The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, shared their hardship, so that he could be their role model in patience and forbearance

“I heard An-Nu`maan delivering a sermon, saying, `Umar mentioned what the people had earned in the worldly life, and commented on that, saying, ‘I saw the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, spend a whole day in pain and in a state of disturbance, while he could not find even the lowest quality of dates to fill his stomach.’”

“I saw Abu Hurayrah point with his finger repeatedly, and say, ‘By Him in Whose hand is Abu Hurayrah’s soul, Allah’s Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, died before he and his family were ever full from wheat bread for three straight days.”

“The family of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, were not full from food for three straight days until he passed away.” `Aa’ishah (the wife of the Prophet) said to `Urwah (a Companion): “O nephew, we would see three crescents over the course of two months, and throughout this time, no fire for cooking would be lit in any house of the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam! `Urwah said: “I said: ‘O Aunt, what used to sustain you and keep you alive?’ She said: “Two things: dates and water. The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, had some neighbors from the Ansaar who had camels, and they would give the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, some of its milk, and he would give it to us to drink.”

` “The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, died while leaving nothing on my shelf that a living creature would eat, besides some barley bread. I ate from it for a long time until I weighed it, and then it finished after a short while.”4

“The family of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not eat two meals in one day, except that one of the meals was dates.”

“On the day of the Trench, we were digging, but were prevented by a very large rock. We went to the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and said: ‘There is a very large rock (preventing us from continuing our digging).’ So the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘I am coming.’ When he stood, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, had a rock tied to his stomach, because we had not eaten in three days. When he got there, the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, took a pickaxe and struck the rock, and turned it to a pile of dust and sand.”

“We complained to the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, that we were hungry, and each of us lifted a rock off his stomach, but the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, lifted two rocks.”