Virtues and Manners

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah is pleased with one who eats some food and praises Him for it, or drinks some drink and praises Him for it."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Verily, a believer can attain, by his good manners, the rank of one who fasts and prays often."

Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, among the most beloved to me and the closest of you to me in position on the Day of Judgment are those of you who have the best morals, and, indeed, the most hated of you to me and the farthest from me in position on the Day of Judgment are the talkative, the pompous, and the Mutafayhiqūn." They said: O Messenger of Allah, we know the talkative and the pompous, but who are the Mutafayhiqūn? He said: "The arrogant."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was neither obscene, nor would he use obscene language, and he used to say: "Verily, the best of you are those who have the best manners."

Abu Umāmah al-Bāhili (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I guarantee a house on the outskirts of Paradise for the one who refrains from arguing even if he is right, and a house in the middle of Paradise for the one who refrains from lying even if he is joking, and a house in the highest part of Paradise for the one who perfects his manners."

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: A man asked the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): Which deed in Islam is the best? He said: "Feeding people and extending the greeting of peace to those you know and those you do not know."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “If one of you is invited to a wedding banquet, he should attend.”

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "The worst food is the food of a wedding banquet to which the rich are invited while the poor are left out. Anyone who does not answer the invitation has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him)."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If anyone of you is invited, let him answer the invitation. If he is fasting, let him supplicate (for the inviter); if he is not fasting, let him eat."

Abu Juhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I was with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) when he said to a man there: "I do not eat while reclining on my side."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about the foremost deed that leads people to Paradise, and he replied: "Fear of Allah and good character." Then, he was asked about the most things that lead people into Hellfire, and he said: "The tongue and the private parts."

‘Umar ibn Abi Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I was a young boy under the care of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and my hand used to wander all over the platter (of food). The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said, "O boy, mention Allah's name, eat with your right hand, and eat from what is nearer to you." Since then, I have been eating that way.

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Blessing descends in the middle of the food. So eat from the sides, and do not eat from the middle."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If anyone of you eats, let him eat with his right hand, and if he drinks, let him drink with his right hand, for indeed the devil eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand."

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade breathing into the pot or blowing into it.

‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to ask in his final illness: "Where will I be tomorrow? Where will I be tomorrow?" He was looking forward to ‘Ā'ishah's turn [to stay with her]. So, his wives allowed him to stay wherever he wished. He stayed at ‘Ā'ishah's house till he died there. ‘Ā'ishah added: "He died on the day of my turn in my house, and he was taken unto Allah while his head was between my chest and neck, and his saliva mixed with mine." ‘Ā'ishah then said: "‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Abu Bakr came in carrying a tooth-stick that he was cleaning his teeth with. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) looked at it, so I said to him: 'O ‘Abdur-Rahmān, give me this tooth-stick.' He gave it to me and I cut it, chewed it (its end) and gave it to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) who cleaned his teeth with it while he was resting against my chest.”

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Successful is the one who embraces Islam, is provided with mere subsistence, and Allah makes him content with what He has given him."

Bahz ibn Hakīm reported from his father from his grandfather that he said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, to whom should I be dutiful? he said: "Your mother, then your mother, then your mother, then your father, then the next in nearness and so on."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When your servant brings you your food, if you do not ask him to join you, then (at least) give him a bite or two, or a mouthful or two, for he was in charge of preparing it.”

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A woman was tormented because of a cat which she had kept locked up until it died, and she was thrown into Hell for that. She neither gave it food or drink when she locked it up nor freed it so that it would eat from the vermin of the earth."