بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم۔ In his Book کیمیاۓ سعادت، Imam Ghazali mentions the Adaab of eating and drinking. Firstly, the hands should be washed and mouth should be rinsed. Secondly, the food should be placed on the dining mat on the floor. Thirdly, the preferred manner of sitting is with right knee up and the left knee down. Fourthly, before eating the intention should be made that the purpose of eating is to gain strength to perform more ‘Ibadat. Fifth, food should not be taken until a person feels hungry. Sixth, whatever is present should be eaten and a person should not search for or ask if there is better food. Seventh, if a number of people are eating together, no-one should begin eating until everyone is present and seated. Eighth, the more people present when eating, the more برکت there is. When eating, it is best that before the first morsel بسم اللہ is recited, before the second morsel بسم اللہ الرحمن and before the third morsel بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم and this should be said loudly to remind other people. After that, it is best to say بسم اللہ before every subsequent morsel. The meal should begin with salt and end with salt. The first morsel should be small and it should be chewed thoroughly. A second morsel should not be taken before the first morsel has been swallowed. The host’s food should not be criticised. The roti should be broken from the outside and mot the middle, and roti and meat should be broken by hand and not cut with a knife. Any pieces of food that fall on the floor should be cleaned and eaten. After eating, the dish should be cleaned so there is no food left on it. After this, the fingers should be licked to remove any food, they should then be washed. If the food is hot it should not be blowed on, instead it should be allowed to cool enough so that it can be eaten. If the food being eaten is such that it consists of multiple pieces of something such as potatoes then it is best that an odd number of pieces are eaten. Lots of water should not be drunk during the meal. When drinking water the bowl should be taken in the right hand and it should be drunk in three sips. First بسم اللہ should be recited, after the first sip الحمد للہ، after the second sip الحمد للہ رب العلمین and after the third sip الحمد للہ رب العلمین الرحمن الرحیم should be recited followed by this Dua: اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ الَّذِیْ جَعَلَہُ عَذْبًا فُرَاتًا بِرَحْمَتِہٖ وَ لَمْ یَجْعَلَہُ مِلْحًا اُجَاجًا بِذُنُوْبِنَا۔ After eating the hands should be washed and the teeth should be cleaned with a toothpick. The dish should also be cleaned and it is mentioned in the Hadith that the dish will make Dua for the one who does so, and if he then washes the dish and drinks the water, he will receive the thawab of freeing a slave. After this the following Dua should be recited: اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ الَّذِیْ اَطْعَمَنَا وَ سَقَانَا وَ کَفَانَا وَ اَوَانَا وَ ھُوَ سَیِّدِنَا وَ مَوْلَانَا۔ After this سورۃ الاخلاص and سورۃ قریش should be recited seven times.
Some important inferences on how to treat food in Islam: 1. The taste of Food is a Test 2. To be ascetic concerning food is from the Sunnah. Note, that emphasis is paid to eating but little emphasis is paid to the Sunnah of remaining in hunger. There is huge merit for the heart in practicing hunger. 3. To take relief and comfort from food has a sound basis in Islam but not to make this the established normal practice daily and with every meal. 4. A whole Meal consisting of dates and water is from the Sunnah (perhaps a forgotten Sunnah now): 'Aishah RadhiAllahu Annha narrated: "We, the family of Muhammad (SalAllahu Alaihi wa Sallim), would go for a month without kindling a fire, having only water and dates." 5. Since eating chicken has become widespread in our time this next point is important. That, to eat chicken being a Sunnah is established from Bukhari and Abu Musa Al Ashari (RadhiAllah Anh) under the heading of hunting and slaughtering. Hence when eating chicken one should make this their Niyyah but many people are not aware of this. 6. Focus is just on whether food is allowed while almost no attention is given to the injunction of eating "Tayyib" or wholesome food that is good for the health. Today's food is a trade off between nutritional value and taste with taste being given preference and this is against the Qur'anic injunction. 7. Food is fuel for carrying out Worship and not fuel for the ego. Remind yourself about this before you eat each meal.
It is from recorded that Umar Ibn Al Khattab was counseled by the senior Sahaba when he was unable to earn from his trade due to His Duties as Caliph to take stipulation from Bait ul Maal for lunch and dinner. This points to the Sunnah being two meals and that the meals being specifically lunch and dinner. The one to counsel according to the report on this was Ali to Umar.
Arabs used to in general eat twice a day(one mean in the morning) and one in the evening , and someone who couldn't do this was probably constricted by financial reasons (ie. poor) حَدَّثَنِي إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ ـ هُوَ الأَزْرَقُ ـ عَنْ مِسْعَرِ بْنِ كِدَامٍ، عَنْ هِلاَلٍ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ قَالَتْ مَا أَكَلَ آلُ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَكْلَتَيْنِ فِي يَوْمٍ، إِلاَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا تَمْرٌ. Translation: The family of Muhammad ﷺ did not eat two meals on one day, but one of the two was of dates. Sahih al-Bukhari 6455
Assalamoalaikom Can someone please shed some light on this if eating twice a day is from the sunnah or not? JazakAllahu Khayraan.
