Question 2028: Is the recommendation to eat the crumbs left inside the tablecloth or what falls outside of it?
Answer
✅ Answer: Please pay attention to the following hadiths:
1 Narrated by Dawud ibn Kathir: I had dinner with Abu Abdillah (Imam al-Sadiq) at nightfall. When he finished his meal, he praised Allah Almighty and said: 'This is my dinner and the dinner of my forefathers.' When the spread was lifted, he gathered what had fallen from it and put it in his mouth.
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 6, p. 300
Dawud ibn Kathir says: I ate dinner with Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) in the evening. When he finished his dinner, he performed the divine praise and said: 'This is my dinner and the dinner of my ancestors.' When the spread (Khuan) was removed, he picked up what had fallen outside the spread and then put it in his mouth!
2 عن الحسن بن معاویة بن وهبٍ عن أبِیه قال: أَکَلْنَا عِنْدَ أَبِی عَبْداللَّهِ فَلَمَّا رُفِعَ الْخِوَانُ لَقَطَ مَا وَقَعَ مِنْهُ فَأَکَلَهُ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَنَا إِنَّهُ یَنْفِی الْفَقْرَ وَ یُکْثِرُ الْوَلَدَ.
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 6, p. 300
Mu'awiya ibn Wahb says: We ate food with Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him). When the spread was removed, he picked up what had fallen from it on the ground and ate it, and said to us: 'Indeed, these (crumbs) repel poverty and increase offspring!'
3 عن عبدالله بن صالح الخثعمی قال: شَکَوْتُ إِلَی أَبِی عَبْداللَّه وَجَعَ الْخَاصِرَةِ فَقَالَ عَلَیْکَ بِمَا یَسْقُطُ مِنْ الْخِوَانِ فَکُلْهُ قَالَ فَفَعَلْتُ ذَلِکَ فَذَهَبَ عَنِّی قَالَ إِبْرَاهِیمُ قَدْ کُنْتُ وَجَدْتُ ذَلِکَ فی الْجَانِبِ الْأَیْمَنِ و الْأَیْسَرِ فَأَخَذْتُ ذَلِکَ فَانْتَفَعْتُ بِهِ.
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 6, p. 300
Abdullah ibn Salih says: I complained of hip bone pain to Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him); the Imam said: 'It is upon you [to eat] what falls outside the spread, so eat it!' He says: I did this and my pain went away!
Ibrahim says: I also had this pain on the right and left sides; I acted upon this and benefited from it!
4 Narrated by Abdullah al-Arjani: I was with Abu Abdillah while he was eating, and I saw him tracking something like a sesame seed of food that had fallen from the spread. I said: 'May I be your ransom! You track this?' He said: 'O Abdullah, this is your sustenance, do not leave it; for indeed, in it is a cure for every disease.'
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 6, p. 301
Abdullah al-Arjani says: I was with Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) while he was eating. I saw him following things the size of a sesame seed that fell outside the spread! I said: 'May I be your ransom! You pursue this?!' He said: 'O Abdullah! This is your sustenance! Do not leave it! Know that indeed in it is a cure for every disease!'
5 عَنِ الرِّضَا عَنْ آبَائِهِ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ الَّذِی یَسْقُطُ مِنَ الْمَائِدَةِ مُهُورُ الْحُورِ الْعِینِ.
📚 'Uyun Akhbar al-Rida, Vol. 2, p. 34
Imam al-Rida (peace be upon him) narrated from his ancestors that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) said: 'What falls outside the spread is the dowry of the Houris (Huri al-Ayn)!'
6 عَنِ النَّوْفَلِیِّ بِإِسْنَادِهِ قال: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ مَنْ تَتَبَّعَ مَا یَقَعُ مِنْ مَائِدَتِهِ فَأَکَلَهُ ذَهَبَ عَنْهُ الْفَقْرُ و عَنْ وُلْدِهِ وَ وُلْدِ وُلْدِهِ إِلَی السَّابِع
📚 Al-Mahasin, p. 444
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) said: 'Whoever pursues what falls outside the spread and eats it, poverty will leave him, his children, and his children's children up to seven generations!'
7 عن أَبِی بَصِیرٍ عَنْ أَبِی عَبْداللَّه قَالَ قال أَمِیرُالْمُؤْمِنِین کُلُوا مَا یَسْقُطُ مِنَ الْخِوَانِ فَإِنَّهُ شِفَاءٌ مِنْ کُلِّ دَاءٍ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ عَزَّوَجَلَّ لِمَنْ أَرَادَ أَنْ یَسْتَشْفِیَ بِهِ.
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 6, p. 299
Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) said: 'Eat what falls outside the spread, for by the permission of Allah Almighty, it is a cure for every disease for whoever seeks healing from it!'
8 عن معمر بن خلاد قال سمعت أباالحسن یقول مَنْ أَکَلَ فِی مَنْزِلِهِ طَعَاماً فَسَقَطَ مِنْهُ شَیْءٌ فَلْیَتَنَاوَلْهُ وَ مَنْ أَکَلَ فِی الصَّحْرَاءِ أَوْ خَارِجاً فَلْیَتْرُکْهُ لِلطَّیْرِ وَ السَّبُع
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 6, p. 300
Mu'ammar ibn Khallad says: I heard Imam al-Kazim (peace be upon him) saying: 'Whoever eats food in his home and something falls on the ground, let him pick it up and eat it; but whoever eats in the desert or outside the home, let him leave it for the birds and wild animals!'
✅ According to the above hadiths and others, eating the crumbs that fall outside the tablecloth results in an increase in sustenance and children, the repelling of poverty, and serves as the dowry of the Houris; if someone eats it with the intention of healing, it is a cure for all diseases.
Of course, this property pertains to crumbs fallen outside the spread and for meals within homes.
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ و آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ و عَجِّلْ لِوَلِیِّکَ الْفَرَجَ و الْعَافِیَةَ و النَّصْر