Eating and/or drinking
must be started by saying the Basmala, (i.e. by saying, “Bism-illâh-ir-Rahmân-ir-Rahîm”.) “Al-hamd-u-l-illâh,” must be said at the end of eating and/or
drinking. It is an act of sunnat to say these words, to wash hands before and
after eating, to eat with right hand, and to drink with right hand. [Prayers
which Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ said, and commanded Muslims to
say, after meals are written in the commentary to the book Shir’at-ul-islâm and in Mawâhib-i-ladunniyya.] As hands are being
washed before a meal younger people take priority, whereas after meals the
elders should be allowed to do so first. That it is not permissible to wipe
hands with paper is written in the fifth chapter of Fatâwâ-i-Hindiyya. The Basmala may be
said loudly for the purpose of reminding others.
Before meals hands
(washed) are not wiped dry. They must be dried with a cloth towel when they are
washed after meals. As hands are being washed before meals, it is not sunnat to
wash mouth, too. However, it is makrűh for a junub person, (i.e. for a person
who needs to make a ghusl,[1]) to eat without washing their mouth before, whereas it is not
makrűh for a menstruating woman to do so. It is makrűh to put a salt-shaker or
dishes on bread or to wipe hands or knives with pieces of bread. It will not be
makrűh if the piece of bread are eaten after use. It is permissible to lean on
something as you sit or to eat bare-headed.[2] It is isrâf to eat the inner part of
bread and leave the outer cover or to eat the well-cooked part, leaving the rest.
It will not be isrâf if the remainder is eaten by someone else or animals are
fed with it. Eating from one side of the dish, eating from the side closest to
you, and sitting on your left foot with your right knee set upright (like in
squatting) are behaviours that are sunnat. It is permissible to eat from the
middle part of a dish containing various kinds of fruit. [Yet it still is not
permissible to take the fruit that is before someone else.] Very hot things
should not be eaten or smelled. According to
---------------------------------
[1] Please see the fourth chapter of the fourth
fascicle of Endless Bliss for ‘ghusl’.
[2] Hediyyat-ul-mehdiyyîn, (by Yűsuf bin Juneyd
Ehî Chelebi ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, (d. 905 [1499 A.D.].)
Imâm Abű Yűsuf, it is permissible to silently blow on it. It is
makrűh never to talk when eating. It is a habit of fireworshippers. Pleasant
chats should be had. It is sunnat and healthful to start and finish eating.
[The sunnat will have been performed if the first and last morsels taken
consist of bread and the niyyat is made for the salt in the bread.]
It is sunnat to lick
the fingers before washing them or wiping them with a piece of cloth (after a
meal).
It is written in the
book entitled Shir’at-ul-islâm that learning the knowledge of eating and drinking takes
priority over learning the knowledge of worship. It is sunnat to add some
barley into bread made with wheat; it yields a lot of barakat to do so. One of
the earliest bid’ats that appeared in Islam is to eat until becoming fully
satiated. It causes vexation in the heart to eat meat daily. Angels do not like
a person who does so. Eating little meat, on the other hand, causes moral
corruption. It is commendable to eat sitting on a blanket spread out on the ground.
The blanket is preferrably made of leather. Eating on a handkerchief was the
custom of ancient Persians. It is very good vegetables. A meal table that does
not contain any vegetable food is like an old dotard. Imâm Ja’fer Sâdiq stated:
“If a person wants to have plenty of property and many children, he should eat
vegetable food!” First you must sit at the table, and the food must be brought
in thereafter. Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: “I am a quls (born slave of Allâhu ta’âlâ). Like (other) quls, I
eat
sitting on the ground.” You must not eat before becoming hungry, you should stop eating
before becoming fully satiated, you should not laugh unless there is something
laughable, and you should not sleep during the day [any longer than the
(forenoon siesta called) Qaylűla, which is sunnat]. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “The source of all
goodnesses is hunger. The source of all evils is (the state of) satiatedness.” The more ravenously
hungry a person, the stronger flavour will he get from what he eats. The state
of being satiated causes forgetfulness. It makes the heart blind and, like
alcoholic beverages, it impairs the blood. Hunger cleanses one’s mind and
brightens one’s heart. You should not eat or drink with fâsiq [wicked] people.
