A Dropped Morsel

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “When a morsel of any of you falls, he should pick it up and remove whatever may be harmful on it and then eat it. He should not leave it for Shaitaan nor should wipe his hand with a napkin until he has licked his fingers, for he does not know in what portion of the food the blessing lies.” [Sahih Muslim]

Food is one of the gifts of Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). We should not take any morsel for granted. In Islam there is no permissibility for throwing food away. Even a dry morsel dropped on the floor should be picked up, brushed off, and eaten after pronouncing “Bismillah.” Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) tells us to always share our food with the less fortunate. If we have food for three people then we should invite a fourth and it will suffice. We should even lick our fingers when we are done eating, before we wash our hands, since it may be the particles left on our fingers that have Allah’s blessing in them.

The capitalist model of supply and demand allows for disposing off of thousands of tons of food into the ocean to keep its supply low and price high, while Islam is a religion in which a single morsel of food may not be thrown away.