Understanding Hunger with Sh Kamal ElMekki

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا. مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ. وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

As for afterwards: the best speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. The worst of things are innovations, and every innovation is a newly introduced matter, and every newly introduced matter is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

Understanding Hunger

Brothers and sisters in Islam, today our khutbah is titled Understanding Hunger. We want to understand how painful it is when people are at the point of starvation. Some of you have seen videos of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, and how the hunger has reached a point that we cannot imagine.

What is interesting is when you look up hunger, you find videos of doctors and nutritionists talking about the benefits of hunger. That is understandable because we live in a world where everyone overeats, and they are talking about temporary hunger. What we are talking about is not temporary — we are talking about starvation, we are talking about when people are afflicted with famine. And people don't understand how extreme the pain of hunger can be, and how it would cause you to do things that are unthinkable.

As we look at some of these extreme examples, we will be telling ourselves: there is no way I would do that. But when you are in the situation, the impossible becomes an option — it becomes possible. And that is why Allah in the Qur'an, specifically in Surah Quraysh, mentions that He saved them from hunger and gave them security. If it wasn't such a valuable thing, it would not be mentioned as one of these two great blessings that Allah bestowed upon the Quraysh.

The Boycott of Banu Hashim in Shi'b Abi Talib

We know that when Banu Hashim were sent out and people boycotted them, they were sent out into the ravines known as Shi'b Abi Talib. For three years, they had nothing to eat but leaves. One of the companions said that he was out answering the call of nature, and his foot touched something. When he reached into the dark, it was the hide of a camel that had been slaughtered — perhaps months ago, perhaps years ago — rock hard. He said: I took it home, I washed it, I boiled it, and I ate it.

Al-Maqrizi and the Great Famine of Cairo

There is a scholar who lived in Egypt by the name of Taqiyuddin Al-Maqrizi. He studied with Ibn Khaldun, and some of the great scholars were his students. He wrote a short book — about 86 pages — by the name of Ighāthat al-Ummah bi-Kashf al-Ghummah. He experienced famine in Egypt, specifically in Cairo, in the year 806 after the Hijrah — roughly 600 years ago. He was in his 40s, and he lost his daughter to that famine. So he was a scholar, a writer, and an eyewitness, and he wrote this book.

The book discusses the causes, treatment, and prevention of famine and starvation. He addresses it economically, from the perspective of the rulers — what they should be doing, what they are responsible for. He wrote this book in the year 808 after the Hijrah, analyzing famines and starvations starting with the time of Nuh, then going to the Prophet Yusuf, then during the time of Fir'awn, and the Umayyad, Fatimid, and Ayyubid dynasties. He analyzed about 20 different cases of starvation that had afflicted Egypt.

He began by mentioning that what caused that famine was the carelessness of the rulers — their concerns were their positions of power. He mentions that there were not enough people farming, and the Nile did not flood much that year. He mentions that a single piece of bread was being sold for 15 gold dinars — something that would ordinarily cost a silver dirham — and 80 gold dinars for just a measure of flour.

He said that people then began to eat cats and dogs. The dogs became so scarce that they would sell a dog for 5 dinars, and people would take it, slaughter it, and eat it. Then the situation deteriorated until people began to eat one another. And you would think, in a Muslim city, this would never happen, I would never do it.

He says the situation reached the point where people would sit on rooftops with ropes that had kalāleeb — large hooks. They would wait specifically for old men and for children. They would swing the rope with the hook, it would catch onto a person, they would pull him up to the rooftop, and in no time they would cut him up and eat him. It became dangerous to be a child at that point.

He says Al-Muntasir, who was the khalifa, sold everything in his palace — all the decorations, cushions, chairs, and even weapons. He would be sitting on the floor. The women of the palace would go out into the streets crying: الجوع، الجوع — hunger, hunger. They wanted to travel to Iraq, but people would go out to the musalla and die there of hunger; some would die on the roads.

He tells of a woman who had a necklace worth 1,000 gold dinars and tried to exchange it for bread. All the merchants refused. The point is that even gold and jewelry of great value were not worth a single piece of bread. The merchants who had flour or bread refused to sell to her — no one was interested in 1,000 dinars; everyone wanted a tiny morsel of bread. Eventually, someone, out of mercy for her, took the 1,000 dinars and gave her some flour.

He tells of a wazir who got on his mule to go visit the khalifa. When he parked his mule, people came, took the mule, and ate it. The culprits were found and hanged — left hanging from the khashab. The next day, they came and found no bodies. People had come, taken the bodies, cut them up, and eaten them.

The Year of Hunger in the Hijaz — 1327 AH / 1909 CE

Similarly, in the year 1327 after the Hijrah, which is 1909 — not very long ago — in the Hijaz, the areas of Mecca, Medina, and the Arabian Peninsula, there was a catastrophe known as Aam al-Ju'a — the Year of Hunger. Some of the elderly alive today had parents who experienced this and lived through it.

People ate anything — carcasses of dead animals, whether dry, fresh, or rotting. They ate the skins of animals. They fought over these carcasses and tried to find locusts and insects to eat. They boiled leaves from whatever trees had foliage and ate them. They found children dead in front of doorways, in front of homes. They found a woman dead — and her two children had died on her chest from starvation.

There is a story of a debate about which child to eat, when a dog passed by — so they ran after it, slaughtered it, and ate it.

One man told his wife — and you will say, I would never put myself in that situation, I would never even have that thought, but this is how extreme and painful hunger can be — one man told his wife, and they had a small child, that he would take the child, kill him, and they would eat him. First the woman said no — ittaqillah, fear Allah. Then she agreed, but told him not to do it where she could see it.

