And peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and all his Companions. He said, may Allah have mercy on him:

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and all his Companions. He said, may Allah have mercy on him: "The chapter on eating from what is near one, and admonishing and disciplining one who eats in a bad manner. 'Umar ibn Abi al-Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'I was a boy in the care of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and my hands would move about in the dish. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me,'

Dear child, mention Allah's Name, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is next to you.

يا غلام سم الله وكل بيمينك وكل مما يليك

Bulugh al-Maram 8:98

It is agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. And Salama ibn al-Akwa' (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a man ate with his left hand in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he said:

Eat with your right hand

كل بيمينك

He said: 'I cannot.' He said:

I could not

لا استطعت

Nothing prevented him except arrogance, so he did not raise it to his mouth. Muslim narrated it."

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*: "The chapter on eating with the right hand and from what is near one, and teaching one who goes against that." We have previously spoken about the fact that eating with the right hand and drinking with the right hand is obligatory, and that it is forbidden for a person to eat with his left hand or drink with his left hand. And whoever eats with his left hand or drinks with his left hand is a sinner and commits a sin; he is a sinner against Allah and His Messenger, and he is like Satan and the close friends of Satan among the disbelievers. It is obligatory for the Muslim to eat with the right hand except for an excuse, such as if the left hand is paralyzed or something similar. So fear Allah as much as you are able. For this reason, the author mentioned the hadith of Salama ibn al-Akwa' (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to a man eating with his left hand: He said: 'I cannot.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning he prayed against him that he would be unable to raise his right hand to his mouth, because nothing prevented him except arrogance, and I seek refuge in Allah from that. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed against him, and he did not raise it to his mouth after that. It is possible that his statement "nothing prevented him except arrogance" means nothing prevented him except arrogance regarding the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). It is also possible that "nothing prevented him except arrogance" means nothing prevented him from eating with his right hand except arrogance. In any case, the prayer of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) against him with this prayer, which resulted in his hand becoming paralyzed so that it would not rise to his mouth, is evidence that eating with the left hand is forbidden. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that Satan eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand. So now you have before you the guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the guidance of Satan. Do you take the guidance of the Messenger or the guidance of Satan? Every believer says: I take the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) eats with his right hand and commands eating with the right hand, and he drinks with his right hand and commands drinking with the right hand. And Satan eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand. So choose whichever of the two paths you wish. For this reason, the close friends of Satan among the Jews, Christians, and polytheists do not know eating except with the left hand, and do not know drinking except with the left hand, because they are the close friends of Satan; Satan took charge of them, and I seek refuge in Allah, and he dominated them. So beware of being like them. Some people, when they are eating and want to drink, hold the cup with the left hand and drink. This is not permissible, because the forbidden is not made permissible except for dire necessity, and there is no dire necessity here. Hold the cup from the bottom with the right hand so that it does not get dirty. Also, most of the cups people use today are made of plastic, which is drunk from and then thrown away and not washed. But let us suppose it is made of iron or glass; hold it with the bottom so it does not get dirty. Even if it does get dirty, let it be washed, and there is no harm in that. It is simply not permissible for a person to eat with his left hand or drink with his left hand. If he does so, he is a sinner against Allah and His Messenger, a sinner against the Messenger, and it is clear that the Messenger prohibited it. He is a sinner against Allah because disobeying the Messenger is disobeying Allah. Allah the Exalted said: And He said: The Messenger is not speaking from his own self; he speaks because he is the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds, Glorified and Exalted is He. The author mentioned the hadith of 'Umar ibn Abi al-Salamah, the foster son of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). 'Umar ibn Abi al-Salamah is the son of Umm Salamah. Umm Salamah's husband, Abu al-Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him), had died, and she loved him greatly, and he was her cousin. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) attended his death. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon him and his eyes were wide open, opened greatly. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Because the soul, by the permission of Allah, is a subtle, light body that exits the body, and the eyes see it. The deceased sees it, seeing himself exit his body. He said: So some of his family made a commotion when they heard the words of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); they knew that he had died and made a commotion as is the custom of people. So he said: Because in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, when a person died, they would call out "Woe and destruction, and destruction indeed, and woe indeed" and the like. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) closed his eyes, meaning he brought his eyelids together so that his eyes would not remain open. And thus it is prescribed to close the eyes of the deceased when he dies, because once he is cold, you cannot close his eyes. So as long as he is warm, close his eyes. And he said: What a supplication! Everyone wishes for it. meaning: his sins. in the Gardens of Pleasure. May Allah make me and you among its people. Expand for him in his grave. Because the grave is darkness except for whom Allah illuminates. May Allah illuminate our graves and your graves. meaning: be his successor in his offspring. And Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) had heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that when a person is struck by a calamity and says: Allah rewards him for his calamity and replaces for him something better than it. So she said that when her husband and her cousin, the most beloved of people to her, died. She said: Then she began to think, saying to herself: Who is better than Abu al-Salamah? She believed that Allah would replace for her something better than him, but she said: Who is better than Abu al-Salamah? No sooner had her waiting period after her husband's death ended than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) proposed to her. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was undoubtedly better for her than Abu al-Salamah. Then Allah answered the prayer of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when he said about Abu al-Salamah: Allah replaced for him in his offspring, and made the successor of their father from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). What a good successor he was! He succeeded Abu al-Salamah in his family and his children. And among them was 'Umar ibn Abi al-Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), who was a small boy. He sat with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to eat, and his hand would move about in the dish. A small boy who had not learned; his hand would go right and left, eating from what was near him, from the middle of the dish, and from the other side. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: meaning: say "Bismillah" when eating. How did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) teach this boy three recommended practices? And mentioning the name of Allah when eating is obligatory. Being polite with your companion, because it is bad manners to eat from the edge of your companion's portion. Eat from what is near you. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him three recommended practices in one meal. And this is among the blessings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that Allah placed in him a blessing; he teaches in every opportunity. And thus it is prescribed for the student of knowledge and other than the student of knowledge, everyone who knows a recommended practice should clarify it in every opportunity. Do not say, "I am not a scholar." Yes, you are not a scholar, but you have knowledge. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: One should seize the opportunity in such matters whenever the opportunity arises to spread the recommended practice, so spread it, and you will have its reward and the reward of whoever acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection. And Allah grants success.