Mentioning the name of Allah and Tahmid (All Praise Belongs to Allah) over the Food

“Abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this Hadith. ‘The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, “When the table is spread four thousand angels surround it and when a servant of Allah says, ‘In the name of Allah’ the angels say, ‘May Allah grant you blessings in your food.’ Then they (angels) say to Satan, ‘Move away, O disobedient, you have no authority over them.’ When they complete eating their food and say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah’ the angels say, ‘They are a people to whom Allah has granted blessings and they have expressed their thanks to their Lord.’ If they do not mention the name of Allah, the angels say to Satan, ‘Come close, O disobedient and eat with them.’ When the table is removed and if they did not mention the name of Allah on it the angels say, ‘They are a people to whom Allah has granted favors but they forgot their Lord, most Majestic, most Glorious.”””

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘When the table is prepared say, ‘In the name of Allah.’ When your eating is complete say, ‘In the name of Allah at its beginning and at its end.’ When it is removed say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Once the brother of my father (a.s.), ‘Abd Allah ibn Ali came to ask permission for ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd, Wasil and Bashir al-Rahhahl and he granted them permission. They sat down. He (the Imam) said, ‘For everything there is a limit where it ends.’ They brought food and it was made available. They said to each other, ‘We have achieved the chance we wanted.’ They said, ‘O abu Ja’far, is this table of food something?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, that is true.’ They asked, ‘What are its limits?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Of its limits is that when it is made ready one must say, ‘In the name of Allah’, and when it is taken away one must say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah,’ that every human being must eat from what is nearest to him, and must not take from what is before the others.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘When food for lunch or dinner is made ready, say, ‘In the name of Allah,’ because Satan, may Allah condemn him says to his friends, ‘Go out there is no dinner here or a place to spend the night.’ When one forgets saying, ‘In the name of Allah’, Satan says to his friends, ‘Come; there is dinner and a place here for you to spend the night.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘One who eats food must mention the name of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious on it; but if one forgets and remembers later, Satan, may Allah condemn him, throws up what he has eaten and one feels as if the food is not sufficient.’”

“He (the Imam) (a.s.), has said, ’One who mentions the name of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, on food, he will never be asked any questions about that blessing.’”

“Abu ’Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ’When a Muslim man wants to eat food and extends his hand saying, ’In the name of Allah’ and ‘All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds’ Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, forgives him before a morsel reaches his mouth.’”

O Lord, You are free of all defects, how good is Your trial for us. O Lord, You are free of all defects, and how great is what You have granted us, O Lord, You are free of all defects, how often it is that You give us good health, O Lord, expand our sustenance and for the poor believers, male and female and Muslims.’”

“I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘When the table of food is made available and a man among them says, ’In the name of Allah’, it is sufficient for all of them.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this Hadith. ‘The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, when eating food with a family would say to them, “Fasting people have received food with you, virtuous people have eaten food with you and chosen angels have prayed for you.’””

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘When you eat food say, ‘In the name of Allah’ at its beginning and at its end’; when a servant says it before he eats, Satan cannot eat with him; but if he did not mention the name of Allah, Satan eats with him. If he then says, ‘In the name of Allah’ after he begins and Satan had been eating with him, Satan then throws up what he had eaten.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that Ali ibn al-Husayn, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, when finding food placed before him said, ‘O Lord, this is from You, from Your favor, generosity and gift. Make it a blessing for us and make it delicious for us, grant us favors in future when we finish it. Many are those who need it and You have made it available for them. O Lord, make us of those who appreciate favors.’ When the table had been taken away he (the Imam) said, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, who moves us on land and in the sea, has granted us fine sustenance and has given us preference over many of His creatures, a good preference.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘Mention the name of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, on food and when you complete eating say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah who feeds and is not fed.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘One who mentions the name of Allah on food or drink at the beginning and ‘All praise belongs to Allah’ at the end, he will never be asked about the blessings of the food.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this Hadith. ‘The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, when the table was moved would say, “O Lord, you have granted a great deal, have made it very good, blessed it, made us satisfied and quenched. All praise belongs to Allah who feeds and is not fed.’””

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this Hadith. ‘My father would say, “All praise belongs to Allah who has made us satisfied with food among the hungry ones, quenched our thirst among the thirsty people. He has given us shelter among the homeless ones, given us means of transport among those who move without means of transportation, has granted us safety among the frightened ones and has serviced us among the toiling ones.’”

“I ate food with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and I do not know how many times he (the Imam) said, ‘All praise belongs to Allah who has made me to have the appetite for food.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin guaranteed those who mention the name of Allah on food that it will not harm them. Ibn al-Kawwa, said to ’Amir al-Mu’minin, ‘O ’Amir al-Mu’minin last night I ate a meal and I mentioned the name of Allah on it but it has given me trouble.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Perhaps you ate several kinds. On certain ones of them you mentioned the name of Allah and not on others, O Luka ’ (suffering from weak understanding).”’

“I once complained before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the trouble I face from food. He (the Imam) said, ‘You may have eaten without mentioning the name of Allah.’ I said, ‘I had mentioned the name of Allah but it gives me trouble.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘When you discontinue mentioning the name of Allah by speaking, then return to eat, do you mention the name of Allah?’ I replied, ‘No, I do not do so.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘This is why it gives you trouble. Were you to return to eating if you mention the name of Allah, it would not harm you.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about how I should mention the name of Allah on food. He (the Imam) said, ‘If the dishes are more than one, then you should mention the name of Allah on each one.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if I forget mentioning the name of Allah?’ He (the Imam) told me to say, ‘In the name of Allah at its beginning and at its end.’”

“Once I was with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and it became the time of al-‘Isha’ Salat (prayer). I went to say Iqamah. He (the Imam) said, ‘Sit down, O abu ‘Abd Allah.’ I then sat down until food was made available. He (the Imam) mentioned the name of Allah when food was placed for eating. When he (the Imam) finished he (the Imam) said, ‘All praise belongs to Allah. This is from You and from Muhammad (SAW).’”

“Once we were with abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and he (the Imam) fed us food then we stopped eating and said, ‘All praise belongs to Allah.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), then said, ‘O Lord, this is from You and from Muhammad, Your messenger, O Lord, all praise belongs to you, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this Hadith. ‘’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, “You must mention the name of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, on your food and do not speak nonsense, because it is a bounty of the bounties of Allah, and it is obligatory on those to whom He grants it to thank Him, speak of Him and praise Him.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), commanded to bring meat but it became cold and later it was brought. He (the Imam) said, ‘All praise belongs to Allah who made me to have the appetite for it.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘Bounty in good health is better than the bounty with constraints.”’

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has stated this Hadith. ‘The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, “Allah forgives a family who come together, prepare the table of food, they all mention the name of Allah at the beginning of food and praise Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, at the end of food.’”