Chapters on Food

‘Abdullah bin Salam said:<br>> “When the Prophet (ﷺ) came to Al-Madinah, the people rushed to meet him, and it was said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has come! The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has come! The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has come!’ Three times. I came with the people to see him, and when I saw his face clearly, I knew that his face was not the face of a liar. The first thing I heard him say was when he said: ‘O people! Spread (the greeting of) Salam, feed others, uphold the ties of kinship, and pray during the night when people are sleeping, and you will enter Paradise with Salam.”*

“Spread (the greeting og) Salam, offer food (to the needy), and be brothers as Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has honored you.”

“O Messenger of Allah, which (aspect) of Islam is the best?” He said: “Offering food (to the needy) and greeting with Salam those whom you know and those whom you do not know.”

“The food of one person is sufficient for two, the food of two is sufficient for four, and the food for four is sufficient for eight.”

“The food of one is sufficient for two, and the food of two is sufficient for three or four, and the food of four is sufficient for five or six.’”

“The believer eats with one intestine and the disbeliever eats with seven intestines.’”

“The disbeliever eats with seven intestines and the believer eats with one intestine.”

“The believer eats with one intestine and the disbeliever eats with seven intestines.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never criticized any food. If it pleased him, he would eat it and if it did not he would leave it.” Another chain reports the same.

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever would like Allah to increase the goodness of his house, should perform ablution (wash hands) when his breakfast is brought to him and when it is taken away.’”

“O Messenger of Allah, are you not going to perform ablution?” He said: ‘Am I going to pray?’

“I do not eat while reclining.”

‘Abdullah bin Busr said:<br>> “I gave the Prophet (ﷺ) a gift of a sheep, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat on his knees to eat. A Bedouin said: ‘What is this sitting?’ He said: ‘Allah has made me a humble and generous slave (of Allah) and has not made me arrogant and stubborn.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was eating food with six of his Companions when a Bedouin came and ate it all in two bites. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘If he had said Bismillah, it would have sufficed you (all). When any one of you eats food, let him say Bismillah, and if he forgets to say Bismillah at the beginning, let him say Bismillah fi awwalihi wa akhirih (In the Name of Allah at the beginning and at the end).’”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) said to me, when I was eating: ‘Say the Name of Allah, the Glorified and Exalted.’”

“Let one of you eat with his right hand and drink with his right hand, and take with his right hand and give with his right hand, for Satan eats with his left hand, drinks with his left hand, gives with his left hand and takes with his left hand.”

“I was a boy in the care of the Prophet (ﷺ) and my hand used to wander all over the plate. He said to me: ‘O boy! Say the Name of Allah, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is in front of you.’”

“Do not eat with your left hand, for Satan eats with his left hand.”

“When one of you eats food, let him not wipe his hand until he has licked it or has someone else to lick it.”

“None of you should wipe his hand until he has licked it, for he does not know where the blessing if in his food.’”

“Nubaishah, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), entered upon us when we were eating from a bowl. He said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever eats from a bowl and cleans it, the bowl will pray for forgiveness for him.”

“My grandmother narrated to me from a man of Hudhail who was called Nubaishah Al-Khair. She said: ‘Nubaishah entered upon us when we were eating from a bowl of ours. He said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever eats from a bowl then cleans it, the bowl will pray for forgiveness for him.’”

“When food is served, eat from that which is in front of you, and do not take from what is in front of your companion.’”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) was brought a bowl filled with Tharid and fatty meat, and we started to eat from it. My hand was wandering all over, so he said: ‘O ‘Ikrash, eat from one spot, for it is all the same food.’ Then we were brought a plate on which were different kinds of fresh dates, and he hand of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went all around the plate. He said: ‘O ‘Ikrash, eat from wherever you want, for they are not all the same.’”

“Eat from the sides and leave the top, so that it may be blessed.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took hold of the top of the Tharid and said: ‘Eat in the Name of Allah from its sides and leave the top, for the blessing comes from its top.’”

“When food is served, take from the sides and leave the middle, for the blessing descends in the middle.”

“While (he) was eating lunch, a morsel of food fell on the floor. He picked it up, removed whatever dirt had gotten onto it, and ate it. The villagers and farmers winked at one another (finding it odd) and it was said: ‘May Allah help the chief! These villagers and farmers are winking at one another because you picked up a morsel (from the ground) when you have this food in front of you.’ He said: ‘I am not going to give up something I heard from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for these non- Arabs. We were told, if one of us dropped a morsel of food, to pick it up, remove whatever dirt was on it, and eat it, and not to leave it for Satan.’”

“If a morsel falls from the hand of anyone of you, let him wipe off whatever dirt that is on it and eat it.”

