Imam Ibn Hambal And Bread

Once freshly-baked bread was presented to Imaam Ahmad Bin Hambal Rahmatullah alaih by a servant. When Imaam Ahmad asked about the bread, he was informed that the bread had been baked in the home of his son, Abdullah. Abdullah was an Aalim of Taqwa. Despite the piety of his son, Imaam Ahmad refused the bread and instructed that it should be removed from his presence.

The reason for this attitude was that his son, Shaikh Abdullah, used to accept gifts from the Khalifah of the time, and Imaam Ahmad believed that the wealth of the Khalifah was contaminated.

On one occasion he had severed all relationship for a full month with his two sons and paternal uncle because they had accepted gifts from the Khalifah. On another occasion when bread was presented to him, Imaam Ahmad enquired about the origin of the bread. The cook said: “I used your flour and obtained the yeast from your son, Abdullah.”

Imaam Ahmad refused to eat of the bread since he believed that it had become Mushtabah (Doubtful). The cook asked if he should give the bread to a Faqeer (beggar). Imaam Ahmad said that he may do so on condition that he informs the Faqeer that the flour was Ahmad’s and the yeast was from Abdullah.

For an entire month no Faqeer came to the door. The cook informed Imaam Ahmad that the bread was no longer fit for human consumption. Imaam Ahmad instructed him to throw the bread in the river.