#SaturdaySunnahReflections – Sheikh Sajid Umar Telegram Channel –

‘Umar bin Abu Salamah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), said to him, “Young boy, mention Allah’s Name (i.e., say Bismillah before starting eating), eat with your right hand, and eat from what is near you.”

[Bukhari and Muslim].

Lesson…

‘Umar was a young boy and blessed to be brought up around the Messenger (SAW). He was fortunate to share meals with the Messenger (SAW) and during an occassion the Messenger (SAW) taught him a valubale lesson as stated in the above narration.

We learn several lessons from this hadeeth, as follows:

1. Our children are never too young to be taught good manners and ideals. Never leave nurturing your children until very late under the guise of them being too young.

2. The Messenger (SAW) addressed young ‘Umar in a sweet and respectful manner with a lot of patience, despite the young boy’s animated eating habits. There are other narrations that actually mention the hand of young ‘Umar (RA) moving carelessly around the plate before the Messenger (SAW) addressed him with this lesson.

Today we tend to let human nature get the better of us and as soon as we see the mess we now have to clean up; we seize to be educators and tread the path laying down a good old scolding 😰

The Messenger (SAW) always teaches us that Cool Calm and Collected should always be our way. This narration is no exception- Alhamdulillah.

3. When we eat, we should begin by remembering Allah Almighty and saying ‘Bismillah’.

Saying ‘Bismillah’ before meals entails several benefits, such as:

a) A blessed meal! A blessed meal is one that fills us with fewer morsels. Eating more entails hard work. We can either eat hard or eat SMART. Saying ‘Bismillah’ entails eating smart! 🙂

b) Shaitan is driven away and siezes to be company to us during our meal.

c) #TheSunnahtheBetter! Saying ‘Bismillah’ entails following the way of the Messenger (SAW) and following His way (SAW) is always better for us – Alhamdulillah.

4. The fourth lesson we derive from this narration is the importance of eating with our right hand. And YES brothers and sisters- we should do so even when using a fork and knife! So ensure that fork is in your right hand and learn how to steady your left hand. After all; you do not want to be cutting everything else but your steak during that expensive meal… 😅

5. We should eat from that part of the plate which is closest to us, especially when we are eating from a shared platter. The scholars however add to this and explain after looking over other evidences that it is permissible to eat from the furthest part of the plate if that section carries a different variety of food.

May Allah Almighty grant us the best table manners- Ameen.

If you have any questions please get in touch via sajidumar.com

I love you all for the sake of Allah.

Your brother,
Sajid Umar

Ps- This lesson is really one that everyone can relate to. Please share the goodness, may Allah bless you all. My Telegram Channel can be joined via this link: