During the battle of Tabūk, the people suffered famine, so they said: O Messenger of Allah, grant us permission to slaughter our camels to eat and use their fat. The Messenger said: You may do that
Authentic hadithعن أبي هريرة، أو أبي سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنهما -شك الراوي- قال: لما كان غزوة تبوك، أصاب الناس مجاعة، فقالوا: يا رسول الله، لو أَذِنْتَ لنا فنحرنا نوَاضِحَنَا فأكلنَا وَادَّهَنَّا؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : «افعلوا» فجاء عمر رضي الله عنه فقال: يا رسول الله، إن فعلت قَلَّ الظَّهْرُ، ولكن ادْعُهُمْ بفضل أَزْوَادِهِمْ، ثمَ ادْعُ الله لهم عليها بالبركة، لعل الله أن يجعل في ذلك البركة. فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : «نعم» فدعا بنِطَعٍ فبسطه، ثم دعا بفضل أَزْوَادِهِمْ، فجعل الرجل يجيء بكف ذُرَةٍ، ويجيء بكف تمر، ويجيء الآخر بِكَسْرَةٍ، حتى اجتمع على النِّطَعِ من ذلك شيء يسير، فدعا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بالبركة، ثم قال: «خذوا في أوعيتكم» فأخذوا في أوعيتهم حتى ما تركوا في العسكر وعاء إلا مَلَئُوهُ وأكلوا حتى شبعوا وفضل فضْلَةً، فقال رسولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم : «أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأني رسول الله، لا يلقى الله بهما عبد غير شاك فَيُحْجَبَ عن الجنة».
Abu Hurayrah or Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (the narrator was unsure) (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: During the battle of Tabūk, the people suffered famine, so they said: "O Messenger of Allah, grant us permission to slaughter our camels to eat and use their fat." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You may do that." Then ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said: "O Messenger of Allah, if you do that, there will be a shortage in riding animals. Instead of that, let them bring the leftovers of their provisions, then supplicate Allah for them to bless it perhaps Allah will put some blessing therein." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) agreed to that and asked for a leather mat and spread it out. Then he asked them to bring their leftovers. One man brought a handful of corn; another brought a handful of dates; and another brought a piece of bread until an insignificant amount was collected on the leather mat. So the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) invoked the blessing of Allah then said: "Take and fill your containers." They filled their containers until no container in the army was left unfilled. They ate their fill and there was some food left over. So the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. No slave will meet Allah believing in these two (testimonies of faith) without having any doubt and be prevented from Paradise."
Explanation
At the time of the battle of Tabūk, the people suffered famine, so they said: O Messenger of Allah, if you only permit us to slaughter our camels so we can eat their meat and use their fat. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) permitted them. Then ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said: O Messenger of Allah, if you do that, we will have a shortage in riding animals. Let them instead bring their leftover food, then invoke Allah's blessing on it, perhaps Allah will put some blessing in the small amount. The Messenger of Allah agreed and asked for a mat made of leather and spread it out. Then he asked them to bring their leftover food. One man brought a handful of corn; another brought a handful of dates; and another a piece of bread, until they collected an insignificant amount upon the mat. Then the Messenger of Allah invoked Allah's blessings and said: Take and fill your containers. So they filled their containers until all of the army members filled their containers. They ate to their fill and there was some food left over from it. The Messenger of Allah then said: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah. No slave will meet Allah believing in these two statements, free of doubt, and be prevented from Paradise, meaning that he must enter Paradise, either from the beginning with the survivors, or after being brought out of the Fire.
Source · Narrated by Muslim
From the Hadith Encyclopedia (hadeethenc.com).