Adab & Akhlāq

Wash the hands, and say Bismillāh.

Eat with the right hand, from what is nearest you.

Never criticise food. If you want it, eat; if not, leave it.

Eat sitting, and do not lean back.

A third for food, a third for drink, a third for breath.

Drink in three breaths, not one draught; do not breathe into the vessel.

Do not eat or drink from vessels of gold or silver.

Sleep in a state of wuḍū.

Dust the bedding three times before lying down.

Lie on the right side, the hand beneath the cheek.

Recite Āyat al-Kursī, the last two verses of al-Baqarah, and the three quls blown into the palms.

Do not lie face down — it is a posture Allah dislikes.

Ask three times; if no answer comes, turn back without offence.

Stand to the side of the door, not before it, and do not look inside.

Say who you are when asked — not merely “it is me.”

Permission is sought even of one’s mother.

Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or keep silent.

To mention your brother with what he would dislike. Asked “and if it is true of him?” — he ﷺ said: if it is true, you have backbitten him; if false, you have slandered him.

Permitted only in: seeking redress before one able to give it, seeking a ruling, warning a Muslim of real harm, naming one who sins openly, and identification where no other means exists.

Carrying words between people to spoil what is between them. “The talebearer will not enter Paradise.” If it reaches you, do not believe it, do not pass it on, and do not think ill of the one reported against.

Also of the tongue: lying, false oaths, mockery, insulting names, arguing for its own sake, and boasting. Jesting is permitted — he ﷺ jested, and said only what was true.

Greet on arriving and on leaving — the first is no more a right than the last.

Sit where the gathering ends; do not make a man rise to take his place.

Two do not converse privately excluding a third — it grieves him.

Give room where you are asked to, and widen the circle.

Do not dominate the talk, and do not interrupt.

A gathering is a trust: what is said in confidence stays in it.

Keep the visit short, sit near the head, ask after them, encourage them, and do not speak of death. Seventy thousand angels ask forgiveness for the one who visits in the morning until evening.

Honour him — a day and a night of generosity, and hospitality for three days. Beyond that it is charity.

A guest should not stay so long as to burden his host.

Bring out what you have without apology or display.

Sneezing: the sneezer says al-ḥamdu lillāh; the hearer replies yarḥamukallāh; the sneezer answers yahdīkumullāhu wa yuṣliḥu bālakum. Answered once, and up to three times; beyond that he is unwell.

Placed beside the worship of Allah Himself. Say to them no word of contempt, do not repel them, and lower to them the wing of humility. Their right stands whether they are believers or not, and continues after death through prayer for them and keeping their ties.

Jibrīl counselled him ﷺ concerning the neighbour until he thought he would make him an heir. He is not a believer whose neighbour is not safe from his harm. Send him from your cooking, and bear his inconvenience.

Lower the gaze. Remove what harms.

Return the greeting. Enjoin good, forbid wrong.

Guide the lost, and help the one who is struggling.

The Muslim upon the Muslim, six: return his greeting, visit him when ill, follow his funeral, accept his invitation, reply to him when he sneezes, and advise him sincerely when he asks.