Abu Bakr as-Siddiq رضي الله عنه — The Night the Food Kept Increasing
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq رضي الله عنه — The Night the Food Kept Increasing
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq رضي الله عنه — The Night the Food Kept Increasing
Abdur Rahman ibn Abi Bakr رضي الله عنه told what happened in his father's house on a night of guests — a night that began with waiting, and ended with wonder.
The Suffa Companions were poor people, and the Prophet ﷺ had said:
«مَنْ كَانَ عِنْدَهُ طَعَامُ اثْنَيْنِ فَلْيَذْهَبْ بِثَالِثٍ، وَإِنْ أَرْبَعٌ فَخَامِسٌ أَوْ سَادِسٌ»
"Whoever has food for two persons should take a third one from them (Suffa companions). And whosoever has food for four persons he should take one or two from them."
Abu Bakr took three men, and the Prophet ﷺ took ten of them.
Abdur Rahman said: my father, my mother and I were there in the house.
But Abu Bakr took his supper with the Prophet ﷺ, and remained there till the Isha prayer was offered. He stayed with the Prophet ﷺ till the Prophet ﷺ took his meal, and only then returned home, after a long portion of the night had passed.
His wife said: "What detained you from your guests (or guest)?"
He said: "Have you not served them yet?"
She said: "They refused to eat until you come. The food was served for them but they refused."
The guests had waited — through the whole evening, hungry, in another man's house — because their host had not yet come home.
Abdur Rahman said: "I went away and hid myself (being afraid of Abu Bakr)."
His father called him — "O Ghunthar (a harsh word)!" — and called him bad names, and then said to his family: "Eat. No welcome for you."
Then the supper was served, and Abu Bakr took an oath that he would not eat that food.
And then something began to happen that nobody in that house ever forgot. Abdur Rahman said:
"By Allah, whenever any one of us (myself and the guests of Suffa companions) took anything from the food, it increased from underneath. We all ate to our fill and the food was more than it was before its serving."
Abu Bakr looked at the food and found it as it was before serving, or even more than that. He said to his wife:
«يَا أُخْتَ بَنِي فِرَاسٍ مَا هَذَا»
"O the sister of Bani Firas! What is this?"
She said:
«لاَ وَقُرَّةِ عَيْنِي لَهِيَ الآنَ أَكْثَرُ مِنْهَا قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ بِثَلاَثِ مَرَّاتٍ»
"O the pleasure of my eyes! The food is now three times more than it was before."
Then Abu Bakr ate from it, and said: "That (oath) was from Satan" — meaning his oath not to eat.
He took another morsel from it, and then took the rest of it to the Prophet ﷺ. So that meal was with the Prophet ﷺ.
And the food had still not finished its journey. There was a treaty between the Muslims and some people, and when its period had elapsed, the Prophet ﷺ divided the Companions into twelve groups, each headed by a man — and all of them ate of that meal.
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🌿 Stop and Think About This Scene
The guests of the Suffa were poor men with nothing. Yet when food was placed in front of them in a house whose master was absent, they would not touch it until he returned.
And the master, when he finally came home late in the night, found his household in disorder — and then watched a small supper refuse to decrease, until it had fed his family, his guests, the Prophet ﷺ, and twelve groups of men.
Blessing entered that house through the door of hospitality.
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❤️ The Greatest Lesson
In Abdur Rahman's words: "whenever any one of us (myself and the guests of Suffa companions) took anything from the food, it increased from underneath." Food that is opened for guests is not divided the way we divide things — Allah can increase it from where no eye can see. The house that feeds others does not become emptier; in this story, it became the source of a meal for an army.
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📚 Important Lessons From This Hadith
1. The Prophet ﷺ shared the poor of the Suffa among those who had food: "Whoever has food for two persons should take a third one from them."
2. The guests honoured their absent host and "refused to eat until you come" — the manners of a guest are part of hospitality too.
3. The food increased as it was eaten: "We all ate to our fill and the food was more than it was before its serving."
4. Abu Bakr recognised his hasty oath for what it was: "That (oath) was from Satan."
5. What remained was carried to the Prophet ﷺ, and from that one meal twelve groups of men ate.
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🏠 How Can We Apply This Hadith in Our Daily Lives?
We can adopt the Prophet's ﷺ distribution in our own street and mosque: whoever has food for two can make room for a third. When we are guests, we can honour the host the way the men of the Suffa did — waiting, patient, and uncomplaining. And when an angry oath slips from our tongues, Abu Bakr shows the way out: name it, leave it, and eat.
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🌹 The Most Beautiful Message
A delayed supper, an angry oath, a frightened son hiding in his own house — and over it all, a dish that kept increasing until it fed twelve companies of men. This is what blessing looks like when it enters a home that opens its door for the poor: it does not run out.
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📖 Authentic Reference
Sahih al-Bukhari 602 — Chapter: To talk with the family and the guests after the 'sha prayer — Grade: Sahih — Sahih al-Bukhari 602