His statement: “It is disliked to shake one’s hand over the bowl,” because doing so makes it repulsive to others. This applies even if one says, “I will shake it only toward my own side,” for food such as rice may scatter throughout the bowl.

His statement: “And to bring one’s head close to it when placing a morsel in one’s mouth.” This too is disliked, because it is unbecoming.

His statement: “And to dip a greasy morsel into vinegar.” Vinegar is water in which raisins or dates are placed to sweeten it. If one puts a greasy morsel into it, it becomes smeared with grease, thereby spoiling it for others.

His statement: “Or to dip vinegar into grease, for someone else may dislike it.” This is likewise the case, unless the vinegar is in a vessel exclusively for him, and likewise the grease is in a vessel exclusively for him. If he dips bread into it while it contains grease, then this is not disliked, because he will not spoil it for anyone. The same applies to tea: if one dips buttered bread into it, the trace of the butter will become apparent in it, but there is no harm in this, because each person drinks from his own vessel.

If someone were to ask: The author, may Allah have mercy on him, stated definitively that these matters are disliked. Is there a specific sunnah concerning each one of them?

The answer is: We do not know of one. However, there is a general principle here indicating that these things are disliked: the Prophet ﷺ said, “Among the words people have retained from the earliest prophecy is: If you feel no shame, then do whatever you wish.” (1) And the Prophet ﷺ said, “Faith has over seventy branches. The highest of them is the statement: There is no god but Allah; and the lowest of them is…”