Is It Sinful to Leave Food Unfinished If You Don’t Like It?

Answered By Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad

Question

Is a person sinful for not finishing their food if they don’t like it?

Answer

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Blessings and peace be upon the Master of the Messengers, his Family, and all his Companions.

Different Tastes

Allah has created people with different inclinations and tastes. What one person may find desirable, another might not, and there is no sin or blame in that. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) himself refrained from eating certain foods because he did not find them appetizing, such as dabb (a type of desert lizard).

It is narrated from Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbas (Allah be pleased with them both) on the authority of Khalid Ibn al-Walid (Allah be pleased with him):

He entered the house of Maymuna with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), and a roasted lizard was brought. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) reached out his hand to eat it but was informed that it was lizard meat. He withdrew his hand and was asked: “Is it forbidden, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied:

“No, but it is not found in the land of my people, and I find myself disliking it.”

Khalid then took it and ate it while the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) watched. [Bukhari; Muslim]

Etiquette of Not Criticizing Food

It is important to observe the etiquette of not criticizing food, as demonstrated by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) narrated:

“The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) never criticized food. If he desired it, he ate it; if he disliked it, he left it.” [Bukhari; Muslim; Abu Dawud]

Imam Nawawi commented: One of the confirmed etiquettes of eating is to avoid finding fault with the food, such as saying it is too salty, sour, insufficiently salted, thick, thin, or undercooked. (If one dislikes the food, they should simply leave it) Ibn Battal said: This is a mark of refined manners because what one person may not desire, another may enjoy, and anything permissible to eat in Sacred Law is not inherently flawed. [‘Azimabadi, ‘Awn al-Ma‘bud]

May Allah grant us excellent manners and adherence to the Sunna. All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all worlds.

[Shaykh] Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad

Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Fayez Awad, born in Damascus, Syria, in 1965, pursued his Islamic studies in the mosques and institutes of Damascus. A graduate of the Islamic University of Medina in 1985, he holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Bahauddin Zakariya University in Pakistan.

He has extensive experience developing curricula and enhancing the teaching of various academic courses, including conducting intensive courses. Shaykh Awad has taught Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Quranic sciences, the history of legislation, inheritance laws, and more at several institutes and universities such as Al-Furqan Institute for Islamic Sciences and Majma‘ al-Fath al-Islami in Damascus.

He is a lecturer at the Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih Waqf University in Istanbul, teaching various Arabic and Islamic subjects, and teaches at numerous Islamic institutes in Istanbul. Shaykh Awad is a member of the Association of Syrian Scholars, a founding member of the Zayd bin Thabit Foundation, a member of the Syrian Scholars Association, and a member of the Academic Council at the Iman Center for Teaching the Sunna and Quran.

Among his teachers from whom he received Ijazat are his father, Shaykh Muhammad Muhiyiddin Awad, Shaykh Muhiyiddin al-Kurdi, Shaykh Muhammad Karim Rajih, Shaykh Usama al-Rifai, Shaykh Ayman Suwaid, Shaykh Ahmad al-Qalash, Shaykh Muhammad Awwama, and Shaykh Mamduh Junayd.