{"id":37980,"date":"2025-08-20T13:52:36","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T13:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/?p=37980"},"modified":"2025-08-23T00:07:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T00:07:02","slug":"the-sunnah-of-eating-one-third","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/the-sunnah-of-eating-one-third\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sunnah of Eating One Third"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fatwa ID: 08295<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Answered by: Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Question:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I have heard that the Prophet SAW advised eating to two thirds of the stomach or, ideally, only a few mouthfuls.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Please could you clarify what is meant in the Hadith when it says you should eat enough to strengthen your back?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Also, if one is eating at someone else\u2019s house and wants to observe the Sunnah eating way, but doesn\u2019t want to hurt their guest\u2019s feelings, how should one approach this?<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Answer:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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It has been narrated in Ibn M\u0101jah that Miqdam bin Madikarib said:<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI heard the Messenger of Allah (\ufdfa) say: \u2018A human being fills no worse vessel than his stomach. It is sufficient for a human being to eat a few mouthfuls to keep his spine straight. But if he must (fill it), then one third of food, one third for drink and one third for air.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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To \u201ckeep his spine straight\u201d means to eat enough to feel strong and energised, rather than tired and lethargic, which can cause a person to slough or hunch over due to hunger and weakness. The Hadith mentions the Sunnah method of eating. It is permissible to eat more or to eat one\u2019s fill, as long as it is done in moderation and without Isr\u0101f (excessiveness or wastage).<\/span><\/p>\n

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When eating at someone else\u2019s home, it is more important to honor the host and treat them with respect. Following the Sunnah of honoring the host and treating people with respect is greater than the Sunnah of eating. While you should aim to follow the Sunnah as much as possible, if the host insists that you eat more, you may do so until you feel satisfied. However, if the host continues to encourage you to eat beyond that, kindly explain that you are full and unable to eat more.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Only Allah knows best<\/span><\/p>\n

Written by Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad<\/span><\/p>\n

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah<\/span><\/p>\n

Darul Ifta Birmingham<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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(Sunan Ibn Majah 3349, Book 29, Hadith 99)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fatwa ID: 08295     Answered by: Maulana Abdurrahman Mohammad   Question:   I have heard that the Prophet SAW advised eating to two thirds…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37980"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38669,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37980\/revisions\/38669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daruliftabirmingham.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}