The Law of Leaving Food in Islam
When eating, we should finish our food and not leave food on the plate, even if it is only a grain. Leaving food and throwing it away is a despicable act in Islam because it is an act of wasting wealth and Allah’s blessings.
In a hadith it is stated that Allah hates three things, namely false news or gossip, wasting wealth or food, and asking a lot. This hadith was narrated by Imam Al-Bukhari and Muslim, from Mughirah bin Shu’bah. The following is the hadith:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَرِهَ لَكُمْ ثَلاَثًا قِيلَ وَقَالَ ، وَإِضَاعَةَ الْمَالِ ، وَكَثْرَةَ السُّؤَالِ
Verily Allah hates you for three things; Fake news or gossip, wasting money, and asking too much.
Even when we eat and there is one or more food grains that fall, then we are encouraged to pick it up and eat it. This is because it could be that the food that fell is a food that contains blessings.
This is as stated in the hadith narrated by Imam Muslim from Jabir bin Abdillah, he said;
سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ :إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَحْضُرُ أَحَدَكُمْ عِنْدَ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ مِنْ شَأْنِهِ حَتَّى يَحْضُرَهُ عِنْدَ طَعَامِهِ فَإِذَا سَقَطَتْ مِنْ أَحَدِكُمُ اللُّقْمَةُ فَلْيُمِطْ مَا كَانَ بِهَا مِنْ أَذًى ثُمَّ لْيَأْكُلْهَا وَلاَ يَدَعْهَا لِلشَّيْطَانِ فَإِذَا فَرَغَ فَلْيَلْعَقْ أَصَابِعَهُ فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَدْرِي فِي أَىِّ طَعَامِهِ تَكُونُ الْبَرَكَةُ
I once heard the Prophet (saw) say; ‘Verily, Satan accompanies one of you in everything until he accompanies you when you eat. Therefore, if a bite of food from one of you falls, take it back and throw away the dirty part and eat the clean part. When you have finished eating, you should lick your fingers. Because he doesn’t know which food brings blessings.
Therefore, leaving food is a despicable act in Islam. If we want to eat, then we should take just enough so that there is no food left.
