Sunnahs of Eating
1.) To spread a (spread cloth/table cloth). (Bukhari)
2.) To wash both hands up to the wrists. (Tirmizi)
3.) To say bismillah before eating. (Bukhari and Muslim)
4.) To eat with the right hand.
5.) To have the most elderly or senior person present to commence the meal. (Muslim)
6.) If the food is of one type, then to eat from what is in front of one. (Bukhari/Muslim)
7.) If the morsel falls down, then one should pick it up, clean it and eat it. (Muslim)
8.) Not to lean against something and eat. (Bukhari/Abu Daud)
9.) Not to take out faults from the food. (Bukhari/Muslim)
10.) To take the shoes off and eat. (Mishkat)
11.) To sit on the ground and eat. (Mishkat)
12.) To clean and lick the eating utensil.
* “The plate or utensil seeks forgiveness for the one who cleans it.”
(Ibn Majah, Tirmizi and Daruqutni)
13.) To lick the fingers after eating. (Muslim)
14.) To read this du`a after eating:
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ الَّذِى أَطْعَمَنَا وَ سَقَانَا وَ جَعَلَنَا مُسْلِمِيْن
All Praises and thanks are for Allah who fed us, gave us drink and made us Muslims.
(Tirmizi, Abu Daud, and Ibn Majah)
15.) To have the spread cloth lifted up first, then to get up and leave. (Ibn Majah)
16.) To read this du`a at the time of lifting up the spead cloth:
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ حَمْداً كَثِيْراً طَيِّباً مُبَاركاً فِيْهِ غَيْرَ مَكْفِيٍّ وَ لا مُوَدَّعٍ و لا مُسْتَغْنىً عَنْه رَبَّنَا
“All abundant, pure and blessed praises and thanks are for all Allah. (We are not departing from this food) thinking it to be sufficient, neither are we bidding it farewell, neither are independent of it, oh our Lord!” (Bukhari)
17.) To wash both hands after eating. (Abu Daud)
18.) To rinse the mouth and gargle after eating. (Bukhari)
19.) If one forgets to say bismillah at the beginning, then to say the following du`a when one remembers:
ِبسْمِ اللهِ أَوّلَهُ وَ آخِرَهُ
“In the name of Allah at the beginning and in the end.”
(Tirmizi and Abu Daud)
20.) If one is invited to someone’s house then to make this du`a for the host:
أللّهُمَّ أَطْعِمْ مَنْ أَطْعَمَنِي وَاسْقِ مَنْ سَقَانِيْ
O Allah, feed the one who fed me and give drink to the one who gave me drink.
21.) To use vinegar is sunnah. That house which has vinegar, is not in need of any other condiments. (Ibn Majah)
22.) To some barley to one’s flour, so that one may get the reward of practicing the sunnah of eating barley bread. (Tirmizi)
23.) To eat meat is sunnah. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “The best food of this life and the hereafter is meat.”
(Jami`us Saghir)
24.) To accept the invitation of a fellow Muslim. (Abu Daud)
*One should abstain from accepting the invitation of that person whose earnings are not from a halal source.
25.) It sunnah to prepare food for the family of the deceased person. (Ibn Majah)
