Imam Abu Bakr al-Minqari, Imam al-Tabarani and Imam Abu al-Shaykh once visited the holy city of Medina. Whilst there, they faced some difficulties so they went to the grave of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Imam Abu Bakr narrates the following:
Myself, al-Tabarani and Abu al-Shaykh were in the sanctuary of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and we were in a difficult situation. We were feeling an intense hunger but managed to persevere that day. When the time of Isha prayer arrived I presented myself in front of the grave of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said:
“O Messenger of Allah! Hunger! Hunger!”
Then I left. Abu al-Shaykh said to me:
“Sit! Either we will receive provision (rizq) or we will die.”
So myself and Abu al-Shaykh fell asleep whilst al-Tabarani was sitting and thinking about something.
Then a man appeared at the door who was from the descendants of Sayiduna Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and he knocked on the door. There were some boys with him who were all carrying large baskets containing a lot of food.
So we sat and we ate. We thought that one of the boys would take the leftover food but he went away and left it with us.
Once we had finished eating, the man said to us:
“O people. Did you complain to the Messenger of Allah? Because I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a dream and he ordered me to bring something for you.”
Narrated by Imam Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Wafa bi Ahwal al-Mustafa
Something similar is reported from Abu al-Khayr al-Tinani who was in Medina and had not eaten anything for five days. He then went to the noble grave and gave greetings to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as well as Sayiduna Abu Bakr and Sayiduna Umar. Then he said:
“I am your guest tonight O Messenger of Allah”
He then moved away and fell asleep behind a pillar. In his sleep he saw the Prophet ﷺ with Abu Bakr on his right, Umar on his left and Ali in front of him. Sayiduna Ali approached him and said:
“Stand up, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has arrived!”
So he stood up and kissed the Prophet ﷺ on his forehead. The Prophet ﷺ gave him a loaf of bread so he ate half of it. He said:
“When I woke up, I found that the other half of bread was in my hand.”1
Footnotes
- Ibn al-Jawzi in Sifah al-Safwah. See the book ‘Guardian of the cloak’ by Shaykh Dawud ibn Sulayman al-Naqshabandi, page 69, (translated by Amjad Mahmood and published by Heritage Press).
Orthodox Muslim 