Dua For Before Eating In English, Transliteration, And Arabic

In this post, you will be looking at some beautiful dua for before eating according to Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Dua For Before Eating in Arabic

The short Dua before eating in Arabic is,

بِسْمِ اللهِ

Transliteration

Bismillaah

Meaning

The meaning of the dua is In the Name of Allah

If you forgot to say Bismillah in the beginning, you should say,

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ فِي أَوَّلِهِ وَآخِرِهِ

Transliteration

Bismillaahifee ‘awwalihi wa ‘aakhirihi

Meaning

In the Name of Allah, in the beginning and in the end.

• Read also Dua For After Eating
• Dua For Drinking Milk In English

Hadith On Dua For Eating

Aishah reported: Messenger of Allah said,

When any of you wants to eat, he should mention the Name of Allah in the begining, (i.e., say Bismillah ). If he forgets to do it in the beginning, he should say Bismillah awwalahu wa akhirahu (I begin with the Name of Allah at the beginning and at the end).

[At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud]

At-Ta’aam (as in the Arabic text rendered as Food) is what the individual consumes; i.e., something he enjoys to taste which may be drink or food.

Then he mentioned the hadeeth of ‘Umar bin Abee Salamah – may Allah be pleased with him. He was a stepchild of the Prophet; i.e., the son of his wife, Umm Salamah.

A meal was presented to the Prophet SAW, and Umar who at the time was a little boy, got his hand moving about here and there inside the dish.

And the Prophet SAW would not find any opportunity to teach without using it, even with regard to kids.

Thereupon, he said to him, “O young boy, mention Allah’s Name, eat with your right (hand) and take from that near you.

These are three manners regarding food which the Prophet SAW taught this boy.

Firstly: He said, Mention Allah’s Name; that is, say, Bismillah (In the name of Allah).

There is no blame if one adds, “Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem (The Beneficent, The Merciful)” because Allah’s praised Himself with them both in the Basmalah (i.e., Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem).

So, if he says, “Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem”, there is no blame; but if he mentions “Bismillah” alone, then it is sufficient.

Mentioning Allah’s Name over food is compulsory; if the individual omits it, he sins therewith and the Satan partakes in his food.

And no person would desire that his own enemy partakes in his food.

Hence, if you do not say, “Bismillah”, the Satan will join you in it.

If you forget to say it at the beginning, and you only remember while already eating, then you should say,

Bismillahi Awwalawu wa Akhirahu (meaning: In the name of Allah at its beginning and its end)” as the Prophet SAW showed in the hadeeth reported by A’aishah and collected by Aboo Dawood and At-Tirmidhi.

Secondly: He said, “Eat with your right (hand).

Eating with the right hand is obligatory; whoever eats with the left is sinning and disobeying the Messenger.

And whosoever disobeys the Messenger has disobeyed Allah, and whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah.

Thirdly: He said, Eat from that near you; that is, if you have others partaking in the meal with you, eat from that close to you.

Do not take from his side or that close to him; such a thing constitutes bad manners.

The scholars say: “Unless you have variety of food such as when it has pumpkin, eggplant, meat and such other things; then, there is no blame if you move your hand to get the sort as the Messenger would seek out pumpkin from the dish and eat it.

Likewise when you take the meal alone, there is no blame eating from the other side, because you would not be causing inconvenience to anyone doing so.

However, do not eat from the top of the dish because blessings come down (to the meal) through it. You may only take from the sides.

This hadeeth contains evidence that it is necessary for us to teach the children and young the manners of eating and drinking; likewise the manners of sleeping, not to say other issues such as the Prayer.

The Messenger SAW had said, “Order your children to observe the Prayer at seven years of age, and beat them for it at ten ”(l)Allah alone grants success.

But during the time of dinner, he should say, “Bismillah (meaning: In the name of Allah)” by which he becomes protected against the Satan in his house and food.

