KHUTAB IV: 7. SHAYKH AL-GHAZĀLĪ ON EATING ETIQUETTE

7. SHAYKH AL-GHAZĀLĪ ON EATING ETIQUETTE

(ANUMA, 25 JULY 2008)

Shaykh Muḥammad al-Ghazālī -- not al-Imām al-Ghazālī who died in 111 CE)--, like Shaykh Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī and Shaykh Muḥammad Abū Zahrah, was one of the prominent Egyptian Muslim scholars and prolific writers of the last 20^th century. One of his books is entitled al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah bayna Ahl al-Fiq wa Ahl al-Ḥadīth (The Prophetic Tradition between Experts on Fiqh and Experts on Ḥadīths). It was first published in January 1989, and in the same year it was published seven times, indicating the popularity of the book.

In his introduction on the book he said that a man asked him what he would do in Asyut if he was confronted with a group of singers wanting to conduct a morally depraved night (لَيْلَةٌ خَلِيْعَةٌ). His answer:

“I shall go to the leader of the orchestra and tell him, ‘We want to listen to special songs and melodies; are you going to do that?’ If he asked, ‘What do you want?’ I would tell him to sing,

أَخِيْ جَاوَزَ الظَّالِمُوْنَ اْلمَدَى   *   فَحَقَّ الْجِهَادُ وَحَقَّ الْفِدَا

My brother, the despots have transgressed the limit,

 and it is necessary (for us) to struggle and sacrifice

or the song,

يَا ظَالِمُ لَكَ يَوْمٌ

O transgressor, you have your day.

‘But if you sing for us

لَيْلُ خَمْرٍ[1]

The Night of Wine

we shall shut your mouth and fill it with dust.’”

          Shaykh al-Ghazālī says further:

“Our brothers are being massacred in many fields, and we do not welcome any intoxication and drunkenness, while the fighting mujahidin around us we are pretending to sleep. We hate foolish arts and ban jesters who spread effeminacy and weakness among people…. Indeed, players (actors) are living in slough, as they themselves made starring roles that Islam is against art. We are the one who defend comedies from allegation of indictment, whereas they with their cheap arts worth nothing. Things have become even worse when it is said to the young innocent man: ‘We do not want the opinions of people [i.e. scholars], nor the schools of law of the imams. We want to take directly from the Qur’an and the Sunnah.’ [What they mean is that they do not want to follow any madhhab].

          “I hate school of law fanaticism (التَّقْلِيْدُ اْلمَذْهَبِي) which I consider lacks understanding, and could be a bad attitude, but this fanaticism towards a certain school of law is less harmful than the childish ijtihād in understanding the proofs (الأَدِلَّة).” (p. 14)

Shaykh al-Ghazālī was amazed that this book was published five times in five months, that in the introduction of the sixth publishing he advised the readers, especially scholars among them, to consider the following:

a.     increasingly pondering the verses of the Qur’ān

b. strengthening the relationship between the Ḥadīths and the direct and indirect evidences from the Qur’an, without which comprehensive and extensive study of Islam would not be achieved. (p. 9)

Speaking about eating etiquette Shaykh al-Ghazālī said that there are عَادَات (habits, customs), and being accustomed to them it feels strange to leave them, and there are certain عِبَادَات (religious observances, acts of worship) where they become very attached to them, so that they consider them as religious obligation, whereas religious observances are only from Allah.  Then Shaykh al-Ghazālī mentioned an Indian scholar who taught about Islamic etiquette in eating, and found out that the man had mixed customs with religious observances, and attacked Western etiquette in eating by advocating the Arabian etiquette, waging a war which has nothing to do with Islam. In his teaching he said that the food has to be put on the floor rather than on the table, and the eater has to sit cross-legs, on a leg (thigh), or sitting on two thighs, and he should never eat while resting upon a chair. Moreover eating has to be preceded by niyyah (intention), that the purpose of eating is to obtain strength in obeying Allah, not to fulfil one’s appetite. In addition, eating has to be together in one plate, and the name of Allah has to be mentioned before starting the meal.

Shaykh al-Ghazālī’s comment on these teachings is that most of them are far from being right, as eating is permissible either on the floor or at the table, and it is permissible to sit on the chair while eating, and one should please one’s Lord for the meal when he has satisfied his appetite with it. He can eat alone in one plate or together with others in one plate. It is truly necessary to mention the name of Allah before eating, as the Prophet s.a.w. said,

 سَمِّ اللَّهَ وَكُلْ بِيَمِينِكَ وَكُلْ مِمَّا يَلِيكَ (رواه البخاري و مسلم)

Mention the name of Allah, eat with your

 right hand,and eat what is near to you.

(Reported byBukhari and Muslim)

 There are many traditions concerning the etiquette of eating, some are sound, others are rejected and are the customs of the Arabs. The opinion that it is prohibited to use a knife in having meal has no basis at all. Abū Dā’ūd reported on the authority of ‘Ā’ishah, that the Prophet s.a.w. said,

 لَا تَقْطَعُوا اللَّحْمَ بِالسِّكِّينِ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْ صَنِيعِ الْأَعَاجِمِ وَانْهَسُوهُ فَإِنَّهُ أَهْنَأُ وَأَمْرَأُ

 Do not cut meat with a knife, for it is the

work of non-Arabs, so bite it, for it is more

enjoyable and more palatable.

