In a village, a certain Maulana Sahib stated that Allah the Exalted feeds His servant his sustenance.

A young man, hearing this, resolved in his heart: “I won’t eat. Let me see how Allah the Exalted feeds me my sustenance.”

So the next day he went on a hunger strike. But the poor mother is, after all, a mother. She made a paratha and, besides the curry, also put butter and sugar with it.

She said to her son: “Son! Eat.”

The son said: “No, I won’t eat!”

She kept pleading, but he kept saying, “I won’t eat.” When she asked him again and again to eat, he got fed up, went outside the village to a cluster of trees and lay down, thinking only: “Let me see how Allah the Exalted feeds me today.”

The poor mother followed behind with the food, placed it near him and returned. Now the food was lying there and so was he. When the aroma of the food began to reach him, he got up from there and lay down thirty or forty feet away, so that even the aroma of the food would not reach him.

There were some bandits from the surrounding area who used to gather at that spot to make their plans, because they considered it a safe place. They came at noon and sat down there. They too smelled the curry, and said: “Man, it seems there is food lying somewhere.”

One said, “We should search for it!”

So on searching, they found the food.

They saw that there was paratha, there was butter, and there was curry. One of them said, “Today we’re in luck, we’ve found food!”

Their leader was a very clever man. He said: “Quiet, don’t eat it.

I think someone has mixed poison in it to kill us... and if someone has mixed it, then look, he must be hiding somewhere nearby.” When they began searching around, they saw that this gentleman was lying in a spot.

They grabbed him by the hair and said: “Hey! Did you mix poison in this food?”

He said: “No! .......... I didn’t mix it.”

They said: “Then why did you put this food here? It seems you are playing some trick and deceit on us.”

They unanimously decided that he should be made to eat the food first. So when they told him to eat the food, he said: “Sir, I don’t eat.” Now they became fully convinced that there was poison in it. They said again, “Eat first.” He gave the same answer again. Their leader said, “Give him a couple of shoe-beatings, then he’ll eat.” Now the shoes began to land on him, but he kept refusing to eat the food. When countless shoe-blows started falling, he said: “Please forgive me, I’ll eat.” After this, he told them the whole incident and ate the bread together with them. Then they let him go.

When he had been thoroughly beaten, the marks of the shoes were left on his body, and the poor fellow returned home in pain. Seeing his condition, the mother fell silent.

Now he was waiting for the next Friday. On the next Friday, the Maulana Sahib again gave a speech that Allah the Exalted delivers a person’s sustenance in every circumstance. When he finished after the sermon and prayer, this young man went up to the Maulana Sahib and said: “Maulana! Don’t state incomplete rulings.”

He said: “I state complete rulings. What do you want to say?” He said, “Last time you said that whoever’s sustenance it is, Allah the Exalted makes sure it reaches him.”

He said: “Yes, that is the complete statement.”

He said: “No, sir! This is not the complete statement. The complete ruling is that whoever’s sustenance it is, Allah the Exalted makes sure it reaches him, and whoever doesn’t want to eat the sustenance, Allah the Exalted feeds him by beating him with shoes again and again.”