Sunnah postures of sitting while eating

Assalam Alaikum

What is the Masnoon sitting for eating? Do Ahadeeth talk about it? How about sitting on the feet with legs in an upright position and the knees folded? Is this posture Masnoon for women as well? Because this posture looks unreasonable for women!

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما

There are two sunnah postures of sitting while eating:

1) To sit the way one sits in salah  (Sunan Ibn Majah)

2) To sit on the left foot and raise the right knee up

Aside from these two positions, it is mentioned in a hadith that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) once ate dates while doing iq’aa due to hunger (Sahih Muslim). Iq’aa means to sit on one’s posterior and raise both knees up.

While some scholars regard this position as sunnah as well, however, the stronger opinion is that since the Messenger (may Allah bless him and give him peace) only did it once due to excessive hunger, it would not be considered a general sunnah similar to the first two positions. Furthermore, the female companions have not been reported to have eaten in this position. Therefore, women in general should not sit in such a position either. Rather, they should sit in a dignified manner which least exposes their body, such as the first two postures mentioned above.

والله اعلم

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best.

Mohammad Jafari

Approved by Mufti Husain Ahmad Madani