“Many men have attained perfection but no women have attained perfection except Maryam bint ‘Imran (Mary) and Asiyah the wife of Fir’awn. And the superiority of ‘Aishah over other women is like the superiority of Tharid over all other foods.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘The superiority of ‘Aishah over other women is like the superiority of Tharid over all other foods.’”

“During the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) we often did not find anything to eat, and if we did, we did not have handkerchiefs, except our hands, arms and feet. Then we would pray without performing ablution.”

“Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) ate, he would say: Al-hamdu lillahil-ladhi at’amana wa saqana wa ja’alana Muslimin (Praise is to Allah Who has fed us, given us to drink, and made us Muslims).”

“Al-hamdu lillahi hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan ghaira makfiyyin wa la muwadda’in wa la mustaghnan ‘anhu, Rabbana (Praise is to Allah, abundant good and blessed praise, a never-ending praise, a praise that we will never bid farewell to and an indispensible praise, He is our Lord).”

“Whoever eats food and said: Al- hamdu lillahil-ladhi at’amani hadha wa razaqanihi min ghayri hawlin minni wa la quwwatin (Praise is to Allah Who has fed me this and provided it for me without any strength or power on my part), - his previous sins will be forgiven.”

“O Messenger of Allah, we eat and do not feel full.” He said: “Perhaps you eat separately?” They said: “Yes.” He said: “Gather to eat together, and mention the Name of Allah over it, then it will be blessed for you.”

“I heard my father say: ‘I heard ‘Umar bin Khattab say: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Eat together and do not eat separately, for the blessing is in being together.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never blew onto his food or drink, and he did not breathe into the vessel.”

“I heard Abu Hurairah say: ‘The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “When the servant of anyone of you brings him his food, let him make him sit by his side and eat with him, and if he refuses then let him give him some.”

“When the slave of anyone of you brings his food to him, for which he (the slave) has worked hard and endured heat, let him invite him to eat with him, and if he does not do that then let him take a morsel and put it in his hand.”

“When the servant of anyone of you brings his food, let him make him sit down with him or give him some of it, for he is the one who put up with its heat and smoke.”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) never ate from a dish or from an individual plate.” He said: “From where did he eat?” He said: “From the dining sheet.”

“I never saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) eat from a dish until he died.”

It was narrated from ‘Aishah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade standing up before the food had been cleared away.

“When a meal is served, a man should not stand up until it is removed, and he should not take his hand away, even if he is full, until the people have finished. And let him continue eating. For a man may make his companion shy, causing him to withhold his hand, and perhaps he has a need for the food.”*

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘A man has no one to blame but himself, if he goes to bed with a smell emanating from his hand.’”

“If anyone of you goes to bed with a smell emanating from his hand, and he does not wash his hand, and something happens to him, he should not blame anyone but himself.”

“Some food was brought to the Prophet (ﷺ) and it was offered to us. We said: ‘We do not have any appetite for it.’ He said: ‘Do not combine hunger and lies.’”

* “I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) when he was eating breakfast and he said: ‘Come and eat.’ I said: ‘I am fasting. Alas! Would that I had eaten of the food of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).’”

“At the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) we used to eat bread and meat in the mosque.”

“At the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) we used to eat while walking, and drink while standing up.”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) like gourd.”

“Umm Sulaim sent with me a basket of fresh dates for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), but I did not find him, as he had just gone out to a freed slave of his who had invited him and made food for him. I came to him and he was eating, and he called me to eat with him. He (the freed slave) had served him Tharid with meat and gourd, and he liked the gourd, so I started to collect the (pieces of) gourd and put them near him. When he had eaten he went back to him house and I put the basket (of dates) before him, and he started to eat them and share them, until he finished the last of them.”

“I entered upon the Prophet (ﷺ) in his house, and he had some of this gourd. I said: ‘What is this?’ He said: ‘This is Qar’; it is Dubba’. We augment our food with it.”*

“The best food of the people of this world and the people of Paradise is meat.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was never invited to eat meat but he would respond, and he was never offered meat as a gift but he would accept it.”

“One day some meat was brought to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the foreleg was offered to him which he liked, so he bit it with his front teeth.”

“Some people were bringing meat to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he said: ‘The best meat is the meat of the back.’”

“I do not know of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ever seeing a roasted sheep until he met Allah.”*

“No leftovers of roast meat were ever cleared from in front of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and no carpet was ever carried with him.”*

“We ate food with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the mosque, meat that had been roasted. Then we wiped our hands on the pebbles and got up to perform prayer without performing ablution.”

It was narrated that Abu Mas`ud said:<br>> “A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and his voice trembled out of awe as he spoke to him. The Prophet said to him, “Be calm, for I am not a king. Verily, I am only the son of a woman who ate dried meat.”

