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Some of the hadith which have been employed to deduce the subsequent precepts are not at the point of conveying legal recommendation or legal undesirability; rather, they are conveying the benefits and losses which are consequential to these precepts.

2700. The following acts are recommended upon eating food:
1. To wash both the hands prior to eating food.
2. To wash both hands after eating, and to dry them with a piece of cloth.
3. The host should start eating the food before all the other people, and he should stop after everyone else. Prior to eating, the host should wash his hands first, and then the person to his right, and this process should continue until it reaches the person who is seated to the left of the host. After eating, the person who is seated to the left of the host should wash his hands, and this process should continue until it culminates with the host himself.
4. To say bismill¡h at the beginning of the meal. However, if there are a variety of dishes on the table, it is recommended to say bismill¡h prior to eating each of the dishes.
5. To eat with the right hand.
6. To eat using three or more fingers, and to avoid eating with two fingers.
7. If a few people are seated at a table, each of them should partake of the food that is in front of him.
8. To eat small morsels.
9. To sit for a prolonged period at the table, and to prolong the meal.
10. To chew the food properly.
11. To praise the Lord of the universe after consuming the meal.
12. To lick one’s fingers.
13. To clean one’s teeth after consuming the meal. However, one should avoid cleaning his teeth using a twig from a pomegranate tree or a sweet basil plant, a reed or the leaves of a date palm.
14. To collect and eat the particles which have fallen off the table. However, if one is having a meal in the wilderness, it is recommended to leave the food particles for the birds and animals.
15. To have a meal during the early part of the day and the early part of the night, and to avoid having a meal during the day and during the night.
16. To lie on one’s back after consuming the meal, and to place the right foot over the left foot.
17. To eat salt at the beginning of the meal and the end of the meal.
18. To wash fruits before consuming them.

2701. The following few acts are makruh upon having a meal:
1. To eat whilst travelling.
2. To eat to one’s full.
3. To look at the faces of other people whilst having a meal.
4. To eat hot food.
5. To blow at something that one is eating or drinking.
6. To wait for another dish after the bread has been placed on the table.
7. To cut the bread with a knife.
8. To place the bread under one’s plate.
9. To clean the meat off a bone in a manner that nothing remains on it.
10. To peel the skin of a fruit.
11. To throw away a fruit before it is fully eaten.

2702. The following acts are recommended whilst drinking water:
1. To drink water by sipping it.
2. To drink during the day whilst standing.
3. To say bismill¡h prior to drinking the water, and to say alF¡ti¦ahulill¡h after drinking it.
4. To drink the water in three breaths.
5. To drink water with desire.
6. To remember Imam al-Íusayn (as) and his household after drinking the water, and to curse his killers.

2703. It is reprehensible to drink a lot of water, or to drink it after consuming a fatty meal, or to drink it at night whilst standing. It is also reprehensible to drink water with the left hand, or from the broken side of the vessel, or from the side of its handle.