Food and drink · When the moment comes

Pick up a dropped bite and eat it

The practice: If a bite of food falls, pick it up, wipe off what's on it, and eat it; don't leave it.
When: When a bite of food falls while you eat
In daily life: When a piece of bread or a chickpea rolls off your plate onto the table, pick it up, brush it off and eat it, and let the kids see you do it. If it lands somewhere that can't be cleaned, like the street, you can leave it.

The source

عَنْ جَابِرٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ إِذَا وَقَعَتْ لُقْمَةُ أَحَدِكُمْ فَلْيَأْخُذْهَا فَلْيُمِطْ مَا كَانَ بِهَا مِنْ أَذًى وَلْيَأْكُلْهَا وَلاَ يَدَعْهَا لِلشَّيْطَانِ وَلاَ يَمْسَحْ يَدَهُ بِالْمِنْدِيلِ حَتَّى يَلْعَقَ أَصَابِعَهُ فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَدْرِي فِي أَىِّ طَعَامِهِ الْبَرَكَةُ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

“Jabir reported Allah's Messenger ﷺ as saying:When any one of you drops a mouthful he should pick it up and remove any of the filth on it, and then eat it, and should not leave it for the Satan, and should not wipe his hand with towel until he has licked his fingers, for he does not know in what portion of the food the blessing lies”

Narrated by Jabir ibn 'AbdullahSahih Muslim 2033b

The full hadith, with its chain and grading →

Arabic: ara-muslim · Translation: Abdul Hamid Siddiqui (eng-muslim), from the eng-muslim edition of hadith-api (public domain), sunnah.com numbering.

More Sunnahs like this

Lick your fingers before wiping themEnd of a meal eaten by hand Say Alhamdulillah after you eat or drinkFinishing a meal or a drink Say Bismillah before eatingStart of every meal Eat from what is nearest youEating from a shared dish Don't eat while recliningDuring meals Don't criticize foodWhen served food

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Sources: Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and narrations of Jami at-Tirmidhi graded sahih or hasan sahih by al-Albani.