“We used to store trotters and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would eat them fifteen days after the sacrifice.”

“Two kinds of dead meat and two kinds of blood have been permitted to us. The two kinds of dead meat are fish and locusts, and the two kinds of blood are the liver and spleen.”

‘The best of your seasonings is salt.”

“What a blessed condiment vinegar is.”

“What a blessed condiment vinegar is.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon ‘Aishah, when I was with her, and said: ‘Is there any food?’ She said: ‘We have bread, dates and vinegar.’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘What a blessed condiment vinegar is. O Allah, bless vinegar, for it was the condiment of the Prophets before me, and no house will ever be poor in which there is vinegar.’”

‘Season (your food) with olive oil and anoint yourselves with it, for it comes from a blessed tree.”

‘Abdullah bin Sa’eed narrated that his grandfather said:<br>> “I heard Abu Hurairah say: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Eat (olive) oil and anoint yourselves with it, for it is blessed.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would say, when milk was brought to him: ‘A blessing,’ or ‘Two blessings.’”

“Whoever is given food by Allah, let him say: Allahumma barik lana fihi wa arzuqna khairan minhu (O Allah, bless it for us and provide us with something better than it). And whoever is given milk to drink by Allah, let him say: Allahumma barik lana fihi wa zidna minhu (O Allah, bless it for us and give us more of it). For I do not know of any food or drink that suffices, apart from milk.”

“The Messenger of Allah 9saw) used to like sweets and honey.”

“My mother was trying to fatten me up when she wanted to send me to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) (when she got married), but nothing worked until I ate cucumbers with dates; then I grew plump like the best kind of plump.”

“I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) eating cucumbers with dates.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to eat dates with melon.”

“A house in which there are no dates, its people will go hungry.”

“A house in which there are no dates is like a house in which there is no food.”

“O Allah, bless us in our city and in our fruits, in our Mudd and in our Sa’, blessing upon blessing.” Then he would give it to the smallest of the children present.*

“Eat unripe dates with ripe one and eat old dates with new ones, for Satan gets angry and says: ‘The son of Adam will survive so long as he eats old dates with new ones.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade eating two dates at once unless he asks his companions permission to do so.”

It was narrated from Sa’d, the freed slave of Abu Bakr – and Sa’d used to serve the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he liked this Hadith – that the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade eating two dates at once.

“I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when he was brought some old dates; he started to inspect them.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon us. We placed a velvet cloth of ours beneath him and sprinkled water on it. He sat on it, and Allah sent down Revelation to him in our house. We offered him butter and dates, and he (ﷺ) liked butter.”*

‘Abdul-‘Aziz bin Abu Hazim said:<br>> My father told me: I asked Sahl bin Sa’d: “Did you ever see dough made from well-sifted flour?” He said: “I never saw dough made from well-sifted flour until the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed away.” I said: “Did they have sieves at the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)?” He said: “I never saw a sieve until the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed away.” I said: “How did you eat barley that was not sifted?” He said: “We used to blow on it, and whatever flew away, flew away, and whatever was left we made dough with it.”

“What is this?” She said: “It is food that we make in our land, and I wanted to make a loaf of it for you. He said: “Fold it onto itself and knead it.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never saw a thin loaf made from well-sifted flour with his own eyes, until he met Allah.”

“Abu Hurairah visited his people, meaning, a village” – I (one of the narrators) think he said: “Yuna” – “And they brought him some of the first thin loaves of bread. He wept and said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never saw such a thing with his own eyes.’”

“We used to go to (visit) Anas bin Malik.” (One of the narrators) Ishaq said: “And his baker was standing there.” (In another narration) Darimi said: “And his table was set. He said one day: ‘(Come and) eat, for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never saw any thin loaf of bread until he met Allah, nor any roasted sheep (with skin).’”*

“The first we heard of Faludhaj was when Jibril (as) came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: ‘The world will be opened for your nation and they will conquer the world, until they eat Faludhaj.’ The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘What is Faludhaj?’ He said: ‘They mix ghee and honey together.’ At that, the Prophet (ﷺ) sobbed.”*

“One day, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘I wish that we had some white bread made of brown wheat, softened with ghee, that we could eat.’ A man from among the Ansar heard that, so he took some (of that food) and brought it to him. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Where was this ghee kept?’ He said: ‘In a container made of mastigure skin.’ And he refused to eat it.”

“Umm Sulaim made some bread for the Prophet (ﷺ), and she put a little ghee on it. Then she said: ‘Go to the Prophet (ﷺ) and invite him (to come and eat).’ So I went and told him: ‘My mother is inviting you (to come and eat).’ So he stood up, and said to the people who were with him: ‘Get up.’ I went ahead of him and told her. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) came and said: ‘Bring what you have made.’ She said: ‘I only made it for you alone.’ He said: ‘Bring it.’ Then he said: ‘O Anas, bring (them) in to me ten by ten.’ So I kept bringing them in ten by ten, and they ate their fill, and there were eighty of them.”

“By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) never ate his fill of wheat bread for three days in a row, until Allah took his soul.”

“The family of Muhammad (ﷺ) never ate their fill of wheat bread for three nights in a row, from the time they came to Al-Madinah until he passed away.”

“When the Prophet (ﷺ) passed away, there was nothing in my house that any living soul could eat, except a little bit of barley on a shelf of mine. I ate it for a long time, then I weighed it and soon it was all gone.”

“The family of Muhammad (ﷺ) never ate their fill of barley bread until he was taken (i.e. died).”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to spend many nights in a row hungry and his family could find no supper, and usually their bread was barley bread.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wore wool, and his shows were sandals.”

“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: ‘A human being fills no worse vessel than his stomach. It is sufficient for a human being to eat a few mouthfuls to keep his spine straight. But if he must (fill it), then one third of food, one third for drink and one third for air.’”

“A man burped in the presence of the Prophet (ﷺ) and he said: ‘Withhold your burps from us! For the most hungry of you on the Day of Resurrection will be those who most ate their fill in this world.’”

“I heard Salman, when he was forced to eat food, say: ‘It is sufficient for me that I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: The people who most eat their fill in this world will be the most hungry on the Day of Resurrection.’”

“It is extravagance to eat everything you want.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered the house and saw a piece of bread that had been thrown (on the floor). He picked it up, wiped it and ate it, and said: ‘O ‘Aishah, show honor to the precious (i.e., food), for is the blessing of food departs from people, it never comes back.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to say: ‘Allahumma inni a’udhu bika minal-ju’, fa innahu bi’sad- daji’, wa a’udhu bika minal-khiyanah, fa innaha bi’satil-bitanah (O Allah, I seek refuge with You from hunger, for it is a bad companion, and I seek refuge with You from treachery, for it is a bad thing to hide in one’s heart).’”

“Do not leave dinner, even if it is only a handful of dates, because abandoning it makes one weak.”

“Goodness comes more quickly to a house where there are frequent guests than a knife to camel’s hump.”

“Goodness comes more quickly to a house where food is eaten than a knife to a camel’s hump.”

“It is the Sunnah for a man to go out with his guest to the door of the house.’”

“I made some food and called the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) (to come and eat). He came and saw some images in the house, so he went back.”

“Why don’t we invite the Prophet (ﷺ) to eat with us?” So they invited him and he came. He put his hand on the doorpost of the house and saw a thin curtain in the corner of the house, so he went back. Fatimah said to ‘Ali: “Go and catch up with him, and ask him: ‘What made you go back, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “I do not enter a well-decorated house.”

Bismillah, then he took a morsel and ate it, then a second. Then he said: “I notice some fat in the food but it is not the fat of the meat.” ‘Abdullah said: “O Commander of the Believers! I went out to the marketplace looking for some fatty meat (bones with plenty of meat on them) to buy, but it was expensive, so I bought some lean meat (bones with not much meat on them) for a Dirham, and added a Dirham’s worth of ghee. I wanted my family to go through it bone by bone.” ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never had these two things together; he would eat one and give the other in charity.”

“When you make broth, add more water and give some to your neighbor.”

“O people, you eat two plants which I do not regard as anything but offensive: This garlic and these onions. At the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), I would see a man, if the smell (of these vegetables) was found on him, being taken by the hand and led out to Baqi’ (graveyard). Whoever must eat them, let him cook them to death.”

“I made some food for the Prophet (ﷺ) in which there were some vegetables. He did not eat it, and he said: ‘I do not like to annoy my companion.’”

“Did I not forbid you to eat these vegetables? For the angels are offended by that which offends people.”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to his Companions: ‘Do not eat onions,’ then he said in a low voice: ‘Raw.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked about ghee, cheese and wild donkeys. He said: ‘What is lawful is that which Allah has permitted, in His Book and what is unlawful is that which Allah has forbidden in His Book. What He remained silent about is what is pardoned.’”

“The Prophet (ﷺ) was given a gift of some grapes from Ta’if. He called me and said: ‘Take this bunch of grapes and give it to your mother.’ But I ate it before I gave it to her. A few night later he said to me: ‘What happened to the bunch of grapes? Did you give it to your mother?’ I said: ‘No, So he called me treacherous.’”

”I entered upon the Prophet (ﷺ) and in his hand was some quince. He said: ‘Take it, O Talhah, for it soothes the heart.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade a man from eating while lying down on his face.”