Ettiquettes

• What Allah has set

  • Limitations and boundaries for what we can and can't do
  • We should follow what our creator has said
• Bismillah

  • If you don't recite it, Shaitan eats your meal with you
  • If you don't recite it before entering the house, Shaitan enters with you
  • Always start with bismillah or Shaitaan joins you
• Umar ibn Abi Salma: 'As a child in the care of the prophet, he would eat from all over the plate. The prophet told him to eat with his right hand and from the part of the plate closest to him'
• Prophet: 'Eat in groups - there is more barakat (blessing)'
• If 1 person doesn't pray bismillah before eating

  It decreases the barakah for the whole group
• Forgetting bismillah then remembering

  Pray, shaitan vomits what he's eaten
• Eating with the left hand

  The manner of shaitan
• Clean your fingers and plates, you don't know which part is blessed
• Whoever cleans his plate after eating, the plate will make istighfar (seek forgiveness) for him
• Respect bread, if you eat bread fallen on the eating cloth you'll be forgiven
• Let food cool, there's no blessing in hot food
• Be grateful after eating
• Be patient while fasting
• Don't get up until the food is gathered
• Make wudhu (ablution) before and after eating
• Take shoes off while eating
• Don't cut meat with a knife while eating, bite through with your teeth for good digestion
• Don't lean while eating
• Don't speak badly about meals
• Measure your meals, there's barakat in it
• Eat from the sides, the blessing descends in the centre
• Don't consume more than necessary
• If your stomach overfills you, burp
• Dates are sufficient if there's no food
• Don't eat raw garlic or onion
• Avoid the masjid if you've eaten raw garlic or onion
• Vinegar is a good condiment, has various benefits
• If offered to eat, don't lie and say you're not hungry, partake in the meal
• One who eats or drinks in silver or gold vessels is allowing the fire of hell to enter his stomach
• If a fly falls in your food, dip the entire thing - illness is in one wing and shifa (cure) in the other
• Make khilaal (cleaning between teeth) of the teeth - it's good if you have to spit it out; if it's on the tongue you can swallow it
• Iztiraar

  When you're in danger/at risk of losing your life if you don't eat
• In the condition of iztiraar, one can

  • Eat haraam food
  • Eat dead animals (carrion)
  • Eat that which belongs to someone else
  • Drink anything saving you from death if water isn't available
  • Drink only the amount of alcohol saving you from death if that's all that's available
  • Take a portion of someone else's possessions forcefully if they refuse to give it when you're in danger
• If someone in idhtirar is told to cut off their flesh and eat it, they cannot do so as it is not mubah (permissible)
• Medicine and treatment shouldn't be judged by the same rulings as food and alcohol, as medicine doesn't go against the religion
• Eating less than one's hunger is better than overeating
• Overeating to the point of risking stomach damage is haraam
• Eating a modest amount to be able to fast properly the next day is allowed, only if it won't cause harm
• Eating a very small amount while striving in the way of Allah, to the point of not being able to perform obligatory acts, is impermissible
• Eating a variety of fruits is better than just eating one type