Boiling food should be cooled down with a cover on it. You should eat (no more
than) twice a day; once in the morning, and one in the evining. It is stated in
a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Eat with your right hand. Drink with your
right hand.” It is sunnat to eat with three fingers. Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam’ would take bread with his right hand and eat the water-
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melon with his left hand. The bread should be broken with both
hands, not with one hand. The morsel (to be put into mouth) should be small,
and it must be chewed well. You should not look around or up; you should keep
your eyes on your morsel in front of you. Mouth should not be opened too wide.
You should keep your hand off your clothes lest you should make smudges on them.
When you need to cough or sneeze, you should turn your mouth backwards. The
bread may be sliced with a knife, but the slices should not be chopped into
morsels. The meat should not be cut into pieces with a knife; it must be torn
with hands. Mouldy bread, fetid food, and stinking water are makrűh.
You should not join
people having a meal without being invited. You should not eat more than the
others at the table. When you are satiated invoke Allâhu ta’âlâ not to let you spend your energy
committing sins. You should visualize yourself being called to account for it
in the Hereafter. You should eat with the intention of mustering energy for
worship. You should eat slowly, hungry as you may be. Elders should be given
priority in starting to eat. You should not pester your guest by repeating your
offer to “take some more” more than three times. It is permissible for the host
not to sit at the table so that he may serve the food. When he eats with the
guests, he should not stop eating before the guests are satiated. Terrifying or
disgusting things should not be said at the meal table. Death, illness, Hell,
and other things of that sort should not be the topics of meal-table talks. (As
a guests), you should not gaze at the food being brought to the table. Before having
swallowed the food in your mouth, you should not take the next piece. During
the meal, you should not leave the meal table to do something else, nor even to
perform namâz. Namâz should be performed beforehand. When there is likelihood
that the food will become cool or spoiled (if namâz should be performed
beforehand), and provided that the prayer time be long enough to allow the
postponement of the performance till after the meal, then eating must be done
before the namâz. You should not eat on a road or as you are standing or
walking. It was stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “The human heart is like the crop in a
field. Food is like rain. As too much water will kill the crop, likewise too
much food will kill the heart.” Another hadîth-i-sherîf reads: “Allâhu ta’âlâ does not like a person who eats and/or drinks too much.” Eating (too) much is
the origin of all diseases, and eating little, [i.e. dieting,] is the
headmaster of all medicines. A third of stomach must be allotted to food and another third to drinks.
The
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remaining one-third must be reserved for vacuum. This
arrangement is the lowest grade of diet. The ideal grade is to eat little and
sleep little. It is stated as follows in the book entitled Teshîl-ul-menâfi’: “The ideal of meal
timetable is to eat three times every two days plus two nights.” [That is, one
should eat three times every two days, not every day. In other words, eating
must be done at every other meal time, like breakfast, ... supper, ... lunch,
... breakfast.] Food intended for one person will be sufficient for two people.
A guest should not expect anything in addition to salt and bread from the host.
A host should (be so kind as to) hold out the morsel of food to his guest. He
should wait on his guest as he washes his hands, (by pouring water for him if
necessary.) Hârűn-ur-reshîd ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, (148 - 193 [809
A.D.], Tus [Mashhad in Iran as of today], the earliest Abbâsî) Khalîfa, had
made it a habit to pour water out of an ewer for his guest. A host should (try to
sense what food his guest likes and) kindly feed his guest with the food he
likes by politely holding the morsels out towards the guest’s mouth. When his
guest drops a piece of food on something clean, he should pick it up and give
it back to him. If the place whereon the piece of food has been dropped is not
clean, it should be put aside for the pet cat or other domestic animals. These
things will add barakat to a Muslim’s home; so much so that the barakat will
survive throughout generations. If the crumbs dropped onto the follor are not
gathered, the devil will eat them. It is sunnat to wipe the food remains on the
dish and eat them. It brings plenty of thawâb to drink the remains of beverages
such as stewed fruit and ayran, (i.e. yoghurt diluted with water,) after
pouring some water and shaking the mixture. It is permissible to leave food or
drink in your bowl or glass. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ like
eating the remnants of food left by a Believer.
