Now he opens a chapter and says: "The chapter on one who visits a people and eats with them."

The Shaykh : Now he opens a chapter and says: "The chapter on one who visits a people and eats with them." Al-Bukhari narrates with his authentic chain from Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) visited a household of the Ansar, and he ate food with them. When he left, he designated a place in the house, and it was sprinkled with water for him on a mat, so he prayed on it and made du'a for them.
This hadith contains benefits, among which is the chapter the author (may Allah have mercy on him) established: "One who visits a people and eats with them." The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) visited a group of the Ansar in their house, and this visit did not stop at being merely a visit, even though this is one of the virtues as we mentioned in the previous lesson. Rather, the visit was accompanied by the fact that they presented food to him (peace be upon him), so he ate from their food and drank from their drink. This combines two virtues: the virtue of visiting, which realizes a type of companionship, and the other virtue is eating from the food of the household. This is because there is virtue in both eating and feeding. The household presented food, and this is a merit. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said in some authentic hadiths: , "The best of you is the one who feeds people." So the household presented food to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and this is from purifying the soul and cleansing it from the filth of stinginess and miserliness. The one eating was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), so by presenting food to the Messenger (peace be upon him), they realized two virtues. The other virtue we mentioned earlier: . The second virtue is in another hadith, which is his saying (peace be upon him): , "And who is more God-fearing than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family)?" So they fed people from one aspect, because this virtue was again fed to the master of the God-fearing (peace and blessings be upon him). In this is the etiquette that it is recommended for a man who is hosted by someone who visits him to honor him with something of food or drink that is available to him. This is an etiquette that is still practiced, but people vary between those who do it a lot and those who do it little. Then, in this hadith, there is a matter that, in my opinion, is not prescribed to be repeated after the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). That is that he prayed for them in their house in a place they sprinkled with water and cleaned, and he prayed there in that place, as if he made it a prayer place in their house so that they, in turn, would pray in this place whenever they wish to pray, whether voluntary or obligatory, each according to his status. As we all know, it is better for a woman to pray in the house, and the opposite for a man, who prays in the mosque. If he misses the prayer in the mosque, he prays in the house in congregation with his family. So this place where the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed, he prayed there so that the household would pray in it. This means seeking blessing in the action of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and in choosing a suitable place in the house for the household to pray in. I said this should not be repeated after him (peace be upon him) because this is a type of seeking blessing in him (peace and blessings be upon him), and it is not permissible for any scholar or person of virtue to do his action, because this scholar and this virtuous person cannot be in the position of infallibility in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was. As has happened with the later scholars and Shaykhs today, their leniency and tolerance toward their followers, students, and disciples, and the seeking of blessing by these people in them, is a type of self-deception. It is not permissible for the pious scholar who fears Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and who stays away from the whispers of Satan to make himself and establish himself in the position of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), whom Satan does not overcome. So in this hadith is the virtue of visiting the household and the virtue of these people presenting food to the visitor.