SeefsIslamic-----Food, The forgotten Sunnah‏

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FOOD, THE FORGOTTEN SUNNAH
Prophet Muhammad said, "He who fulfils the craving of his brother for
a certain type of food, will have his sins forgiven. He who makes his
believing brother happy (by providing him with what he craves), makes
Allah happy"

Prophet Muhammad said, "Do not go out of your way when looking after a
guest to the point where you dislike them, for he who dislikes a guest
dislikes Allah, and he who dislikes Allah, then Allah dislikes him"
(Baihaqi, Shuah al-Iman, VII, 960)

Prophet Muhammad said, "Do not kill your hearts with too much eating
and drinking, for the heart is like a plant which dies if watered too
much"

Prophet Muhammad said, "A person is not a Muslim if he goes to be
satisfied while his neighbour is hungry. And the best way to ensure
that he does not go to bed with an empty stomach is to invite him to
share your meal with you"

Prophet Muhammad was asked, "What are the best traits of Islam?" He
replied, "Giving food and greeting the people you know and those you
do not know"

A famous line of Arabic poetry reads, `Oh guest, if you are to visit
us, you would find that we are guests and you are the resident of the
house'

When Al-Awzai was asked, `What is the meaning of honouring a guest',
he replied saying `A cheerful face'

Prophet Muhammad said, "A house in which no guests enter, is not
entered by angels"

Abdullah ibn Abbas was the first Muslim to set up tables alongside the
roads where people (usually the less fortunate) can stop to eat. The
tradition remains today known as mawaid al-Rahman (the Tables of the
Merciful) and can be seen particularly during the month of Ramadan.

When Prophet Abraham was asked how it was that Allah had taken him as
his friend (khalil), Abraham replied saying that it was because of one
of three things, one of which was that he never had a meal at day or
at night without a guest

Allah Almighty says "Eat of the good things and do righteous deeds"
(Quran 23:51)

PART 2: HADITH OF THE PROPHET

Prophet Muhammad said, "He who has given food to his brother to
satisfy his hunger and a drink to quench his thirst, Allah will
separate him from the fire of hell by the distance covered by digging
70 ditches – and the distance between every two ditches is a distance
that can be covered by walking for 500 years" (Kharaiti, I, 44)

Prophet Muhammad said, "A man is rewarded even for lifting a morsel of
food to his mouth, and/or to the mouth of his wife" (Bukhari, Wasaya,
2742)

Prophet Muhammad said, "Washing hands before a meal banishes poverty,
washing hands after a meal banishes minor sins"(Tirmidhi, Atima, 1846)

Prophet Muhammad said, "I do not eat when reclining (i.e. laying down
as you sometimes see people do so in classical Roman-era movies) for I
am but a slave (of God) ; I eat as a slave eats and sit as a slave
sits" (Ibn Hanbal, Kitab al-Zuhd, p19)

Prophet Muhammad said, "No human being has ever filled a container
worse than his stomach. The son of Adam needs no more than some
morsels of food to keep him strong, doing so, he should consider that
a third of his stomach is for food, a third for drink and a third for
breathing" (Ibn Maja, Atima, 3349)

Prophet Muhammad said, "If the time for evening prayer and the time
for dinner coincide, then start with dinner" (Muslim, Masajid, 557)

Prophet Muhammad said, "The best food is that over which there are
many hands i.e. people eat together" (Baihaqi, Shuah al-Iman, 9622)

If Prophet Muhammad enjoyed a type of food he ate it, if he disliked
it, he would leave it. (Bukhari, Atima, 3563)

Prophet Muhammad said, "The angels continue to pray for every one of
you as long as his table is set before him, until it is taken away"
(Tabrani, Al-Aswat, Iraqi, II, 8)

Prophet Muhammad said, "Hold bread in esteem, for Allah has sent it
down as one of heaven's blessings" (Baihaqi, Shuah al-Iman, 5869)

Prophet Muhammad said, "The best of you are those who have provided
food" (Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, XII, 22807)

Prophet Muhammad said, "There is no good in someone who is not
hospitable" (Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, IX, 16778)

Prophet Muhammad said, "Drink water in sips, do not gulp it down"
(Baihaqi, Shuah al-Iman, 6009)

