Akl (eating: lawful food and manners)

Knowing what is lawful and what is forbidden in food is part of the religion, and the forbidden foods are warned against. ¹ The Qur'an forbids certain things, such as carrion, blood and pork; the Sunna forbids others, such as predators with fangs; the Law is silent on some. ¹ Details are treated in the entry on food (أطعمة).

• Eating is obligatory up to what keeps a person alive, required for standing prayer and obligatory fasts, recommended for earning and learning, permitted up to satiety, and forbidden beyond satiety or where it is known to damage the stomach. ²
• Eating a little beyond satiety is disliked. Some held that one should not eat for pleasure; the sound view is that it is permitted for thanks and for strength in good works. ²

• It is recommended for the one who sacrifices to eat from his sacrifice and give some to others; the jurists agree on this for a sacrifice that was not obligatory. ³
• If the sacrifice became obligatory by vow or by designation, the Malikis and, in the preferred view, the Hanbalis permit eating from it; the Shafi'is forbid it, and the Hanafis distinguish. ³⁴
• If the time of sacrifice passes, the majority slaughter it late; the Hanafis give it away alive. ³⁴
• The aqiqa, sacrificed for a newborn, follows the same rule on eating. ⁴
• In expiation the one who pays may not eat from it. For the recipient, the Shafi'is and the Hanbalis require transfer of ownership; the Malikis take transfer as the norm and some allow a meal if it reaches the due amount; the Hanafis accept enabling them to eat. ⁴⁵
• In a vow the one who vowed may not eat from it, since it is charity; the recipient may eat according to the form of the vow. ⁵¹³

• A guest invited to a wedding feast who is not fasting is recommended to eat; a guest who is fasting voluntarily is recommended to break the fast by the Shafi'is and Hanbalis, to honour the host, while the Hanafis and Malikis accept a prayer for the host. ⁵¹³
• The host should eat with his guest. ¹³

• Before eating: ask what a guest does not know, be quick to eat when served, wash the hands, and say the basmala. ¹³⁶
• During eating: eat with the right hand, from what is nearest, without reclining, equal share among those present, honour the bread, and do not spit. ⁶⁷⁸
• Three fingers is the sunna; more fingers is disliked except from need. ¹⁴
• A fallen morsel is wiped clean and eaten, not left for the devil. ¹⁴
• Food should not be blamed: the Prophet ﷺ ate what he liked and left what he disliked. ⁹
• Using a knife, a spoon or other utensils is allowed. ⁹¹⁰
• After eating: give thanks and pray for the host; rinsing the mouth is recommended. ⁷⁸⁹

• For al-Shafi'i the default is that food is lawful unless God or the Prophet forbade it or the owner forbids it. ¹⁰
• A person in necessity must eat carrion or another's property only enough to keep alive, and a highway robber or a fugitive in sin has no relief until he repents. ¹⁰¹¹
• A passer-by may eat from an orchard that has no wall, after calling out to the owner three times; he may not carry any away. ¹¹¹²
• Views on eating from crops are divided; the safer view is to ask leave. ¹²¹⁵
• Throwing sweets at weddings is disliked by most jurists. ¹⁵