Prophet Musa, alaihissalam, at the home of his enemy, Who feeds the worm deep inside a rock, Who turns mother's blood into sustenance for her infant, Who grows seed in the darkness of earth to pierce it and turn into a fruit-bearing tree, Who nourishes millions and billions of mouths all together and will go on doing that until the Day of Resurrection. He does all that and He can provide livelihood to His slave without any apparent agency. To reject is to show oneself as unintelligent. There are innumerable instances in the Qur'an and Hadith that speak of unique and amazing powers of Allah."
Then the baker said, "O young man, this Hadith confirms that unusual occurences do occur for the pious slaves of Allah. It shows that Allah helps His pious slaves and provides them their livelihood. The out-of-the-ordinary acts of the righteous are a reality. It is the belief of the abiders of sunnah and the people of the path (ahl-us-sunnah wa al-Jama'ah) that the slaves of Allah and the righteous slaves do perform the extra-ordinary. However, certain people who pretend to be saints claim to execute miracles and supernatural deeds. Hence, many false stories are reported about them with the result that we may confirm the reliable and true happenings but it is wrong to report everything that reaches our ears. It must also be understood that an unusual occurence cannot be cited in support of an issue or religious argument in place of Shari'ah.
The Hadith also emphasises the significance of supplication to Allah. If a supplication is made sincerely and the necessary conditions are fulfilled then it surely meets divine approval. In fact, sometimes there is a spontaneous response. In our story, the woman's supplication was answered immediately. Therefore, we must always make our supplications remembering to meet the conditions attached to it.
The confirmation of this incident by the Prophet (ﷺ) makes it the most reliable narrative. His statement also makes it clear that we must refrain from putting a stop to the unexpected blessings of Allah or to show ungratefulness for them. He said that if the mill-stone was left to itself to grind and the surrounding area was not swept then it would have maintained its production unceasingly until the Day of Resurrection. However. that man was taken aback and he swept and cleaned it ·and the grinding came to a halt. Man must not try to investigate into the unseen help but he must have faith in Allah's help and His blessings. And Allah know best."
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ"And your Rabb says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible." - [QS.40:60]
- Maulana Muhammad Zakaria Iqbal, Stories from the Hadith, Darul Isha'at.
- Syaikh Safiurrahman Al-Mubarakpuri, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) Volume X, Darussalam
