II. 10

On Eating and Drinking

There are eighteen principles to be observed at mealtime; washing one’s hands before the meal; washing and drying one’s hands after the meal; the head of the house beginning eating before any of his guests and finishing after them; he must wash his hands before the meal ahead of the others, and be followed by the person who sits at his right, and then the next, and so on, until reaching the one seated at his left; beginning the meal by invoking the name of Allah; but if several courses are served, it is recommended that this be repeated before each course; taking with one’s right hand; eating with three fingers, leaving the other two free; taking small quantities of food in each mouthful; stretching the meal out as long as possible; chewing one’s food at length; praising Allah at the end of the meal; licking one’s fingers; cleaning one’s teeth after the meal with a toothpick, which must not be made of pomegranate wood, basil wood, reed, or palm leaves; gathering up the remains of the meal in order to eat them later, but if the meal is eaten in the desert it is better to leave such remains for the birds and animals; eating at the beginning of the day and at nightfall, and abstaining therefrom during the day and during the night; resting on one’s back after eating, and putting the right leg over the left; taking salt at the beginning and the end of the meal; washing all fruit before it.

There are eleven things to be avoided during meals; eating when one is not hungry; eating too much, which is frowned upon by the Almighty; watching others while eating; eating things that are too hot; blowing on a dish or into a glass to cool the food or drink; starting to eat as soon as the the bread has been put on the table; cutting bread with a knife; putting bread under one’s plate; cleaning a meat bone so there is nothing left on it; peeling fruit; throwing away half-eaten fruit.

There are six principles to be observed while drinking water: sucking it up rather than gulping it down; drinking upright invoking the name of Allah before and after drinking; drinking in three steps; drinking of one’s own free will; recalling the martyrdom of Hazrat Abu Abdullah and his family, and cursing their murderers, after drinking.

There are five things to be avoided during the absorption of water: drinking to excess; drinking after a heavy meal; drinking standing up during the night; taking the water jug in one’s left hand; drinking from a place where the jug is chipped or broken or at the location of the handle.

Among the organs of fowl, game, domestic animals, fish, and so on whose flesh of you are permitted to eat, there are fifteen which are proscribed: blood; excrement; the penis; the vagina; the uterus; the glands; the testicles; the central part of the brain; the little chickpea-shaped ball at the back side of the brain; the nerves located on either side of the spinal column; the gallbladder; the liver; the bladder; the eye; matter accumulated under the claws.

It is forbidden to consume the excrement of animals or their nasal secretions. But if such are mixed in minute proportions into other foods their consumption is not forbidden.

The meat of horses, mules, or donkeys is not recommended. It is strictly forbidden if the animal was sodomized while alive by a man. In that case, the animal must be taken outside the city and sold.

If one commits an act of sodomy with a cow, a ewe, or a camel, their urine and their excrements become impure, and even their milk may no longer be consumed. The animal must then be killed as quickly as possible and burned, and the price of it paid to its owner by him who sodomized it.

Drinking wine or alcoholic beverages is a mortal sin, and is strictly forbidden. Whoever consumes an alcoholic beverage retains only a part of his soul, that part of it which is deformed and nasty; he is damned by Allah, His archangels, His prophets, and His believers. Such a man’s daily prayers are rejected by Allah for forty days. On the day of the resurrection of the dead, his face will turn black, his tongue will hang out of his mouth, his saliva will run down his chest, and he will remain forever thirsty.