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Muhammad told Aisha, “Beware of sitting with the wealthy, and do not replace a garment until you have already mended it.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:53.</ref> Throughout her life, she disliked discarding worn-out clothes.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:52.</ref> She did own a gown costing about 5 ''dirhams'' (£25), and “no woman desiring to appear elegant before her husband failed to borrow [it] from me.” But the cloth cannot have been of very high quality compared to what became available in Medina in later decades, for although the widowed Aisha continued to wear similar clothes, her slave refused to wear such a coarse gown in the house.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|47|796}}.</ref> The mosque had no indoor toilets, “for we loathe and detest them,”<ref>Guilaume/Ishaq 495.</ref> and Aisha did not have a lamp in her house.<ref>{{Bukhari|1|9|492}}.</ref> | Muhammad told Aisha, “Beware of sitting with the wealthy, and do not replace a garment until you have already mended it.”<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:53.</ref> Throughout her life, she disliked discarding worn-out clothes.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:52.</ref> She did own a gown costing about 5 ''dirhams'' (£25), and “no woman desiring to appear elegant before her husband failed to borrow [it] from me.” But the cloth cannot have been of very high quality compared to what became available in Medina in later decades, for although the widowed Aisha continued to wear similar clothes, her slave refused to wear such a coarse gown in the house.<ref>{{Bukhari|3|47|796}}.</ref> The mosque had no indoor toilets, “for we loathe and detest them,”<ref>Guilaume/Ishaq 495.</ref> and Aisha did not have a lamp in her house.<ref>{{Bukhari|1|9|492}}.</ref> | ||
Charity was a way of life for the Arabs, and of course the Prophet’s young wife had to set the example. In the early years, beggars sat on the Bench in the mosque courtyard waiting for food distribution.<ref> | Charity was a way of life for the Arabs, and of course the Prophet’s young wife had to set the example. In the early years, beggars sat on the Bench in the mosque courtyard waiting for food distribution.<ref>{{Bukhari|1|10|576}}: “The ''Suffa'' companions were poor people, and the Prophet said, ‘Whoever has food for two persons should take a third one from them.’” See also [http://www.answering-islam.org/Books/Muir/Life3/chap8.htm/ Muir (1861), pp. 20-21.]</ref> Aisha used to count them until Muhammad told her, “Give and do not calculate, [or else] calculation will be made against you.”<ref>{{Abudawud|9|1696}}.</ref> On one occasion a beggar came to her door on a fast-day, and Aisha told her maid to give him their only loaf. The servant protested that there would be nothing to break their fast, but Aisha insisted.<ref>{{Muwatta|58|1|5}}.</ref> On another occasion, a widow with two daughters came begging, and Aisha’s larder was reduced to one date. She handed it over, and the widow divided it between the children without taking anything for herself.<ref>{{Muslim|32|6362}}; {{Bukhari|8|73|24}}.</ref> Ibn Kathir, writing 700 years after the event, cited an old tradition when: “The Prophet had sacrificed an animal, and Ayesha was so generous in sharing the meat out amongst the poor that she found that she had left nothing for the Messenger’s large household except the shoulder of the animal. Feeling a little distressed, she went to the Prophet, and said, ‘I’ve only been able to save this.’ ‘That is the only part that you have not saved,’ smiled the Prophet, ‘for whatever you give away in the name of Allah, you save, and whatever you keep for yourself, you lose.’”<ref>[http://www.islamawareness.net/Muhammed/ibn_kathir_wives.html/ Ibn Kathir, ''The Wives of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)''].</ref> The shoulder was Muhammad’s favourite part of the sheep.<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 516</ref> | ||
The fact that Aisha had a servant does not indicate very much about the comfort-level of her home. Barira was a slave whom Aisha bought for nine ounces of silver (about £1800) with the specific goal of immediate manumission. As it happened, Barira had nowhere else to go, so she chose to stay with Aisha as a domestic maid.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:181; {{Bukhari|3|47|752}}.</ref> Muhammad put up the silver, which only proves that (largely through the successes of his wars and robberies<ref>For the booty from his battles, see Guillaume/Ishaq 324, 326-327, 438, 466; {{Tabari|7|p. 87}}.</ref>) he by now had some money in his coffer. But he spent his money on arming his warriors,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 466.</ref> bribing the double-minded<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 594-597</ref> or assisting the poor<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 521.</ref> (which included such acts as manumitting slaves). According to Aisha, it did not translate to food for his household. “The Prophet of Allah liked three worldly objects – perfume, women and food … He obtained women and perfumes but he did not get food.”<ref>Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' 1:2:90:4</ref> The servant Barira was an extra mouth for Muhammad to feed, and she must have been as hungry as her young mistress. | The fact that Aisha had a servant does not indicate very much about the comfort-level of her home. Barira was a slave whom Aisha bought for nine ounces of silver (about £1800) with the specific goal of immediate manumission. As it happened, Barira had nowhere else to go, so she chose to stay with Aisha as a domestic maid.<ref>Bewley/Saad 8:181; {{Bukhari|3|47|752}}.</ref> Muhammad put up the silver, which only proves that (largely through the successes of his wars and robberies<ref>For the booty from his battles, see Guillaume/Ishaq 324, 326-327, 438, 466; {{Tabari|7|p. 87}}.</ref>) he by now had some money in his coffer. But he spent his money on arming his warriors,<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 466.</ref> bribing the double-minded<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 594-597</ref> or assisting the poor<ref>Guillaume/Ishaq 521.</ref> (which included such acts as manumitting slaves). According to Aisha, it did not translate to food for his household. “The Prophet of Allah liked three worldly objects – perfume, women and food … He obtained women and perfumes but he did not get food.”<ref>Ibn Saad, ''Tabaqat'' 1:2:90:4</ref> The servant Barira was an extra mouth for Muhammad to feed, and she must have been as hungry as her young mistress. | ||