Al Minah Al `Aliyyah (29)

2. To eat from what is in front of you :

The previous hadith supports this. An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “The third is to eat from what is in front of you, as eating from the same place where your friend eats is bad manner and unacceptable. He might feel disgust especially when eating meat and the like.”^[1]

 Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “I said what indicates the use of the right hand while eating is the hadith that warns against using the left hand. It is reported by Imam Muslim through Salamah ibn al-Akwa' (may Allah be pleased with them) that a man ate with his left hand in the presence of Messenger of Allah r, whereupon he r said, “Eat with your right hand.” The man said: “I cannot do that.” Thereupon he (the Prophet r ) 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 ever again afterwards.”^[2]

3. To pick up the fallen morsel ,

     clean it and eat it :

It is from the Sunnah that if a morsel falls on the ground, one should pick it up, clean it and eat it. By doing so a person will have applied the Sunnah. This is also to prevent Satan from sharing one's food and not leaving the falling morsel for Satan to eat.  What proves this is the following hadith:

Jabir ibn 'Abdullah  narrated that Allah's Messenger r said,

“When a morsel of any of your food falls to the ground, pick it up, remove any of the dirt on it and then eat it. It should not be left for Satan nor should one wipe his hand with a towel until he has licked his fingers, for he does not know in what portion of the food the blessing lies."^[3]

The one who contemplates on this hadith will find Satan eager to share with man in all of his affairs in order to spoil his life and make it void of blessing.  What indicates that Satan is keen to share in on man's affairs is the hadith “Satan is eager to share everything in your life.” Texts have come to this effect as we have already explained with regards to food. However, we shall present additional Sunnan in the following pages In-sha-Allah. 

4. Licking one's fingers :

This means to lick your thumb, index finger and middle finger with the tip of your tongue or have your wife do so. It is Sunnah to not wipe your fingers with a tissue cloth, but first rather lick them as mentioned above. What supports this is the previous hadith of Jabir ibn 'Abudllah . Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated in the two sahih ahadith that the Prophet r said,

" When one of you finishes eating, he should not wipe his fingers until he has licked them or given them to someone else to lick for him.”^[4]

In another hadith, he is reported to have said,

“…and he should not leave it for Satan nor should he wipe his hand with a towel until he has licked his fingers, for he does not know in what portion of the food the blessing lays.”^[5]

5. To clean the dish :

This means to clean the dish by eating every morsel of food therein and not leave anything, such as when rice is served, every last grain of it should be eaten (unless the food is to be kept for later consumption). What substantiates this is the hadith narrated by Anas t who reported, “The Prophet r ordered us to clean the dish.” ^[6] In another narration by Muslim, “Let one of you clean the dish.” ^[7] Sheikh bin 'Uthaimeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “The Prophet's r order to clean the dish means to eat the little amounts of food that stay behind and  lick it. This is one of the Sunnan that many people have unfortunately abandoned, even some of our own students and you notice that when they have finished their food there is still some food on their plates. They do not eat until they clean their plates and this contradicts the Sunnah that the Prophet r ordered to follow.”^[8]

6. To eat using three fingers :

 It is from the Sunnah to eat using three fingers (the thumb, index finger and middle finger) especially with things that can be picked up easily, such as dates etc., and this is supported by Ka'b ibn Malik's hadith, “The Prophet r used to eat with three fingers and would lick them before wiping them.”^[9]

Sheikh bin 'Uthaimeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “It is better for the Muslim to eat using three fingers (i.e. the thumb, index finger and middle finger) as this indicates that the person is not greedy and humble as well. This applies to the type of food that you can eat using three fingers. However, with some other types of food such as rice, you can use more than three fingers. Eating using three fingers is only in the case of food that suits it, such as dates as I have already mentioned, as this is the Sunnah of the Prophet .^[10] 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him said) “As for the Prophet's r saying: “For he does not know in what portion of the food the blessing lies,' this means, and Allah knows best, that the food the person eats is blessed, but, he does not know where the blessing is. It could be in what he ate, in what he licked, in what remains in the dish, or in the falling morsel. Hence, if he takes care of all of this, he could attain this blessing. Allah knows best what benefits health, prevents harm and leads to worshipping Allah and so on.”^[11]