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Fatwa CenterA companion hosting the guest of the Prophet
Question
There is a hadith in Sahih Bukhari regarding the revelation of the verse: 'But give them preference over themselves even though they were in need of that.' (59.9). Allah is pleased by the sahabah & wife that they and their children slept without food in order to entertain their visitor. The sahabah & wife did indeed makes a noble sacrifice. However a few questions has been raised regarding this incident: a)Why did not the sahabah check with his wife that there is enough food, as the Rasul did, before volunteering to take the visitor? What about there has been no food at all in the home? Does it not reflect a poor family communication? b)It is ok for the sahabah & wife to go hungry for the nite. But to make the children suffer is it not too much? Is not the responsibility of a man is first to his family, than entertaining a guest? c)Why did the sahabah did not borrow or buy food in the situation? Could you help to clarify them?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
First of all, you should know that you are talking about one of the companions 
. The companions were distinguished for their religious knowledgeable and they had enough knowledge to balance between the rights of people. They were mannered enough to hasten to generously entertain the guest of the Prophet with whatever they could.
It is permissible in principle to ask some religious questions, but the way you asked reflects disrespect to the companions . Therefore, we hope you will be heedfull of this whenever you talk about the companions .
Secondly, the fact that the companion and his wife were praised by Allaah and by the Prophet is evidence that they did not do something for which they should be blamed.
The scholars 
deducted from this that what the father does is acceptable even if it has a minor negative impact on his children. It is known that children can tolerate what this couple did.
Thirdly, when this companion 
wanted to host the guest of the Prophet he was pretty sure that there was food in his house, hence he did not need to go and ask his wife about it. Besides, his house might have been far away and by going home to ask whether or not they had food, he might have missed the opportunity of hosting the guest of the Prophet .
Fourthly, contrary to what you said, this story proves the relationship and understanding between the members of the family. The evidence is that the wife cooperated with her husband in order to host this guest without hesitation.
Fifthly, asking about what he would have done in case he did not find food is just an assumption about something which did not occur. However, there might be something which prevented this companion from buying the food or borrowing money. It might be that the time was inappropriate; it could be very late at night and the like.
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