with his left hand. Now set before you are the practice of the Prophet ﷺ and the practice of Satan. Which will you follow—the Messenger’s way or Satan’s? Every believer will say, “I take the Prophet’s guidance.” The Messenger ﷺ ate with his right hand and commanded eating with the right; he drank with his right hand and commanded drinking with the right. Satan, however, eats and drinks with his left. Choose whichever of the two paths you wish.

For this reason Satan’s allies among the Jews, Christians, and idolaters know no way of eating or drinking except with the left hand; they are Satan’s protégés—may Allah protect us—and he has taken hold of them. So beware of resembling them.

Some people, while eating, pick up the glass with the left hand when they want to drink. This is not permissible, for what is forbidden is waived only in cases of necessity, and here there is no necessity: he can simply grasp the glass from its base with his right hand. Most cups today are either disposable plastic, used once and thrown away, or metal or glass, all of which can be washed even if they become soiled.

Accordingly, it is not lawful for a person to eat with his left hand or to drink with his left hand. Whoever does so is disobedient to Allah and His Messenger—disobedient to the Messenger because he forbade