The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: He who does not
accept an invitation which he receives has disobeyed Allah
and His Apostle of, and he who enters without invitation
enters as a thief and goes out as a raider.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The wedding feast
on the first day is a duty, that on the second is a good
practice, but that on the third day is to make men hear of
it and show it to them. Qatadah said: A man told me that
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab was invited (to a wedding feast on
the first day and he accepted it. He was again invited on
the second day, and he accepted. When he was invited on
the third day, he did not accept; he said: They are the
people who make men hear of it and show it to them.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: It is a duty of
every Muslim (to provide hospitality) to a guest for a
night. If anyone comes in the morning to his house, it is
a debt due to him. If he wishes, he may fulfil it, and if
he wishes he may leave it.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If any Muslim is
a guest of people and is given nothing, it is the duty of
every Muslim to help him to the extent of taking for him
from their crop and property for the entertainment of one
night.
When the verse: "O ye who believe! eat not up your
property among yourselves in vanities, but let there be
amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good will" was
revealed, a man thought it a sin to eat in the house of
another man after the revelation of this verse.
Then this (injunction) was revealed by the verse in
Surat an-Nur: "No blame on you whether you eat in company
or separately."
When a rich man (after revelation) invited a man from
his people to eat food in his house, he would say: I
consider it a sin to eat from it, and he said: a poor man
is more entitled to it than I. The Arabic word tajannah
means sin or fault. It was then declared lawful to eat
something on which the name of Allah was mentioned, and it
was made lawful to eat the flesh of an animal slaughtered
by the people of the Book.
Safinah AbuAbdurRahman said that a man prepared food
for Ali ibn AbuTalib who was his guest, and Fatimah said:
I wish we had invited the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him)
and he had eaten with us. They invited him, and when he
came he put his hands on the side-ports of the door, but
when he saw the figured curtain which had been put at the
end of the house, he went away. So Fatimah said to Ali:
Follow him and see what turned him back. I (Ali) followed
him and asked: What turned you back, Apostle of Allah? He
replied: It is not fitting for me or for any Prophet to
enter a house which is decorated.
A companion of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) reported
him as saying: When two people come together to issue an
invitation, accept that of the one whose door is nearer in
neighbourhood, but if one of them comes before the other
accept the invitation of the one who comes first.
Abdullah ibn Ubaydullah ibn Umayr said: I was with my
father in the time of Ibn az-Zubayr sitting beside
Abdullah ibn Umar. Then Abbad ibn Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr
said: We have heard that the evening meal is taken just
before the night prayer. Thereupon Abdullah ibn Umar said:
Woe to you! what was their evening meal? Do you think it
was like the meal of your father?
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came out from
the privy and was presented to him. They (the people)
asked: Should we bring you water for ablution? He replied:
I have been commanded to perform ablution when I get up
for prayer.
I read in the Torah that the blessing of food consists
in ablution before it. So I mentioned it to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him).
He said: The blessing of food consists in ablution before
it and ablution after it.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) came out from
the valley of a mountain where he had eased himself. There
were some dried dates on a shield before us. We called him
and he ate with us. He did not touch water.
The Companions of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said:
Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) we eat but we are not
satisfied. He said: Perhaps you eat separately. They
replied: Yes. He said: If you gather together at your food
and mention Allah's name, you will be blessed in it.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: When one
of you eats, he should mention Allah's name; if he forgets
to mention Allah's name at the beginning, he should say:
"In the name of Allah at the beginning and at the end of
it."
Umayyah was sitting and a man was eating. He did not
mention Allah's name until there remained the last morsel.
When he raised it to his mouth, he said: In the name of
Allah at the beginning and at the end of it. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him)
laughed and said: The devil kept eating along with him,
but when he mentioned Allah's name, he vomited what was in
his belly.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: When one of you
eats, he must not eat from the top of the dish, but should
eat from the bottom; for the blessing descends from the
top of it.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) had a bowl called
gharra'. It was carried by four persons. When the sun rose
high, and they performed the forenoon prayer, the bowl in
which tharid was prepared was brought, and the people
gathered round it. When they were numerous, the Apostle of
Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah has made me a
respectable servant, and He did not make me an obstinate
tyrant. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Eat
from it sides and leave its top, the blessing will be
conferred on it
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade two
kinds of food: to sit at cloth on which wine is drunk, and
to eat by a man while lying on his stomach.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Do not
eat meat with a knife, for it is a foreign practice, but
bite it, for it is more beneficial and wholesome.
