بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
If I was introducing the Quran, I have to look at myself first and say, "Am I a credible presenter of the Quran? Do I embody at least some of the things that the Quran tries to teach us?" This is because the Quran can be a proof for you or a proof against you. There will be people who recite the Quran and they are actually reciting against themselves, not for themselves. The meaning here is that they are not living up to what the Quran is asking them, what Allah wants them to do. The biggest detested thing to Allah is to say what you do not do.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ ﴿٢﴾كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُوا۟ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ ﴿٣﴾
O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? (2) Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do. (3)
[Quran, As-Saff 61:2-3]
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Praise be to Allah.
The Prophet’s guidance with regard to food is perfect guidance. It was described by Ibn al-Qayyim as follows:
When he put his hand in the food, he would say, “Bismillaah (in the Name of Allah), and he told people to say this when eating. He said, “When any one of you eats, let him mention the name of Allah. If he forgets to mention the name of Allah at the beginning, let him say Bismillaahi fi awwalihi wa aakhirihi (in the name of Allah at its beginning and at its end).” Saheeh hadeeth, narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1859) and Abu Dawood (3767).
The correct view is that it is obligatory to mention the name of Allah (say Bismillaah) when eating. The ahaadeeth which state this are saheeh and are clear, with no contradictions in them.
When he raised the food to his mouth, he would say, “Al-hamdu Lillaahi hamdan katheeran tayyiban mubaarakan fihi ghayri makfiyyin wa laa muwadda’ wa laa mustaghni ‘anhu Rabbanaa ‘azza wa jall (Allah be praised with an abundant, beautiful, blessed praise. He is the One Who is Sufficient, Who feeds and is never fed, The One Who is longed for, along with that which is with Him, and the One Who is needed. He is Our Lord, may He be glorified). Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5142).
He never criticized food at all. If he liked it, he would eat it, and if he did not like it, he would leave it and not say anything. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3370) and Muslim (2064).
Or he would say, “I do not feel like eating this.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5076) and Muslim (1946).
Sometimes he would praise the food, as when he asked his family for food, and they said, “We have nothing but vinegar.” He asked for it and started to eat it, saying, “What a good food is vinegar.” Narrated by Muslim (2052)
He used to talk whilst he was eating, as is seen from the report quoted above about vinegar.
And he said to his step-son ‘Umar ibn Abi Salamah when he was eating with him: “Say Bismillaah and eat from that which is in front of you in the dish*.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5061) and Muslim (2022). [* At the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), people used to eat together from one dish, and children would sometimes forget the correct etiquette. - Translator]
He would repeatedly urge his guests to eat, as generous hosts do, and as is seen in the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah, narrated by al-Bukhaari, about the story of drinking milk, where he repeatedly said to him, “Drink!” and he kept telling him to drink until he (the guest) said, “By the One Who sent you with the truth, I have no more room for it!” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6087).
When he ate with others, he would not leave until he had made du’aa’ for them. He made du’aa in the house of ‘Abd-Allah ibn Bisr, and said: “O Allah, bless for them that which You have provided for them, forgive them and have mercy on them.” Narrated by Muslim (2042).
He commanded people to eat with their right hands and forbade them to eat with their left hands. He said, “The Shaytaan eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand.” Narrated by Muslim (2020). This implies that eating with the left hand is haraam, and this is the correct view, because the one who eats with his left hand is either a shaytaan (a devil), or he is imitating the Shaytaan.
It was also reported in a saheeh hadeeth that he told a man who was eating with his left hand in his presence, “Eat with your right hand!” The man said, “I cannot.” He said, “May you never be able to!” – and the man never lifted his right hand to his mouth after that. Narrated by Muslim (2021). If it was permissible (to eat with the left hand), he would not have prayed against him for doing so. It was the man’s stubborn arrogance that made him refuse to obey the command, and this is the utmost disobedience which deserved this prayer against him.
He commanded those who complained that they never felt full to eat together and not separately, and to mention the name of Allah (say Bismillaah) over the food so that He might bless it for them.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (3764) and Ibn Maajah (3286).
(See Zaad al-Ma’aad, 2/397-406)
It was also reported that he said, “I do not eat reclining.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5083.
He used to eat using the first three fingers (of his right hand), which is the best way of eating.
See: Zaad al-Ma’aad, 220-222. And Allah knows best.
The Prophet’s guidance regarding diet:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to know what he was eating.
He used to eat what was good for him.
He used to eat enough to keep him going, but no so much as to make him fat. Ibn ‘Umar narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The believer eats in one stomach whilst the kaafir eats in seven.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5081) and Muslim (2060).
He taught his ummah something to protect them from diseases caused by eating and drinking. He said: “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink and one third with air.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1381), Ibn Maajah (3349); classed as saheeh by al-Albani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (2265).
And Allah knows best.
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https://islamqa.info/en/answers/6503/eating-habits-and-diet-of-the-prophet-peace-and-blessings-of-allah-be-upon-him
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Our Scholars have often stated that consistency (istiqamah) is better than a thousand miracles because we can really achieve absolutely anything with istiqamah. There are several factors affecting istiqamah. Most important is Tawfiq from Allah, which is Allah enables you to maintain consistency. It's not something that anyone can attain but it's a privilege and blessing that Allah bestows upon us. Therefore, it is important that we turn to Allah and pray for istiqamah.
The steps for istiqamah:
1. Turn to Allah and ask Allah for consistency. One way to do that is reciting Surah alFatiha that we read in our daily prayers. In it we ask Allah to “Guide us to the straight path.” ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ The straight path (mustaqeem) is from the same root as istiqamah. So to maintain uprightness and righteousness and to be upright consistently is essentially what istiqamah is.
The Prophet (ﷺ) has various supplications also to indicate that istiqamah was an objective that he (ﷺ) strove. There are various forms that we could employ and turn to Allah. For example:
Allahumma ahiT-Thana bittaqwa wal istiqaamah
“O Allah Encompass us, engulf us in Allah Consciousness and in consistency.”
This too can be espoused from the hadiths and Quran:
وَٱصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَدَوٰةِ وَٱلْعَشِىِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُۥ وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُۥ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُۥ فُرُطًا
“And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect. [Quran, Al Kahf 18:28]
The Prophet (ﷺ) has the practice in month of Ramadhan in which he spent a big portion of his time in the company of angel Jibril (peace be upon him) to study and read the Quran together. He was impacted by the company and he became more benevolence and more generous during this time
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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Narrated Muhammad bin Ka'b Al-Qurazi:
"I heard 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud saying: 'The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "[Whoever recites a letter] from Allah's Book, then he receives the reward from it, and the reward of ten the like of it. I do not say that Alif Laam Meem is a letter, but Alif is a letter, Laam is a letter and Meem is a letter." [At-Tirmidhi]
There is a reward for every single letter that you recite of the Quran even if you don’t know what you are saying. Obviously the point of the Quran is to read it, reflect and act upon it but even if you don't do that there, there's a tremendous benefit in our spiritual and our religious life to just be able to sit down and read the Quran. But it means you need to learn Arabic itself. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to read something in the original Arabic and understand what the text is about as opposed to reading some translation, which may not be completely accurate.
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