Etiquette of Eating: Saying Bismillah, Using the Right Hand, and Protection from Shayṭān
Author: Imran Ayyub Lahori**
❶ ʿUmar ibn Abī Salamah (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
يا غلام سم الله وكل بيمينك وكل مما يليك
"O boy! Mention the name of Allah, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is in front of you."
Bukhari: 5376; Muslim: 2022; Muwaṭṭaʾ: 2/934; Abu Dawood: 3777; Tirmidhi: 1857; Ibn Mājah: 3267; Dārimī: 2/100; Bayhaqī: 7/277; Ahmad: 4/26
❷ ʿĀ’ishah (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إذا أكل أحدكم فليقل: بسم الله فإن نسى فى أوله فليقل: بسم الله أوله وآخره
"When one of you eats, let him say: ‘Bismillah.’ If he forgets at the beginning, let him say: ‘Bismillah awwalahu wa akhirahu.’"
Sahih: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 1965; Abu Dawood: 3767; Ahmad: 6/207; Tirmidhi: 1858; al-Nasā’ī al-Kubrā: 6/78; Ibn Mājah: 3264
❸ Jābir (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"When a man enters his house and remembers Allah upon entering and while eating, Shayṭān says:
لا مبيت لكم ولا عشاء
‘You have no place to sleep tonight and no dinner.’
But if he enters without mentioning Allah, Shayṭān says:
أدركتم المبيت والعشاء
‘You have secured lodging and dinner.’"
Muslim: 2018; Abu Dawood: 3765; Ibn Mājah: 3887
❹ Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إن الشيطان يستحل الطعام الذى لم يذكر اسم الله عليه
"Shayṭān considers lawful any food over which the name of Allah has not been mentioned."
Muslim: 2017; Abu Dawood: 3766
Note (Albānī):
"The Sunnah is to simply say 'Bismillah' before eating."
Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 7/31
Complete Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm is authentically established only in:
① Reciting the Qur’an (as in the opening of each surah)
② Writing letters (as the Prophet ﷺ wrote to Heraclius) Bukhari: 7
❺ Ibn ʿUmar (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا ياكل أحدكم بشماله ولا يشرب بشماله فإن الشيطان يأكل بشماله ويشرب بشماله
"None of you should eat or drink with his left hand, for Shayṭān eats and drinks with his left hand."
Muslim: 2020; Muwaṭṭaʾ: 2/922; Abu Dawood: 3776; Tirmidhi: 1800
❻ Abu Hurairah (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ليأكـل أحـدكـم بيـمـينـه وليشرب بيمينه وليأخذ بيمينه وليعط بيمينه فإن الشيطان ياكل بشماله ويشرب بشماله ويعطى بشماله وياخذ بشماله
"Let one of you eat with his right hand, drink with his right hand, take with his right hand, and give with his right hand — for Shayṭān eats, drinks, gives, and takes with his left hand."
Sahih: al-Silsilah al-Sahihah: 1236; Ibn Mājah: 3266
Note:
If there is a valid reason (e.g., disability or injury to the right hand), eating with the left hand is allowed. Sharḥ Muslim by al-Nawawī: 7/212
Author: Imran Ayyub Lahori**
Begin with Bismillah and Eat with the Right Hand
❶ ʿUmar ibn Abī Salamah (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
يا غلام سم الله وكل بيمينك وكل مما يليك
"O boy! Mention the name of Allah, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is in front of you."
Bukhari: 5376; Muslim: 2022; Muwaṭṭaʾ: 2/934; Abu Dawood: 3777; Tirmidhi: 1857; Ibn Mājah: 3267; Dārimī: 2/100; Bayhaqī: 7/277; Ahmad: 4/26❷ ʿĀ’ishah (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إذا أكل أحدكم فليقل: بسم الله فإن نسى فى أوله فليقل: بسم الله أوله وآخره
"When one of you eats, let him say: ‘Bismillah.’ If he forgets at the beginning, let him say: ‘Bismillah awwalahu wa akhirahu.’"
Sahih: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 1965; Abu Dawood: 3767; Ahmad: 6/207; Tirmidhi: 1858; al-Nasā’ī al-Kubrā: 6/78; Ibn Mājah: 3264Protection from Shayṭān in Eating and Entering the Home
❸ Jābir (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"When a man enters his house and remembers Allah upon entering and while eating, Shayṭān says:
لا مبيت لكم ولا عشاء
‘You have no place to sleep tonight and no dinner.’
But if he enters without mentioning Allah, Shayṭān says:
أدركتم المبيت والعشاء
‘You have secured lodging and dinner.’"
Muslim: 2018; Abu Dawood: 3765; Ibn Mājah: 3887❹ Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
إن الشيطان يستحل الطعام الذى لم يذكر اسم الله عليه
"Shayṭān considers lawful any food over which the name of Allah has not been mentioned."
Muslim: 2017; Abu Dawood: 3766Note (Albānī):
"The Sunnah is to simply say 'Bismillah' before eating."
Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 7/31Complete Bismillāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm is authentically established only in:
① Reciting the Qur’an (as in the opening of each surah)
② Writing letters (as the Prophet ﷺ wrote to Heraclius)
Bukhari: 7Prohibition of Eating or Drinking with the Left Hand
❺ Ibn ʿUmar (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا ياكل أحدكم بشماله ولا يشرب بشماله فإن الشيطان يأكل بشماله ويشرب بشماله
"None of you should eat or drink with his left hand, for Shayṭān eats and drinks with his left hand."
Muslim: 2020; Muwaṭṭaʾ: 2/922; Abu Dawood: 3776; Tirmidhi: 1800❻ Abu Hurairah (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ليأكـل أحـدكـم بيـمـينـه وليشرب بيمينه وليأخذ بيمينه وليعط بيمينه فإن الشيطان ياكل بشماله ويشرب بشماله ويعطى بشماله وياخذ بشماله
"Let one of you eat with his right hand, drink with his right hand, take with his right hand, and give with his right hand — for Shayṭān eats, drinks, gives, and takes with his left hand."
Sahih: al-Silsilah al-Sahihah: 1236; Ibn Mājah: 3266Note:
If there is a valid reason (e.g., disability or injury to the right hand), eating with the left hand is allowed.
Sharḥ Muslim by al-Nawawī: 7/212