I was eating with the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and
snatching the meat from the bone with my hand. He said:
bring the bone near your mouth, for it is more beneficial
and wholesome.
The tradition mentioned above (No. 3771) has also been
narrated by Ibn Mas'ud with a different chain of
narrators.
This version has: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) liked
the foreleg (of a sheep). Once the foreleg was poisoned,
and he thought that the Jews had poisoned it.
A man asked the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him):
Is there any food from which I should keep myself away? I
heard the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) say:
Anything which creates doubt should not occur in your mind
by which you resemble Christianity.
On the day of Khaybar we slaughtered horses, mules, and
assess. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade
us (to eat) mules and asses, but he did not forbid
horse-flesh.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade us to
eat horse-flesh, the flesh of mules and of asses. The
narrator Haywah added: Every beast of prey with a fang.
We were in an army with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him).
We got some lizards. I roasted one lizard and brought it
to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and placed it
before him. He took a stick and counted its fingers. He
then said: A group from the children of Isra'il was
transformed into an animal of the land, and I do not know
which animal it was. He did not eat it nor did he forbid
(its eating).
Numaylah said: I was with Ibn Umar. He was asked about
eating hedgehog. He recited: "Say: I find not in the
message received by me by inspiration any (meat)
forbidden." An old man who was with him said: I heard
AbuHurayrah say: It was mentioned to the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him). Noxious of the noxious. Ibn Umar
said: If the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) had said
it, it is as he said that we did not know.
The people of pre-Islamic times used to eat some things
and leave others alone, considering them unclean. Then
Allah sent His Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and sent down
His Book, marking some things lawful and others unlawful;
so what He made lawful is lawful, what he made unlawful is
unlawful, and what he said nothing about is allowable. And
he recited: "Say: I find not in the message received by me
by inspiration any (meat) forbidden to be eaten by one who
wishes to eat it...." up to the end of the verse.
I asked the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) about
the hyena. He replied: It is game, and if one who is
wearing ihram (pilgrim's robe) hunts it, he should give a
sheep as atonement.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Beware, the
fanged beast of prey is not lawful, nor the domestic
asses, nor the find from the property of a man with whom
treaty has been concluded, except that he did not need it.
If anyone is a guest of people who provide no hospitality
for him, he is entitled to take from them the equivalent
of the hospitality due to him.
I went with the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) to
fight at the battle of Khaybar, and the Jews came and
complained that the people had hastened to take their
protected property (as a booty), so the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him) said: The property of those who have
been given a mules, every fanged beast of prey, and every
bird with a talon are forbidden for you.
AbuzZubayr quoted the authority of Jabir ibn Abdullah
for the statement that the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him)
forbade payment for a dog. Ibn AbdulMalik said: to eat a
cat and to enjoy its price.
We faced a famine, and I had nothing from my property
which I could feed my family ex except a few asses, and
the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) forbade the flesh of
domestic asses. So I came to the Prophet
(peace_be_upon_him) and said: Apostle of Allah (may peace
be upon) , we are suffering from famine, and I have no
property which I feed my family except some fat asses, and
you have forbidden the flesh of domestic asses. He said:
Feed your family on the fat asses of yours, for I forbade
them on account of the animal which feeds on the filth of
the town, that is, the animal which feeds on filth.
On the day of Khaybar the Apostle of Allah (may pease
be upon him) forbade (eating) the flesh of domestic asses,
and the animal which feeds on filth: riding it and eating
its flesh.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was asked
about (eating) locusts. He replied: They are the most
numerous of Allah's hosts. I neither eat them nor declare
them unlawful.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: What the sea
throws up and is left by the tide you may eat, but what
dies in the sea and floats you must not eat.
A man alighted at Harrah with his wife and children. A
man said (to him): My she-camel has strayed; if you find
it, detain it.
