Explanation of the athar of Muhammad ibn Sirin, who said: "We were with Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he was wearing two garments dyed with mishaq from linen"

The Shaykh : The following hadith is also authentic. It was narrated from Muhammad ibn Sirin, who said: "We were with Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he was wearing two garments dyed with mishaq from linen, so he spat into one of them, then said: 'Bakh, bakh' — Abu Hurayrah spitting into the linen. I have seen myself, and I would collapse between the minbar of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the chamber of 'A'ishah, overcome by hunger, so that a person would come and place his foot on my neck, thinking that I was insane, when in fact it was only hunger." Al-Bukhari and al-Tirmidhi narrated it, and al-Tirmidhi graded it as authentic.
Mishaq, with the kasrah on the mīm, is the mighrah, and a garment dyed with mishaq is one dyed with it. The mighrah is one of the wonders we hear of; it is red clay. They used to dye their clothes with red clay, a type of craft at that time. It seems that this color was beautiful; therefore, Abu Hurayrah said: "Yes, bakh, bakh — Abu Hurayrah spitting into the linen."
Abu Hurayrah was seen wearing two garments dyed with mishaq, meaning dyed with a red color, made of linen. He spat into one of them, then said: "Bakh, bakh — Abu Hurayrah spitting into the linen." This is an allusion to the fact that Abu Hurayrah's material circumstances had changed from what they were during the time of Prophethood and the Message; for he had become an emir and a governor in some places, and the Islamic conquests had increased, which was the cause of the abundance of wealth coming to the Muslims, especially the governors among them. So 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and the other caliphs would give the governor a salary greater than what any other individual received. Thus, Abu Hurayrah was seen wearing two linen garments dyed red, then he had some saliva and spat into one of his garments. Then he remembered how his condition had been in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he said, cheering himself up: "Bakh, bakh," marveling at his previous condition and his current condition. He said: "Abu Hurayrah spitting into the linen," describing how he had become after mentioning what he was wearing: "I have seen myself, and I would collapse between the minbar of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the chamber of 'A'ishah, overcome by hunger, with nothing to eat to satisfy my hunger. A person would come and place his foot on my neck, thinking that I was insane, when in fact it was only hunger."
This hadith contains nothing new except for one aspect that comes to my mind: that if a Muslim directs his effort to religion and away from the worldly life, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sends the worldly life to him in a humble state. From such a hadith, some of the Salaf took the saying: "If you want the Hereafter, then seek knowledge; and if you want the worldly life, then seek knowledge." Of course, this does not mean that one of us should take knowledge as a profession to earn a living from, for as we all know, this is not permissible in Islam; because knowledge is worship, and no worship with which a Muslim worships his Lord is acceptable unless he is sincere to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in it, as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: .
Meaning: He does not seek in any worship of his Lord anything other than the Face of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is a long discussion that we have addressed repeatedly, especially at the beginning of our book "Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib," in the chapter specifically dedicated to sincerity to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). What the one who said "And whoever wants the worldly life, let him seek knowledge" means is that knowledge, in its capacity as knowledge, is the cause of all immediate or deferred good.
In summary: If a Muslim seeks knowledge for the Face of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will reward him for that in the worldly life before the Hereafter; because he sought good to please Allah (Mighty and Majestic), so Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will please him by giving him from the worldly life what makes him independent of people. As for the Hereafter, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: .