 tradition a man comes to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa alaihi s'ala rajulun Rasulullah fa qale ya Rasulullah inna anakul walan ashbaa ya Rasulullah we eat but we're never satiated have you seen some people they're always hungry subhanAllah they're always hungry we eat and this is assuming there's no medical issue we eat but we're never satiated we're always hungry look at what the Prophet says sometimes these things are spiritual problems and not physiological problems the Prophet says la'allakum taftariquna an pa'amikum fajtami'u alaihi the Prophet says it seems that you do not eat together everyone eats by themselves and this is one of the calamities of our time people are under one roof it's one family the husband is eating by himself the wife is eating in the kitchen by herself all of the kids have their own food and they're eating alone and they're watching their iPhones and their iPads the whole family is dispersed the Prophet says come together and eat together and he says wa dhku rasmallahi alaihi and say Bismillah eat together eat in congregation eat as a family and say Bismillah yubarak la'kum fi Allah will put baraka in your food it will nourish you there will be baraka in your food if we did this and another hadith one last hadith relating to the importance of saying Bismillah there's a hadith from the Prophet that says if you eat halal it's not that Allah is just not going to punish you Allah rewards you for eating halal we think that if I eat haram Allah will punish me but if I eat halal there's no punishment it's not that there's no punishment there is a reward the hadith says the Prophet says the one who eats halal and says Bismillah an angel stands above his head and asks Allah to forgive that person until they finish eating you earn the dua of melaika when you eat halal and when you mention and you invoke the name of Allah there's another hadith from the Prophet where he says and this is something that we should try to implement a meal that combines the following four characteristics is a perfect meal in the eyes of Allah we want to make sure that we eat in a way that is pleasing to Allah number one we said there are four ensure that what you are eating is halal number two Allah loves a meal where there are multiple hands stretched over it meaning people are eating together number three is a meal where you begin by saying Bismillah and you end the meal by saying if you do these four Allah will put barakah in that meal and this is this is a perfect meal there is a a hadith from Imam and we'll conclude because tonight is the night of the Imam he says there are 12 manners that we should observe when we have a meal 12 every Muslim should know these manners four of them are farth they are obligatory obligatory doesn't mean wajib these are very important akhlaqi teachings they are very important ethical practices four of them are the prophetic tradition and four are related to etiquette the Imam says ask for the necessary manners the four that are the most important is first you should know that this food is a nima of Allah that it comes from Allah you need to recognize the source of this blessing and when you eat that's why it's recommended to sit humbly when you eat food because food is a great nima you should treat it with sanctity number two be content don't complain that I don't like this food why didn't you make something else this is bad manners brothers and sisters Imam al-Mujtaba he says be content there are almost one billion people in the world today that are under nourished don't whine that this is chicken and I wanted beef or this is pizza and I wanted sushi this is shameful if this is how we speak be content wa tasmia say Bismillah and end by saying Alhamdulillah express gratitude so these are four the four that are sunnah that are the prophetic legacy is do wudu before you eat you may ask I thought wudu is for salah remember that you're an abd of Allah everything that you do is sacred everything that you do is for Allah so be in a state of tahara wa l-joulous ala l-janab al-aisar it's recommended to sit on the ground on the floor and when you sit put your weight on your left side this might be a health tip and then the Imam says wa l-aklu bithalati asab now again today we have silverware but it's mustahab to eat with your hands and to eat with three fingers wa l-aklu al-asab the prophet when he would eat he used to lick his fingers Imam al-Baqir explains he says because Rasulullah did not even want to waste the residue of the food some of us we throw a lot of food away, Rasulullah doesn't even want to waste the particles that are on his fingers and the final four that are etiquette is what wa l-aklu mimma yaleek if you're sitting at a table Imam al-Mustabah says eat from the food that is close to you don't do acrobatics and try to extend and grab what's on the other side it's akhlaq to eat what is close to you wa tasgheera l-uqma don't put large morsels of food in your mouth, small bites they are more dignified you're not chewing too much food wa tajreedul madhuk chew your food well wa qillatun n'adhar fi wujuhin naas and do not look at people while they are eating this is the adab that the Ahlu al-Bayt have taught us with respect to food