This ḥadīth, according to Shaykh al-Ghazālī, is baseless, as it was reported in the collection of sound ḥadīths that the Prophet s.a.w. used a knife in cutting meat while eating, whereas the sanad (chains of transmitters) in the ḥadīth prohibiting the cutting of meat with a knife while eating was reported by Abū Dā’ūd and is rejected.[2] There has never been any injunction to eat on the floor, nor prohibition from eating at a table. Whenever Islamic law is silent on a topic, toleration should prevail, and no injunction or prohibition should apply. The Prophet s.a.w. himself led a harsh and not luxurious life, and yet, he did not prohibit what is ḥalāl (lawful), and was not strict to what is flexible. Abū Ḥāzim asked one day Sahl ibn Sa‘d,

“Did ever the Prophet eat pure bread, of grains without skin?” He answered,

“The Prophet had never tasted pure bread since he was appointed a prophet till he passed away.”

“Didn’t you have any sieve?” Abū Ḥāzim asked again.

“The Prophet had not seen any sieve since he was appointed as a prophet till he passed away,” answered Sahl.

“How, then, did you eat barley without being sieved out?,” asked Abū Ḥāzim.

“We ground it, blew it, the skin flew out, and what was left we ate it,” answered Sahl.

  At that time people were not used to eat pure bread. Later on, people became adept at making pure bread without any inconvenience. Allah said,

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا (البقرة ٢ : ١٦٨)

 O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful

And good on the earth…  (Q. 2:168)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ (البقرة ٢ : ١٧٢)  

 O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things

 That We have provided You with, and be

grateful to Allah … (Q. 2:172)

 Abū Dā’ūd reported on the authority of Waḥshī ibn Ḥarb that the Prophet’s companions said to the Prophet: “O Messenger of Allah, we do not feel full when we eat.” He said, “You might have eaten separately.” They said, “yes”, and the Prophet said, “Then gather together in your meal, and remember Allah’s name on it, so that Allah will bless you with it.” 

We see here in this ḥadīth that the motive is generosity, paying hospitality to the poor, and overcoming the crisis that may occur, and it is not allowed to let the poor starve to death. The ḥadīth does not mean that it is prohibited to eat except in one plate. Allah said,

لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَنْ تَأْكُلُوا جَمِيعًا أَوْ أَشْتَاتًا (النور : ٦١)

 … No sin on you whether you eat

 together or apart…  (Q. 24:61)

Therefore, there will be no harm to put the meal of every poor person in a plate.

          Among the principles of purity and cleanness is eating with one’s right hand, as Islam makes left hand for removing dirt, as it is not a nice way to touch one’s private part and then touch one’s mouth with the same hand. Whether a person eats with his bare right hand or with a spoon, there is no restriction. The Arabs are accustomed to eat with their hands as it is their tradition, and there will be no wonder if they licked their fingers. But making this habit a religious practice for which there is no basis, and putting more food on one’s plate than one needs, so that there would be much left over to be thrown into the rubbish bin, this is a reprehensible practice. It is strange enough to see Western people leave their plates almost clean, whereas the Arabs leave on their plates piles of rubbish which pleases Satan for their wastefulness. [This was what al-Shaykh al-Ghazālī noticed, while nowadays, in almost any restaurant in the West and East people leave piles of leftover in their plates, while people in other parts of the world are starving].

          Nowadays Muslim delegations go to Europe and America, and they can distinguish themselves in their eating etiquette, in avoiding prohibited food, and in mentioning the name of Allah. As regard to sitting inevitably on the floor, avoiding the use of spoons, unsightly licking of fingers etc., this fastidiousness is harmful to Islam and its message, invoking wicked rumours. At the end of his essay Shaykh al-Ghazālī, asked the following rhetorical question:

فَهَلْ أَمْسَتِ  الدَّعْوَةُ إِلَى التَّوْحِيْدِ دَعْوَةً إِلىَ نَمَطٍ مِنْ سُلُوْكِ الْعَرَبِ اْلأَوَائِلِ

 حَتَّى فِىْ أَيَّامِ جَاهِلِيَّتِهِمْ؟ إنَّ هَذَا السُّلُوْكَ الْبِدَائِيَّ صَدٌّ عَنْ سَبِيْلِ الله...

“Has the call to tawḥīd (the Oneness of Allah) become a call to a manner derived from the behaviour of the early Arabs, even in the days of their ignorance?” And Shaykh al-Ghazālī answered himself, saying, “Indeed, this primitive behaviour is an obstruction from the path of Allah.” (p. 105)  

Bibliography:

Shaykh Muḥammad al-Ghazālī, Al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah bayna Ahl al-Fiqh wa Ahl Ḥadīths (The Prophetic Tradition between Experts on Fiqh and Experts on Ḥadīths). 10^th Edition. Cairo: Dar al-Shuruq, 1992.

The Noble Qur’an. Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia.

 

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[1] The word لَيْل which is usually masculine gender (pl. لَيَالِي) means “night time, night” as opposed to نَهَار (plu. أََنْهُر and نُهُر “daytime (from dawn to dusk)”, as in the poem مَنْ طَلَبَ اْلُعلَا سَهِرَ اللَّيَالِي   meaning “whoever seeks glory has to stay up at night [to study]”.   The word لَيْلَة  (pl. لَيَالٍ  and لَيَائِل) means night  as  opposed to  يَوْم  (pl.  أَيَّام) “day (of 24 hours), evening, soiree”.

[2] After citing this ḥadīth Abū Dā’ūd was reported to have said that it is not strong  قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُد وَلَيْسَ هُوَ بِالْقَوِيِّ)), Sunan Abū Dā’ūd, vol. 10, p. 234.