Abū Hurayrah was one of the poorest companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (peace be upon him). He lived on a covered platform beside the mosque in Medina with others who had no homes, the people of the Ṣuffah, ‘the platform’. One day he was so hungry he pressed a stone against his stomach.
The Prophet saw his face, understood, and took him home. Someone had sent a single bowl of milk as a gift. The Prophet said: “Go and call the people of the Ṣuffah.” Abū Hurayrah's heart sank. What would one bowl be among so many? He had hoped to drink it himself.
But he went, and they came, and sat. The Prophet told him to serve them. He handed the bowl to the first man, who drank his fill and handed it back. Then the next, and the next, until every one of them had drunk.
Then the Prophet smiled and said: “Now it is you and me. Sit and drink.” Abū Hurayrah drank. “Drink.” He drank again. “Drink.” At last he said: “By the One who sent you with the truth, I have no more room.” Then the Prophet praised God and drank what was left (Bukhari 6452).
Abū Hurayrah learned that day that provision can widen, and that it widens most when it is shared.
Judaism
“Thou openest Thy hand, and satisfiest every living thing with favour.”
Psalm 145:16 · JPS 1917
Psalm 145, said three times a day, praises God who opens His hand and satisfies every living thing. Jewish tradition says that when you reach this verse in prayer, you should say it with special care.
The Hebrew Bible pictures God enlarging: “Enlarge the place of thy tent” (Isaiah 54:2). And the Torah commands the people to open their own hand wide to the poor (Deuteronomy 15:8): human generosity is meant to copy God's.
The Passover Seder opens with an invitation spoken over the matzah: “Let all who are hungry come and eat.” Many families still set an extra place, or open the door, to mean it.
Christianity
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you.”
Luke 6:38 · WEB
The Gospels tell of Jesus feeding five thousand people from five loaves and two fish, with twelve baskets left over (John 6). Christians see in it God's abundance, and an invitation to share.
Jesus taught that generosity comes back overflowing, using the picture of grain poured into a fold of clothing at a market, pressed down and running over.
Benedictine monks and nuns, Catholic and Anglican, keep a fifteen-hundred-year-old rule of hospitality: every guest who comes is to be welcomed as Christ (Rule of St Benedict, chapter 53). Many monasteries in Britain still offer a bed and a meal to visitors.
Islam
“Allah enlargeth livelihood for whom He will, and straiteneth (it for whom He will); and they rejoice in the life of the world, whereas the life of the world is but brief comfort as compared with the Hereafter.”
Qur'an 13:26 · Pickthall (1930)
Al-Bāsiṭ is paired with al-Qābiḍ in Qur'an 2:245 and 13:26: God extends provision and measures it out. Classical scholars said He expands provision, knowledge and hearts, and that the Name should never be said apart from its partner.
The Qur'an turns the Name into good manners: “O ye who believe! when it is said unto you, Make room! in assemblies, then make room; Allah will make way for you (hereafter). And when it is said, Come up higher! go up higher; Allah will exalt those who believe among you, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks. Allah is Informed of what ye do.” (58:11, Pickthall). Making space for someone on a bench or a prayer line is a small share in al-Bāsiṭ.
Sikhi
Sikhs trace the langar, the free community kitchen, to Guru Nanak, the first Guru. Guru Amar Das, the third, asked visitors of every rank to eat together on the floor before meeting him. Today every gurdwara has one. Sikhs call the open-handed spirit behind it seva, selfless service, and vand chhakna, sharing what you have.
Same and different
All three faiths praise God's open hand and ask believers to open theirs. Think of the Torah's command to open your hand to the poor, the Gospel's overflowing measure, the Qur'an's ‘make room and God will make room for you’. Christianity remembers Christ feeding the five thousand; Islam remembers a bowl of milk shared among the poor of Medina. Islam alone names this as a Name of God paired with its opposite. All three hold that God's abundance is meant to be shared.
schools / faith groups / neighboursLangar visitMost gurdwaras welcome visitors to langar. Contact your local gurdwara first, cover your head, remove shoes, and sit to eat with the community. Afterwards, talk about what it feels like to be fed without being asked who you are.
families / schoolsMake roomFor one week, look for chances to ‘make room’: offering a seat, adding a chair, inviting someone into a game. Read Qur'an 58:11 and Isaiah 54:2 and share what you noticed.
families / neighboursLet all who are hungryBorrow the opening words of the Passover Seder, ‘Let all who are hungry come and eat’. Set one extra place at a family meal this month and invite someone who might be eating alone.
faith groupsWelcome as Benedict askedSt Benedict told his monks to welcome every guest as Christ. Run a ‘Benedict lunch’ where the hosts serve and the guests are people the group does not yet know: new neighbours, a refugee family, students.
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