Is it permissible to eat with the left hand if the right hand is occupied?

The questioner : The permissibility of eating with the left hand when both hands are occupied

The Shaykh : If it is?

The questioner : Both hands are occupied

The Shaykh : Excuse me, correct the expression, because there are not three hands

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : If both hands are occupied, which hand do you eat with?

The questioner : No, if the hand, for example, suppose it has food in it

The Shaykh : One of them

The questioner : And the other hand has a drink in it

The Shaykh : Ah

The questioner : Is it permissible to use the left hand?

The Shaykh : No, it is not permissible, and this is a consequence of strictness in customs, because it is known that the Sunnah is to eat with three fingers

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Today, in some Arab countries, those who have not yet become accustomed to eating, for example, with a spoon, cannot eat with three fingers; they eat with a fist. Is this not the reality, as you know?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : So the fist is greased with oil, so he needs to take the cup, so the cup gets greased too, so he resorts to taking the cup with his left hand and supporting it like this from the side with his right hand

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And he says, meaning he is drinking with his right hand

The questioner : There is no power nor strength except with Allah.

The Shaykh : There is no excuse whatsoever except in one case: when the eater or drinker truly cannot eat or drink with his right hand. In that case, necessity has its own rulings. But as for being like that man whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw eating or drinking with his left hand—I have forgotten now—he said to him He said, "I cannot." He said,

The questioner : Out of arrogance

The Shaykh : So I froze. What is the matter with his hand? If he is not truly of this type, meaning he cannot do it, then he is naturally not qualified. But as for justifying our poor eating, starting with contradicting the Sunnah and ending with the excuse that "I cannot," no, he can. We sometimes attend some invitations, and there are some people who have become accustomed to what shall we call it, the French tactic, meaning
Al-Halabi : Etiquette

The Shaykh : Etiquette
Al-Halabi : Etiquette

The Shaykh : French etiquette. So he eats with both hands; he takes, for example, the fork with his right hand and a piece of bread with his left hand, doing it like this, and the meat like this, and so on. You find the hands going up and down, meaning, yes, this man can avoid imitating the nature of the disbelievers about whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that the disbeliever eats with seven intestines
Al-Halabi : Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : So he can keep his hands from moving, one going and one coming. Or there is no harm in eating with a fork or a spoon, but for the bread, he puts down the fork and takes the bread, puts it in his mouth, then goes back to take the fork, takes the meat, takes what he wants, and so on. But this going back and forth is not an Islamic way at all. Can he say, "I cannot"? Why? Because that is his habit, but this is not an excuse. And therefore, I do not think that in your mind there is a picture we can understand as an excuse for this Muslim to eat or drink with his left hand, other than the prevalence of customs

The questioner : If the hadith is not authentic

The Shaykh : The hadith is not authentic; no, the hadith is not correct. Yes

The questioner : The authenticity of the hadith

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : I ate what you did not eat. Do you believe?

The questioner : Authentic