Hadith 727
'Umar bin Abu Salamah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), said to me, "Mention Allah's Name (i.e., say Bismillah before starting eating), eat with your right hand, and eat from what is near you."
Compiled by Imam Yahya an-Nawawi
37 hadith, page 1 of 2
'Umar bin Abu Salamah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), said to me, "Mention Allah's Name (i.e., say Bismillah before starting eating), eat with your right hand, and eat from what is near you."
Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "If a person mentions the Name of Allah upon entering his house or eating, Satan says, addressing his followers: 'You will find no where to spend the night and no dinner.' But if he enters without mentioning the Name of Allah, Satan says (to his followers); 'You have found (a place) to spend the night in, and if he does not mention the Name of Allah at the time of eating, Satan says: 'You have found (a place) to spend the night in as well as food."'
Hudhaifah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: When we attended a meal with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), we would not stretch forth our hands towards the food until he (ﷺ) would start eating first. Once, we were with him when a little girl rushed in as if someone was impelling her. She was about to lay her hand on the food when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) caught her hand. Then a bedouin came in rushing as if someone were pushing him. He (ﷺ) caught his hand also and said, "Satan considers that food lawful for himself on which the Name of Allah is not mentioned. He (Satan) brought this girl to make the food lawful through her but I caught her hand. Then he brought the bedouin to make it lawful through him but I caught his hand too. By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, now Satan's hand is in my grasp along with their hands." Then he mentioned the Name of Allah and began to eat..
Abu Umamah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) finished a meal, he would say: "Al-hamdu lillahi hamdan kathiran taiyyiban mubarakan fihi, ghaira makfiyyin wa la muwadda`in, wa la mustaghnan `anhu, Rabbuna. (All praise is due to Allah, praise which is abundant, pure, and full of blessings, which is indispensable and to which one cannot be indifferent).''
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never found fault with food. If he had inclination to eating it, he would eat; and if he disliked it, he would leave it.
Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (ﷺ) asked for sauce and was told that there was nothing except vinegar. He asked for it and began to eat from it saying, "How excellent is vinegar when eaten as sauce! How excellent is vinegar when eaten as Udm!"
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When any of you is invited to a meal, he should accept the invitation. If he is observing Saum (fasting), he should supplicate for the betterment of the host and if he is not fasting, he should eat."
Abu Mas'ud Al-Badri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man prepared some food especially for the Prophet (ﷺ) and invited him along with four others. But a man accompanied him. Having arrived at the door, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to the host, "This person has followed us. You may allow him, if you like, and if you like he will return." He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I allow him, too."
'Umar bin Abu Salamah (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: I was a boy under the care of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and as my hand used to wander around in the dish, he (ﷺ) said to me once, "Mention Allah's Name (i.e., say Bismillah), eat with your right hand, and eat from what is in front of you."
Salamah bin Al-Akwa' (May Allah be pleased with him) reported on the authority of his father: A man ate with his left hand in the presence of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), whereupon he said, "Eat with your right hand." The man said: "I cannot do that." Thereupon he (the Prophet (ﷺ)) said, "May you not be able to do that." It was vanity that prevented him from doing it and he could not raise it (the right hand) up to his mouth afterwards..
Jabalah bin Suhaim reported: We were with 'Abdullah bin Az-Zubair (May Allah be pleased with them) in a time of famine, then we were provided with dates. (Once) when we were eating, 'Abdullah bin 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) passed by us and said: "Do not eat two dates together, for Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prohibited it, unless one seeks permission from his brother (partner)."
Abu Juhaifah Wahb bin 'Abdullah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "I do not eat reclining (against a pillow)."
Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I saw Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) eating some dates while sitting on his buttocks, with his legs raised..
Ibn 'Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When one of you finishes eating, he should not wipe his fingers until he has licked them himself or has given them to someone else to lick for him."
Ka'b bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: I saw Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) eating with three fingers (i.e., the thumb, the index finger and the middle finger) and licking them after having finished the food..
Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded the licking of fingers and the gleaning of the dish, saying, "You do not know in which portion the blessing lies."
Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When a morsel of any of you falls, he should pick it up and remove any of the dirt on it and then eat it, and should not leave it for Satan nor should wipe his hand with towel until he has licked his fingers, for he does not know in what portion of the food the blessing lies."
Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Satan appears at every thing done by you; he appears even at one's dinner. When a morsel of any of you falls, he should pick it up and remove any dirt on it, and then eat it. He should not leave it for Satan, nor should he wipe his hand with the towel until he has licked his fingers, for he does not know in what portion of the food the blessing lies."
Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ate food, he would lick his three fingers and say, "If anyone of you drops a morsel of food, he should remove any dirt that may have stuck on it and then eat it, and should not leave it for Satan." He (ﷺ) also commanded us that we should glean the pot, saying, "You do not know in which part of your food the blessings lies."
Sa'id bin Al-Harith reported: I asked Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) whether it was obligatory to make Wudu' for Salat (prayer) after eating cooked food. He said: "No, because in the lifetime of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), such food was rarely available. We had no handkerchiefs, so when we ate such food we would wipe our fingers against our palms, forearms or (the sole of our) feet, and would offer Salat without fresh Wudu' (for prayer)."
About this text. Arabic and English text from the hadith-json project (github.com/AhmedBaset/hadith-json), which collected it from sunnah.com. The project states no licence and the English is a modern translation; it is published here on the site owner's decision. Hadith are numbered in the book's own order.