He says: I took the child out into the desert. Before I could slaughter him, I found two gazelles fighting with each other, their horns locked together, and they could not break free. So he said to the woman: the ease and the way out has come from Allah. She came running and took her child, and he slaughtered the two animals and they ate. But the point is that hunger can be so extreme that things that would be unthinkable become possible. You would think: if I were in that situation, I would never suggest killing my child; I would suggest dying so my family could eat. But it is not the case when you feel extreme hunger.

The Prophet ﷺ and Hunger

Of course, we have in the life of our Prophet ﷺ an example in everything. Whatever you might experience in this life, the Prophet ﷺ experienced it. If someone lost a wife, the Prophet ﷺ lost a wife. You lost a child, a grandchild, a daughter, a son-in-law. You lost homes, wealth — you lost your luggage — the Prophet ﷺ lost his luggage. You have a bad neighbor, the Prophet ﷺ had bad neighbors. Whatever you go through in your life, the Prophet ﷺ went through a similar example.

We all know the famous narration from 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, who asked his aunt 'A'ishah about the household of the Prophet ﷺ. She said there would not be a fire lit in the house — they would not cook — for two months. He asked her: how would you survive? And she said: dates and water. Imagine going on just dates and water for two months.

And in Sahih Muslim, the famous narration reported by Abu Hurairah: The Prophet ﷺ went out one day — or one night — and found Abu Bakr and Umar. He asked: what got you out of your homes at this time? They said: hunger, O Prophet of Allah. He swore by Allah that the same thing that brought them out had brought him out as well. So he said: get up.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 23, Hadith 2038)

They got up with him and went to the house of one of the men of the Ansar. His wife saw them and welcomed them. The Prophet ﷺ asked where her husband was. She said he had gone to fetch water but would be back soon. The man returned, welcomed the Prophet ﷺ, and brought them some dates to start eating with. He then took a knife to go slaughter an animal. The Prophet ﷺ told him: not a milk-bearing animal, so that it remains for you to keep drinking from its milk. So he slaughtered another animal, cooked it, and they all ate until they had their fill.

Then the Prophet ﷺ told Abu Bakr and Umar: By the One in whose hand is my soul — you are going to be asked about this blessing on the Day of Judgment. You were sent out of your homes because of hunger, and then you returned having received from these blessings.

And this is like what Allah says in the Qur'an:

On that Day, you are going to be asked about all the blessings that you received.

Even Animals Have Rights

Not only did our religion encourage us to feed others and express the dangers and pain associated with extreme hunger, but even with animals, as the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3318; Sahih Muslim, Book 37, Hadith 2242)

A woman was punished — meaning with the Hellfire — because of a cat. She imprisoned the cat, trapping it until it died. So Allah took her to the Hellfire for torturing that animal. The point is that our religion places this value on not just human life, but even the life of animals. So what about humans?

And with famine, other problems occur. Food becomes scarce and impossible to afford — as we saw in the examples of the price of bread. When it becomes impossible to afford, then theft occurs, then murder occurs, and so on and so forth.

With that, we ask Allah to make us of those who hear the truth as clear truth and follow the best of it.

Second Khutbah — The Benefits of Understanding Hunger

Some may ask: what is the benefit of understanding extreme hunger and the pain associated with starvation? How do we benefit from this topic?

First: Appreciate What You Have

The first point is for us to appreciate what we have. Just as in the hadith — after they ate, the Prophet ﷺ told Abu Bakr and Umar that they would be asked about these blessings on the Day of Judgment. We live in a world where people are dying from overeating and getting all kinds of illnesses because they consume too much food — and in that same world, people are dying because they have nothing to eat. There are videos of people who ate their own hand because they were so hungry and starving. So when you appreciate what you have, you naturally become more thankful. This is a reminder to myself and to everyone: become more thankful. Do not take it for granted. Every meal, every bite.

We are so used to complaining about how one ingredient was missing, and we get so angry about it that we tell seven people and they go tell seven others. Become more appreciative.

Second: Become Less Wasteful

Those who do not appreciate throw away the blessings of Allah. And it is a good time to bring this up because some of you don't understand how wasteful we are in Ramadan. I am not talking about in our homes — just from what we visibly see here in the masjid. The insane amount of wasted bottles of water. Every night, we throw away 20–30 bottles of water, each one with just a single sip taken out of them and then left. There is nothing to do with them — we just dump them in the sink and throw them away.

And even sometimes when a surprising number of people come for iftar — we announce: please just take four, because we may not have enough food for everyone. Yet you will see a man sitting with his wife with four boxes of food that they are taking later for suhoor. These things are embarrassing to mention, but it happens every Ramadan. Every year we see amounts of food wasted — or people with four little children will give each one of them an adult meal, and the child will strip one piece of chicken off, and then the whole thing goes in the trash. This is not befitting of people whose brothers and sisters are starving in other parts of the world. We need to become more aware of this.

Third: Give Gaza Our Top Priority

The final point and reason behind this topic: when we are aware of these extreme conditions, and aware of what has happened to believing men and women throughout history — when they were hunting each other for food — we will feel the urgent desire to feed more. When the borders open and organizations are allowed to enter freely and bring much more into Palestine, let us give them our top priority, because of our understanding, because we want to eliminate hunger from the men, women, and children there.

And the Prophet ﷺ encouraged this 1,400 years ago. He said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3251; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2485)

Spread greetings amongst one another, feed one another, and pray at night while the majority of people are asleep — and the result: you enter Jannah with ease, with no problem, with no issues.

With that, we ask Allah to make us of those who recognize the truth as clear truth and follow the best of it, and to make us of those who recognize falsehood as clear falsehood and abstain from it.

Du'a