Prophet Muhammad said, "He who eats what has fallen from the table
(i.e. pick it up, cleans it and if its possible to eat then eats it)
shall live in comfort, and his children shall be kept healthy" (Abu
Dawood, Atima, 3845)

Prophet Muhammad said, "If a visitor comes to you, be generous in your
hospitality to him" (Ibn al Hatim)

Prophet Muhammad said, "In paradise there are rooms where from inside
the outside is visible and from outside the inside is visible; they
are for the soft-spoken person who have provided food for people and
prayed at night when others are asleep" (Tirmidhi, Birr, 1984)

Prophet Muhammad said, "Whoever licks the dish, washes it clean and
drinks the liquid shall have the reward of someone who had set a slave
free"

PART 3: SAYINGS OF THE COMPANIONS

Once Salman al-Farsi offered his guests what he had in his kitchen,
barley bread and some coarsely ground salt. When one of them suggested
that wild thyme would improve the meal he went out and pawned his
ablution bowl to buy some. At the end of the meal one of the guests
said, `Praise be to Allah who has made us content with what you have
provided us' to which Salman replied, `Had you actually been content
with what you had been provided, my ablution bowl would not be in the
pawnshop!'

Once Aisha asked, `O Messenger of Allah, I have two neighbours, with
whom should I take food to first?' He replied `To the one whose door
is nearest to you'

Abdullah ibn Mubarak use to serve delicious fresh dates to his
brethren and say, `Whoever east the most dates, I will give him a
dirham for each date stone they show me' He would then count the date
stones of every person and give the one who ate the most dirhams equal
to the number of date stones. He did this to dispel shyness when eating.

Jafar ibn Muhammad said, `The most beloved person to me are those who
eat the most and take the biggest mouthfuls. The most disagreeable
person to me is the one who forces me to pay attention to him while he
eats'

Jafar ibn Muhammad said, `The quality of a man's love for his brother
is shown by the quality of the food in his house (that he offers his
guest)'

Jafar ibn Muhammad said, `If you are seated with brethren at a table,
make it a long session, for it is a span of time which is not counted
from your lives' i.e. when you are hosting guests this is one of the
times where people will not be judged as `wasting time' such is the
merit of hospitality

Ali said, `It is more valuable for me to bring my brethren together to
eat some food than it is to set a slave free'

Ibn Umar said, `An indication of a persons generosity is the quality
of provisions he takes on his journey and shares with his companions'

Anas ibn Malik said that people used to present such large pieces of
bread and dried dates of poor quality saying, `We do not know which of
these two carries a greater sin: he who despises what is presented to
him or he who despises presenting what he possesses'

Al Hasan ibn Ali was pasting by some paupers who were begging and
eating on the highway. They had pieces of bread on the sandy ground
which they were eating. Hasan was on his mule and as he greeted them
they said, `Come along and eat, oh son of the daughter of the Prophet'
to which he replied `Yes, for Allah does not like the proud'. He
dismounted his mule, sat and ate with them. After the meal he mounted
his mule and said, `I accepted your invitation so you must accept
mine'. Some time later when they came to him, he provided them with a
lavish meal.

Ibrahim ibn Adham once brought an abundance of food to his table and
Sufyan al-Thawri said to him, `O Abu Ishaq, do you knot fear that this
is extravagant?<WBR spellChecked="true">' Ibrahim replied, `There is no extravagance in food
unless the intention is to be extravagant, abundant provision would
then be an affectation'<WBR spellChecked="true">.

Abu Qatada said that when the (Christian) delegation from Negus came
to visit the Prophet he himself served them. His companions said,
`There are enough of us companions to serve the guests making it
unnecessary for you to serve them'. But the Prophet replied, `No, they
honoured my companions (i.e. when some Muslims sought refuge with the
king of Negus as they were being oppressed), and I wish to repay their
hospitality'

Ibn Umar said, "At the time of the Prophet we used to eat while
walking and drink while standing up" (Tirmidhi, Ashriba, 1881) - the
significance of this hadith is that there are others which suggest
that one should sit when eating when in fact there is a time for
everything and Allah knows best.

Prophet Muhammad said, " A man will gain with good character the same
reward of someone who fasts all day and prays all night" (Ibn Hanbal,
Musnad, 14055).


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