Islamic Etiquettes

All praise is due to Allaah; we praise Him and seek His aid and forgiveness. Furthermore, we seek refuge in Allaah from our souls’ and actions’ evils. Whomsoever Allaah guides there is none to misguide, and whomsoever Allaah misguides there is none to guide. I bear witness there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad salla Allaahu alayhi wa sallam is His slave and messenger. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His Slave and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and whosoever follows them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:

Verily some Muslims consider some of the Islamic etiquettes and manners among the matter which weighs little value but in fact these etiquettes and manners are among the Islamic rites which characterized Muslims personality, therefore pious Muslims compete themselves to gain complete portion of it according to the prophetic tradition, "The only reason I have been sent is to perfect good manners."[1] 'Amr ibn Shu'ayb reported from his grandfather that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Shall I tell you about who among you I love the most and the one who will be seated closest to me on the Day of Rising?" The people were silent, so he repeated that two or three times. Then the people said, "Yes, Messenger of Allah." He said, "The one among you with the best character."[2]

These Etiquettes that I chose to start with are what commonly left among some Muslims, and they probably unaware that they are Sunnah of Islam and were urged by the Mustafa - peace be upon him, These Etiquettes are concentrated largely on the appearance of a Muslim who is encouraged to take care of his/her outside (appearance) as well as his/her inside (morals)… It was narrated that 'Abdullah ibn Mas'oodsaid: The Messenger of Allah said:"No one will enter the Fire who has in his heart faith the weight of a grain, and no one will enter Paradise who has in his heart pride the weight of a grain." A man said: O Messenger of Allah, I like my garment to be clean, my hair to be well groomed and my shoelaces to be in good condition and he mentioned some other things, until he mentioned the handle of his whip - is that pride, O Messenger of Allah? He said: "No, that is beauty. Allah is beautiful and loves beauty Rather pride is rejecting the truth and looking down on people."[3]

In pointing out that manners rank higher than deeds, Imam Al-Qarafi in his book (Al-Furwüq) said, 'Learn that a little etiquette is better than a lot of good actions.' Rwuaim, the righteous scholar, told his son, 'Oh my son, make your deeds salt, and your manners flour.' Many good manners with few good deeds are better than many good deeds with few good manners.[4] And this is so true according to what our beloved prophet, peace and blessings be upon said, "The believer may attain by means of good character the status of one who fasts and prays at night."[5] Abu Hurairah also narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about that for which people are admitted into Paradise the most, so he said: "Taqwa of Allah, and good character."[6]

1.    putting hand or clothing (or handkerchief) over (mouth and nose) and muffle the sound with it as possible as one could  while sneezing

Abu Hurairah narrated that the prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "if any of you sneezes, he should put his hands over his face and muffle the sound with it " [7]

Abu Hurairah narrated that when the Prophet , may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would sneeze, he would cover his face with his hand or with his garment, and muffle the sound with it. [8]

2.    Covering mouth when yawning

Abü Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "The sneeze is from Allah and the yawn is from Ash-Shaitãn. So when one of you yawns let him cover his mouth- with- his hand. For when he says Ah, Ah Ash-Shaitãn laughs from inside his opening." [And indeed Allah loves the sneeze and He dislikes yawn, so when a man says Ah, Ah when yawning, indeed Ash-Shaitãn laughs from inside his opening."][9]

It was narrated from Abü Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him said: "Yawning comes from the Shaitân, so if one of you feels the urge to yawn, let him suppress it as much as he can."[10]

Narrated Abu Hurairah The Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said, "Yawning is from Satan and if anyone of you yawns, he should check his yawning as much as possible, for if anyone of you (during the act of yawning) should say: 'Ha', Satan will laugh at him."[11]

3.    Withhold burps from  people around

Yahya Al-Bakka' narrated from Ibn 'Umar who said: "A man belched in the presence of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, so he said: 'Restrain your belching from us. For indeed those who are filled most in the world will be the hungriest on the Day of Judgment."[12]

4.    The prohibition of drinking from the mouth of a Bottle or the like

It was narrated from Abü Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him forbade the practice of drinking (directly) from the mouth of a water-skin or other (leather) containers[13]...[14]

It was narrated that Abü Sa'eed Al-Khudri said: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him forbade drinking from the cracked place on a cup (the pouring place), and blowing into a drink."[15]

It was narrated that Abü Sa'eed Al-Khudri said: "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him forbade tipping up water skins in order to drink from their mouths."[16]

5.    Taking care of one's hair especially the thick hair

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Whoever has hair, let him take care of it."[17]

It was narrated that Jãbir bin 'Abdullãh said: "The Messenger of Allah, came to us, and saw a disheveled man, with messy hair. He said: 'Could he not find something with which to calm (arrange) his hair down?' And he saw another man who was wearing a dirty garment and said: 'Could he not find anything with which to wash his garment?"[18]

Zayd ibn Aslam said that Ata ibn Yasar told him that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was in the mosque when a man came in with disheveled hair and beard. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, motioned with his hand that he should be sent out to groom his hair and beard. The man did so and then returned. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Isn't this better than that one of you should come with his head dishevelled, as if he were a shaytan?"[19]