It is sunnat to
cleanse your teeth with a miswâk [or with toothpicks] after meals. It is
cleanly behaviour. Cleanliness will add firmness to one’s îmân. Pieces removed
from between the teeth with a toothpick should not be swallowed. [Handbasin
should be used for this cleansing lest the people at the table should be
disgusted and so that the crumbs removed should go down the sink.] What is
gathered by moving the tongue inside the mouth can be swallowed. Toothpicks
should not be made from sweet basils, from pomegranate branches, from reeds,
from fig branches, from tamarisk twigs, or from sticks of treeheath. At the end
of the meal blessings should be invoked on the host, and prayers should be
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offered so that he will attain barakat, rahmat, and maghfirat.
Then permission to leave should beasked for, and the host should invited to
dinner.
You should not go to
bed with smell of meat or other food still on your hands. Children’s hands
should be washed, too. You should not go to bed with a full stomach. Victuals
should be bought moderately, as much as needed, and undue amounts and excess
should be avoided. It will be isrâf to do otherwise. Pots and pans of food and
drink should be covered with a lid. When you need to drink water from a stream
or a pool, you should not do so by bending over the water and sucking the water
with your mouth. You should drink water out of a jug or pitcher directly from
its spout, or from the broken side or from the handle side of a glass. Before
going to bed at night, it should be sure that the clean pots and pans of food
and drink be covered with something clean. Doors must be closed. Lights should
be switched off. Children must be home. Night is the time for genies spread
out. Drinking should be done with right hand. Water being drunk should not be
looked at. (At least) three breathers should be taken (in one) drinking. The
breath should be exhaled outside of the glass, not into it. The water to be
drunk must be cool in summer. It should not be too cold, though. [Ice cream
should not be eaten.] Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ like drinking
sherbets. He said, “Do not drink something as you stand! Zemzem (or zamzam)
water, water remaining from performance of an ablution, and water to be used
for taking a medicine may be drunk standing. There is a scholarly statement
informing that a travelling person may always drink water standing (throughout
throughout journey). Water must not be drunk when hungry. Drinking must be done
slowly and in a sifting manner. It must not be done by filling the mouth with
water. As a breather is being taken the glass must be moved away from the
mouth. Boiling liquid must not be drunk breathing. First it must be cooled and
then drunk. If something falls into the water, it must be removed with fingers
or by using a toothpick, if its is easy to do so; if not, it must be gotten rid
of by pouring out some water. All the water must not bu drunk in one gulp. It
yields plenty of barakat to drink water remaining from a Muslim, especially if
he is a sâlih Muslim. When you serve water to several people, you should serve
it first to scholars, next to elderly people, and finally to children. The same
order of priority should be observed in eating, walking, and sitting. You
should be the last one of the people to drink water. As you give
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something to people sitting beside you, you should begin with
the one sitting immediately on your right, thereafter continuing with the one
sitting on that person’s right, and so forth. A person sitting on the left may
be given priority with the permission of the one sitting on the right. It is
stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “If a person is gravely sinful, let him serve water to people.”
It was from (the
archangel) Jebrâîl that our Master, the blessed Prophet, learned how to cook herîsa, or keshkek (wheat boild with meat)
‘alaihim-as-salâm’. Herîsa is a very rich source of energy. All Prophets ‘alahim-us-salâm’
ate bread of barley. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ liked sweets
made from winter squash, lentil soup, game, and mutton. He preferred front leg and
breast and shoulder of mutton. He liked shoulder of kid. Kid is easy to digest.
It is suitable for anybody. Meat from a male animal is more digestible than
that of a female animal, and dark meat is more digestible than white meat. With
respect to digestibility and flavour, mutton is better than beef, yet cow’s
milk is better than sheep’s milk. Meat of deer is the best game. Rabbit’s meat
is halâl. It has a diuretic effect, but too much of it causes insomnia. It is
suitable food for anybody. Chicken and meat of other fowls is good for anybody.
