Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 1057 [Read full issue]
Attention
Abu Hurayrah reports that the Prophet said: 'A believer is not bitten from the same hole twice'. [Muslim, Ibn Majah]
The Prophet uses a word here for biting that is associated primarily with biting by reptiles or other poisonous creatures. This hadith means that while it is possible for a believer to suffer a bite by a snake or a similar creature because he is taken unawares, the same thing should not be allowed to happen twice. He should always be careful so that he does not commit the same mistake twice, or be in the same situation of overlooking real danger.
While this hadith speaks of a real-life situation that requires paying full attention to one's surroundings at all times, it is also meant figuratively. Indeed, the circumstances leading to this statement provide a clear indication that it is so. During the Battle of Badr, one of the unbelievers taken prisoner by the Muslims was Abu Azzah, a poet who often attacked Islam and the Prophet. When the Prophet decided that the prisoners could be freed in return for ransom, Abu Azzah spoke to the Prophet and appealed to him to grant his release without a ransom, because he was poor and had a family to support. The Prophet granted his request after the man pledged that he would never criticise the Prophet or attack Islam again. However, soon after he was granted his freedom, Abu Azzah reverted to insulting the Prophet and satirising Islam in his poetry. Some time later, he was again taken prisoner by the Muslims. Again he appealed to the Prophet for his release, protesting that he had a poor family to support. In reply to his appeals, the Prophet made this statement: 'A believer is not bitten from the same hole twice'.
Thus, the hadith means that a believer should never be so gullible that he is deceived by the same trick more than once, in the same way one who is bitten by a snake is very careful not to be bitten again.
Compiled From:
"Al-Adab al-Mufrad with Full Commentary: A Perfect Code of Manners and Morality" - Adil Salahi