Chapters on Food

‘Abdullāh ibn Salām (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came to Madīnah, the people rushed to meet him, and it was said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) has come! The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) has come! The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) 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: "O people, spread the greeting of peace, feed others, maintain kinship ties, and pray at night when people are asleep, and you will enter Paradise in peace."

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: A man asked the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): Which deed in Islam is the best? He said: "Feeding people and extending the greeting of peace to those you know and those you do not know."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Food for two persons suffices for three, and food for three persons suffices for four." In Muslim's narration, Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Food for one person suffices for two, and food for two persons suffices for four, and food for four persons suffices for eight."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Food for two persons suffices for three, and food for three persons suffices for four." In Muslim's narration, Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Food for one person suffices for two, and food for two persons suffices for four, and food for four persons suffices for eight."

Abu Qatādah and Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, I would stand up for (congregational) prayer intending to prolong it, but I hear the crying of an infant, so I shorten my prayer lest I make it burdensome for his mother."

Abu Juhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I was with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) when he said to a man there: "I do not eat while reclining on my side."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: While the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was eating food with six of his Companions, a Bedouin came in and ate it up in two morsels. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If only he had mentioned the name of Allah, it would have been enough for all of you."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If anyone of you eats, let him eat with his right hand, and if he drinks, let him drink with his right hand, for indeed the devil eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand."

‘Umar ibn Abi Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I was a young boy under the care of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and my hand used to wander all over the platter (of food). The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said, "O boy, mention Allah's name, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is nearer to you." Since then, I have been eating that way.

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When anyone of you eats food, let him not wipe his hand until he licks it or has it licked."

Abu Mūsa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Many men attained perfection, but of women none attained perfection except Āsiyah, the wife of Pharaoh, and Maryam, the daughter of ‘Imrān. Indeed, the superiority of ‘Ā'ishah to other women is like the superiority of Tharīd to other meals."

Abu Mūsa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Many men attained perfection, but of women none attained perfection except Āsiyah, the wife of Pharaoh, and Maryam, the daughter of ‘Imrān. Indeed, the superiority of ‘Ā'ishah to other women is like the superiority of Tharīd to other meals."

Sa‘īd ibn al-Hārith asked Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) on making ablution after eating food that was touched by fire. He said: "No. in the time of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) we would not find such food except rarely. So if we found it, we had no napkins except our palms, forearms, and feet. Then we would pray without making (a new) ablution.''

Abu Umāmah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) finished eating, he would say: "Allah be praised with an abundant, sincere, and blessed praise. O our Lord, You are not in need of anyone, and we cannot do without Your favor nor dispense with it."

Sahl ibn Mu‘ādh ibn Anas related from his father that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever eats food and says 'Alhamdulillah al-ladhi at‘amani hadha wa razaqneih min ghayri hawl li wala quwwah (Praise be to Allah who fed me and provided me with this food through no might or power on my part)', his past sins will be forgiven."

Wahshiyy ibn Harb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: They said: O Messenger of Allah, we eat but we do not get satiated. He said: "Perhaps you eat separately." They said: Yes. He then said: "Get together over your food and mention the name of Allah, so that it will be blessed for you."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When your servant brings you your food, if you do not ask him to join you, then (at least) give him a bite or two, or a mouthful or two, for he was in charge of preparing it.”

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: During the Prophet's lifetime, we would eat while walking and would drink while standing.

Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asked his family for a dip (to eat with bread) and they replied: "We have nothing but vinegar." So he told them to bring it and began to eat, saying: "What an excellent dip vinegar is! What an excellent dip vinegar is!"

Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asked his family for a dip (to eat with bread) and they replied: "We have nothing but vinegar." So he told them to bring it and began to eat, saying: "What an excellent dip vinegar is! What an excellent dip vinegar is!"

‘Ā’ishah, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), reported: The family of Muhammad (ﷺ) never ate their fill of wheat bread for three consecutive nights from the time he arrived in Madīnah until he passed away.

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) died when my house was void of any edible thing except for a small quantity of barley I had on a shelf and from which I kept eating it for a long time. Then when I measured what was left of it, it soon finished.

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to spend consecutive nights with an empty stomach, and his household would find no supper, and their bread was mostly made of of barley.