Of all domestic fowls, hen’s meat is the best. Vinegar is the most useful food.
Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam’ stated: “What a beautiful kind of food vinegar is!” Dates make a (good)
meal, too. That is, they can be eaten with bread. Grapes, fruit as they are,
will make a (good) meal, too. It is sunnat to eat grapes with bread. It is
sunnat to eat dates one by one. It is sunnat to eat currants, walnuts, almonds.
Honey has curative power. Seventy Prophets ‘alaihim-us-salâm’ invoked a blessing on honey so that it
would have barakat. Rasűl ‘alaihis-salâm’ loved dates. He would dates and melon
or watermelon together. Melon and watermelon cleanse the kidneys and diminish
headaches. They help pass worms. They give strength to the eyes. He
‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ loved cool sherbets. When eating rice, the
prayer called ‘salawât’ should be said. There is a hadîth-i-sherîf commending
to eat broad beans with their outer covers. He ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’
stated that habba-t-ussevdâ, or shűniz [black cumins] is curative for various
illnesses. It is curative to eat walnuts with cheese. It is harmful to eat them
separately. Each of them should be eaten with something else, (or both of them
at the same time.) Grape seeds are harmful. He ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’
would hold the bunch of grapes with his left hand and eat the grapes with his
right hand. Quinces, (whn
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eaten,) will rid the heart of its
distress. If a pregnant woman eats quinces, she will have a beautiful baby. [It
is written as follows in the 1970 (11 th ) issue of the pharmaceutical
periodical: “A research conducted in Great Britain has revealed that mental
disorders and respiratory diseases have been on the decroase among people who
eat apples and that cases of tooth decay have been lower than thirty per
cent.”] Every individual melon and watermelon and pomegranate have a drop of
water from Paradise. A pomegranate should be eaten separately, and not even a
drop of it should be wasted. A pomegranate will stop palpitation and strengthen
the stomach. If it is, its pulp included, pressed to juice and the juice is
drunk, it will purge the gall bladder and relieve constipation. Figs give
relief to the heart. They cure lumbago and stop pains felt in the digestive
system. It is sunnat to eat green cucumbers with salt, and walnuts with dates,
with honey. It is written in the book entitled Fawâid-i-jâmi’a, (by ’Abd-ul-’Azîz
Dahlawî,) that the statement, “Eggplant will give harm if it is eaten with the
intention of harm, and it will be useful if it is eaten with the intention of
healing,” is not a hadîth-i-sahîh and that it is a statement concocted by Ibni
Râwendî.[1] However, there is a
hadîth-i-sherîf praising eggplant and recommending that it be cooked with olive
oil. Another vegetable that was praised by the blessed Prophet is purslane. Celery
heals forgetfulness, stimulates excretion of urine, helps blood and milk
formation, and cleanses the liver. Artichoke dissolves gallstones, purifies the
blood, operates against arteriosclerosis, and eliminates smell of sweat.
Sweetened juice of winter squash is applied on eye strain. It is permissible
nonpoisonous mushrooms. Eating some raw onions upon arriving in a new city is
good for health. Onions will enhance a person’s resistance against microbes. If
celery is eaten after onions, it will remove the bad smell of onions. There is
a scholarly statement informing that the bad smell will be gone also if rue is
eaten. There were onions in the food that Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’ ate at his last meal. He would say, “Eat onions and garlic cooked.” Their smell will hurt
angels. Radishes stimulate excretion of urine and facilitates digestion. Mud or
wet clay should not be eaten. It is harâm to do so. It removes one’s
---------------------------------
[1]
Ibni Râwendî Ahmad bin Yahyâ was the son of a Jewish convert of Isfahan,
Iran. He did not have a certain Madhhab. He invented many a
hadîth-i-sherîf. Jews paid him for writing subversive books to misguide Muslims. He died
in 293 [906 A.D.].
