How the People of the Platform Lived

How would the people of the Ṣuffah live? One source of livelihood for them was the ṣadaqah that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would send to them. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would receive ṣadaqah, he would send it to them, and when he would receive a gift, he would take some of it and give them the rest — the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not accept ṣadaqah himself. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would encourage the well-off Companions to invite them. One of the Anṣār, Yāsīn al-Ghifārī, said: my father was among the people of the Ṣuffah. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered the Companions to invite Ahl al-Ṣuffah to their houses, so they came, and every one of the Companions took some away, until only five were left, and then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told them all to go with him to his house, and he fed them. And in another narration the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: whoever has food enough for two people should take a third with him, and whoever has enough food for four people should take a fifth or a sixth person with him.

Sacrifice and generosity were part of Islam from very early on, in fact from Makkah, from day one: Allah (swt) revealed ayāt about taking care of the orphan, taking care of the needy, being generous toward the guest. All of these are acts of worship that were encouraged from day one. Being a Muslim does not come without demanding sacrifice — there is no free ride. If one wants Jannah, if one seeks to please Allah (swt), one has to sacrifice for Allah (swt); giving was part of being a Muslim from day one. These Companions who were inviting others were not wealthy men. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was saying: if you have enough food for two people, only two people, you take a third person with you — telling the Companions to invite others to their houses even when they only had enough food for two people. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) took care of Ahl al-Ṣuffah even though others would come to him with their own needs. An example was Fāṭimah (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the most beloved to the Messenger of Allah — she had to do all of the hard work at home until her hands became injured and coarse. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib told her that her father had received some captives — go and ask him to give you a servant. So Fāṭimah (may Allah be pleased with her) went to her father and asked for a servant. What did the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say to his most beloved, to his daughter, whose suffering he could see? He said: wa-Allāhi lā uʿṭīkum wa-adaʿu ahla ṣuffatī taṭwī buṭūnuhum min al-jūʿ, lā ajidu mā unfiqu ʿalayhim, wa-lākin abīʿuhum wa-unfiqu ʿalayhim athmānahum — in the name of Allah, I'm not gonna give you and leave the people of the Ṣuffah with hungry stomachs, because they don't have any money, and I don't have any money to spend on them; so I'm gonna free these slaves, I'm gonna sell these slaves, and I'm gonna use that money to give it to Ahl al-Ṣuffah. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) gave to Ahl al-Ṣuffah and refused his own daughter Fāṭimah (may Allah be pleased with her) — that shows how much the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) cared for Ahl al-Ṣuffah.