If he mentions Allah’s Name while entering without doing so before his meal, the Satan will partake in the meal, and if he did during the meal but not while coming in, the satan will join in the lodge and not the meal.

However, if he gave Allah’s remembrance while entering and over the meal, the satan will neither have lodge nor food.

Allah alone grants success.

An Nawawee, may Allah shower blessings on him, said in Riyaad as-Saaliheen under the Chapter on the Etiquettes of Eating, among the narrations he cited from Hudhayfah bin Al-Yaman, may Allah be pleased with him that he said,

Whenever we attended a meal with Allah’s Messenger, we would not place our hands in the food unless the Allah’s Messenger began to eat and that was out of their great esteem for the Prophet.

Hence, they would not extend their hands towards the dish to start eating till he did so first.

One day he attended a meal with the Messenger of Allah, and when they began or when they were served, a little girl came along; i.e., kid, as if pushed forward attempted to dip her hand into the meal without mentioning Allah’s Name.

Thereupon, the Prophet grabbed her hand. Then came a Bedouin came in a similar way, as if pushed forward, and tried to put his hand in the food and the Prophet SAW took hold of his hand.

Then the Prophet explained that the Bedouin and the girl were brought by the Satan in order to have access to the food through them if they commenced eating without mentioning Allah’s Name.

They may both be excused for their ignorance; the little girl due to her tender age, and the man being a Bedouin.

However, the Satan brought them both so that if they ate without mentioning Allah’s Name, he gained the chance to partake in the meal.

Thereafter, the Prophet SAW swore that the hand of the Satan was with their hands in his own hand.

This hadeeth contains a number of lessons such as:

The companions’ reverence for Allah’s Messenger and their manners towards him.

Likewise: If there is an elderly person at a meal, no one should precede him to commence eating.

They should ensure that the elderly started the food since coming before the elderly in his presence contradicts order and manners.

Similarly among the lessons is that: the Satan commands, encourages and urges towards wrong.

This shows that Shaytan has some authority over the children of Adam, and the one who is safe is he whom Allah grants safety.

Among the lessons is that: When a person joins a meal, he should also mention Allah’s Name and not say that, “those who commenced the meal had mentioned Allah’s Name.”

However, if they all started the meal together; does it suffice that a person among them mentioned Allah’s Name?

The response is that: If the person had given the remembrance of Allah silently, his mentioning of Allah’s Name would not suffice for others since they did not hear it.

But if he gave it loudly, and intended it for all, it may be said to be sufficient even though it could also be said that the better thing is that every individual mentions Allah’s Name for himself.

This is certainly more perfect and better.From the lessons in the hadeeth is that: the Satan has a hand considering the fact that the Prophet grabbed his hand.

Among the points is that: the hadeeth is one of the miracles of the Messenger bearing in mind that Allah, the Exalted, informed him of what occurred in this story; that it was Satan that drove them forward.

He pushed the Bedouin and the young girl, and that he should grab their hands with his own noble hands – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.

From its benefits is that when anyone comes to partake in a meal without mentioning Allah’s Name; hold back his hand until he mentions it.

You should do so, because the Prophet grabbed their hands; he did not say to them, “Mention Allah’s Name.”

He rather grabbed their hands so that it becomes something for them to ever remember; they would recall the story and not forget to mention Allah’s Name in the future.

Among the benefits in this hadeeth is: Emphasis placed on mentioning Allah’s Name during a meal; and the correct view is that it is compulsory to mention the Name of Allah over food.

And that if the individual doesn’t mention Allah’s Name, he would be sinning against Allah – the Mighty and Sublime.

He would have also shown pleasure that his worst enemy, the Satan, should partake in his food.

Therefore, mentioning Allah’s Name over food is compulsory; in case you forget it at the beginning and you remember during the meal, you should still say, “Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirahu (meaning: I invoke Allah’s Name for the beginning and its end).”

Allah alone grants success.