to draw attention to what a person can actually acquire: deliberate refinement in dress and appearance.

The second report is the ḥadīth of Salamah ibn al-Akwaʿ (may Allah be pleased with him). A man once ate in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ using his left hand. The Prophet said to him, “Eat with your right hand.” The man replied, “I cannot.” Nothing prevented him except arrogance, so the Prophet ﷺ declared, “May you never be able.” He was invoking that Allah strike the man with something that would stop him from raising his right hand to his mouth. Once the Prophet ﷺ uttered those words, Allah answered his supplication: thereafter the man could no longer lift his right hand; it remained—Allah’s refuge is sought—rigid like a stick. He was unable to raise it because he had acted arrogantly toward the religion of Allah.

This narration is proof that eating and drinking with the right hand is obligatory, and that eating or drinking with the left hand is forbidden and incurs sin. Whoever eats or drinks with the left hand is imitating Satan and Satan’s followers, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “None of you should eat with his left hand or drink with it, for Satan eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand.”

If we observe the unbelievers today, we find that they eat and drink with their left hands. Accordingly, anyone who eats or drinks with the left hand is emulating Satan and the allies of Satan.

Whoever witnesses such behavior must object to it—yet in the most courteous manner. Should he fear that a direct objection would embarrass the person or provoke pride and obstinacy, he may simply turn away and forgo the confrontation.