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colour and strength. ’Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ stated: “Three
things are idiocy: To eat one’s nail tips with one’s teeth; to pluck one’s
beard; and to eat mud.” It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “When Allâhu ta’âlâ wants to send a nuisance
upon a slave of His, that slave will make a habit of plucking his beard and/or
biting his fingernails.” When a person is offered a perfume he should take it and smell
it. When you smell roses, you should say the prayer called ‘salawât-i-sherîfa’.
For, his ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ blessed sweat had the smell of roses.
It was stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Three things will nourish the body: “A beautiful smell; beautiful
clothes made from a soft textile; and eating honey.” Rasűlullah
‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ ate eggs and liked them. When its white is
applied on the face, it will prevent sunburn. If domestic fowls catch a disease
and deaths start to take place tincture of iodine should be added to the water they
have been drinking, [two tea,spoonfuls for every twenty litres. It will cure
the disease.
The great scholar and
superior Walî, murewwij-ush-sherî’a Muhammad ’Ubeydullah Serhendî, (d. 1083,)
the third son of ’Urwat-ul wuthqâ Muhammad Ma’thűm Fârűqî, (1007, Serhend -1079
[1668 A.D.], the same place,) ‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ sirrahumâ’ states as
follows in the hundred and forty-fifth letter of his book entitled Hazînat-ul-ma’ârif: “Abű Dâwűd quotes
the following hadîth-i-sherîf on the authority of Mu’âdh bin Jebel and Enes bin
Mâlik: If
a person recites (or reads) the following prayer after eating, most of his past and future sins
will be forgiven: “Al-hamd-u-lillâh-il-ledhî at’amanî hâdhat-ta’âm wa
rezeqanî-hi min ghyri hawlin minnî wa lâ
quwwata. If he says the following prayer as he puts on new clothes, most
of his past and future sins will be forgiven: “Al-hamd-u-lillâh-il-ledhî kesânî
hâdha-th-thawb wa razaqanî-hi min ghayri hawlin minnî wa lâ quwwah.’ ” Wahhâbîs and their
followers, who are lâ-madhhabî people, say that it is an act of bid’at to say
prayers after meals. The hadîth-i-sherîfs quoted above will suffice as an
answer to them. Please see the final part of the fourteenth chapter of the
fourth fascicle of Endless Bliss! Sayyid ’Abd-ul-Hakîm Efendi ‘quddisa sirruh’, an expert in the
science of Fiqh and the mujaddid of the fourteenth (Islamic) century, and a
professor who held the chair of Tasawwuf in the Madrasat-ul-muhassisîn, would say the
following prayer after meals: “Al-hamd-u-lillâh-il-ledhî
eshba ’anâ wa arwânâ min-ghayri hawlin minnâ wa lâ quwwah. Allâhumma at’im-hum kemâ at’aműnâ!”
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To hear what the
’Arif-i-kâmil says, irfân is required;
It’s a private secret, dhawq and wijdân in the heart are required!
A treasure, Tasawwuf is, that not every miser possesses;
To find it in the world a stouthearted sovereign is required!
Mother of pearl with pearld inside is hard to come by;
River is too
small for it, endless watery store is required!
A person who pretends to have ma’rifat;
doesn’t that impostor know
That to show the wish in the heart, proof and
evidence are required!
The ’Ârif joins the common people, others know him not;
Burning in
fire of love, razing oneself to the ground is required!
People proud of their fame will get no light from Haqq;
For welfare
of essence, a ruined appearance is required!
Dying before death, and seeing the grave and gathering;
Before
Owner of all, a heart infatuated is required!
Crossing the Sirât of
Islam over the fire of nafs;
Purged from vice, a heart
like a Garden of Paradise is required!
In all one’s utterances,
hearings, and meditations,
A sole Being, Hadrat
Rahmân, bî-kem and bî-keyf, is required!
O you, Niyâzî attaining
Haqq is not everyone’s luck;
To reflect the lights
from the Sun, a seleno-man is required!
(The following Fârisî
couplet translates into English as follows: “With separation from the beloved
ones, my chest has been weeping blood;” “Separation from the beloved ones has
been burning my bone-marrows.”)
Zi hijri dostân, hűn shud derűn-i sîna-i jan-i-men,
Firâq-i
hem-nishînân suht maghz-i istihân-i-men.
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