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Food and drink · When the moment comes

Make talbina for someone sick or grieving

The practice
Prepare talbina (barley porridge) for a sick or bereaved person
When
When someone is ill or bereaved
In daily life
Simmer barley flour in milk into a soft porridge and take a pot round, with a kind note, when a friend is ill or has lost someone. Even if you can't stay long, it shows you're thinking of them.

The sources

أَنَّهَا كَانَتْ إِذَا مَاتَ الْمَيِّتُ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا فَاجْتَمَعَ لِذَلِكَ النِّسَاءُ، ثُمَّ تَفَرَّقْنَ، إِلاَّ أَهْلَهَا وَخَاصَّتَهَا، أَمَرَتْ بِبُرْمَةٍ مِنْ تَلْبِينَةٍ فَطُبِخَتْ، ثُمَّ صُنِعَ ثَرِيدٌ فَصُبَّتِ التَّلْبِينَةُ عَلَيْهَا ثُمَّ قَالَتْ كُلْنَ مِنْهَا فَإِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏ "‏ التَّلْبِينَةُ مَجَمَّةٌ لِفُؤَادِ الْمَرِيضِ، تَذْهَبُ بِبَعْضِ الْحُزْنِ ‏"‏‏.

“(the wife of the Prophet) that whenever one of her relatives died, the women assembled and then dispersed (returned to their houses) except her relatives and close friends. She would order that a pot of Talbina be cooked. Then Tharid (a dish prepared from meat and bread) would be prepared and the Talbina would be poured on it. `Aisha would say (to the women),"Eat of it, for I heard Allah's Messenger ﷺ saying, 'The Talbina soothes the heart of the patient and relieves him from some of his sadness”
Narrated by `AishaSahih al-Bukhari 5417
The full hadith, with its chain and grading →

Arabic: ara-bukhari · Translation: Muhsin Khan (eng-bukhari), from the eng-bukhari edition of hadith-api (public domain), sunnah.com numbering.

أَنَّهَا كَانَتْ تَأْمُرُ بِالتَّلْبِينِ لِلْمَرِيضِ وَلِلْمَحْزُونِ عَلَى الْهَالِكِ، وَكَانَتْ تَقُولُ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ ‏ "‏ إِنَّ التَّلْبِينَةَ تُجِمُّ فُؤَادَ الْمَرِيضِ، وَتَذْهَبُ بِبَعْضِ الْحُزْنِ ‏"‏‏.

“Aisha used to recommend at-Talbina for the sick and for such a person as grieved over a dead person. She used to say, "I heard Allah's Messenger ﷺ saying, 'at-Talbina gives rest to the heart of the patient and makes it active and relieves some of his sorrow and grief”
Narrated by 'UrwaSahih al-Bukhari 5689
The full hadith, with its chain and grading →

Arabic: ara-bukhari · Translation: Muhsin Khan (eng-bukhari), from the eng-bukhari edition of hadith-api (public domain), sunnah.com numbering.

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