Is this incident reliable?
Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radiyallahu ‘anhu) had a slave who used to give him a portion of his daily income as the master’s share. Once he brought him some food, and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radiyallahu ‘anhu) took a morsel out of it. Then the slave remarked: “You always enquire about the source of what I bring to you, but today you have not done so.” He replied: “I was feeling so hungry that I failed to do that. Tell me now, how did you come by this food?” The slave said: “Before I embraced Islam, I uttered some incantations for some people. They promised to pay me for that later on. I happened to pass by those people today, while they were engaged in a marriage ceremony, and they gave me this food.” Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (radiyallahu ‘anhu) exclaimed: “You would have surely killed me?” Then he tried to vomit the morsel he had swallowed, but could not do so [as his stomach had been quite empty]. Somebody suggested to him to take water to his fill and then try to vomit. He sent for a goblet of water and kept on taking water and forcing it out, till the morsel was vomited out. Somebody remarked: “May Allah have mercy on you! You put yourself to such trouble for one single morsel. To this he made reply: “I would have thrust it out even if I had to lose my life. I have heard Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) saying “The flesh nourished by haram food, is destined for Jahannam, I therefore made haste to vomit this morsel, lest any portion of my body should receive nourishment from it.”
Answer
Imam Abu Nu’aym (rahimahullah) has recorded this incident with a very weak chain.
(Hilyatul Awliya, vol. 1 pg. 31. Refer: Lisanul Mizan, vol. 5 pg. 291 and Faydul Qadir, 6269)
The ideal would be to quote the following version recorded in Sahih Bukhari:
Sayyidah ‘Aaishah (radiyallahu ‘anha) says, ‘Abu Bakr (radiyallahu ‘anhu) had a slave who used to pay him a levy from his earnings and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr would eat from this. One day he brought brought something and Abu Bakr (radiyallahu ‘anhu) ate from it. The slave asked him, ‘Do you know what this is?’ Abu Bakr (radiyallahu ‘anhu) said, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘During my days of ignorance, I used to be a soothsayer for a man. I was not good at this, I would only deceive him. He met me and he gave me something for that service and that is what you have eaten from.’ Abu Bakr (radiyallahu ‘anhu) inserted his hand into his mouth and vomited all that he had in his stomach.”
(Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 3842. Also see: Al Mughni ‘An Hamlil Asfar, Hadith: 1666)
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (rahimahullah) has also cited other instances when Sayyiduna Abu Bakr did the same.
(Refer: Fathul Bari, Hadith: 3842)
Note: The words ‘There is no flesh nourished by haram except that Jahannam is most appropriate for it’ have been authentically reported in Sunan Tirmidhi. See here.
And Allah Ta’ala Knows best.
Answered by: Moulana Suhail Motala
Approved by: Moulana Muhammad Abasoomar