He found it, but did not find its owner, and it fell
ill. His wife said: Slaughter it. But he refused and it
died.
She said: Skin it so that we may dry its fat and flesh
and then eat them.
He said: Let me ask the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him). So he came to him (the Prophet) and
asked him. He said: Have you sufficient for your needs? He
replied: No. He then said: Then eat it.
Then its owner came and he told him the story. He said:
Why did you not slaughter it? He replied: I was ashamed
(or afraid) of you.
Al-Faji' came to the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him) and asked: Is not dead meat lawful for
us? He said: What is your food? We said: Some food in the
evening and some in the morning. AbuNu'aym said: Uqbah
explained it to me saying: a cup (of milk) in the morning
and a cup in the evening; this does not satisfy the
hunger. So made the carrion lawful for them in this
condition.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: I wish I had a
white loaf made from tawny and softened with clarified
butter and milk. A man from among the people got up and
getting one brought it. He asked: In which had it been? He
replied: In a lizard skin. He said: Take it away.
The garlic and onions were mentioned before the Apostle
of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). He was told: The most severe
of them is garlic. Would you make it unlawful? The Prophet
(peace_be_upon_him) said: Eat it, and he who eats it
should not come near this mosque until its odour goes
away.
Zirr ibn Hubaysh said: Hudhayfah traced, I think, to
the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) the saying: He
who spits in the direction of the qiblah will come on the
Day of Resurrection in the state that his saliva will be
between his eyes; and he who eats from this noxious
vegetable should not come near our mosque, saying it three
times.
I ate garlic and came to the place where the Prophet
(peace_be_upon_him) was praying; one rak'ah of prayer had
been performed when I joined. When I entered the mosque,
the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) noticed the odour of
garlic.
When the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) finished
his prayer, he said: He who eats from this plant should
not come near us until its odour has gone away.
When I finished the prayer, I came to the Apostle of
Allah (peace_be_upon_him) and said: Apostle of Allah, do
give me your hand. Then I put his hand in the sleeve of my
shirt, carrying it to my chest to show that my chest was
fastened with a belt. He said: You have a (valid) excuse.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) forbade these
two plants (i.e. garlic and onions), and he said: He who
eats them should not come near our mosque. If it is
necessary to eat them, make them dead by cooking, that is,
onions and garlic.
Khalid said: AbuZiyad Khiyar ibn Salamah asked Aisha
about onions. She replied: The last food which the Apostle
of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) ate was some which contained
onions.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) was brought some dates
which contained worms. He then mentioned the rest of the
tradition to the same effect as the previous (No 3823).
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) used to eat
melon with fresh dates, and he used to say: The heat of
the one is broken by the coolness of the other, and the
coolness of the one by the heat of the other.
I was on an expedition along with the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him). We got the vessels and skins of the
polytheists and used them. But he did not object to them
9i.e. us) for that (action).
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: When a mouse
falls into clarified butter, if it is sold, throw the
mouse and what is around it away, but if it is in a liquid
state, do not go near it. Al-Hasan said: AbdurRazzaq said:
This tradition has been transmitted by Ma'mar, from
az-Zuhri, from Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas, from
Maymunah, from the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him).
The tradition mentioned above (No. 3833) has also been
transmitted by Ibn Abbas from Maymunah, from the Prophet
(peace_be_upon_him) like the tradition narrated by
az-Zuhri, from Ibn al-Musayyab.
When the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) ate or
drank, he said: "Praise be to Allah Who has given food and
drink and made it easy to swallow, and provided an exit
for it.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If anyone spends
the night with grease on his hand which he has not washed
away, he can blame only himself if some trouble comes to
him.
AbulHaytham ibn at-Tayhan prepared food for the Apostle
of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), and he invited the Prophet
(peace_be_upon_him) and his Companions. When they finished
(food), the said: If some people enter the house of a man,
his food is eaten and his drink is drunk, and they
supplicate (to Allah) for him, this is his reward.
The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) came to visit Sa'd ibn
Ubaydah, and he brought bread and olive oil, and he ate
(them). Them). Then the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said:
May the fasting (men) break their fast with you, and the
pious eat your food, and the angels pray for blessing on
you.