Drinking with left hand to keep glass clean for others

22-2-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Respected Brother. Today, I came to know a hadith that says, "Drink with right hand." Obviously, I always drink with the right hand, except in certain cases, especially when we have rice and curry. When we have our meal with the right hand, our hand gets covered with curry. If we hold the glass with our right hand at that time, then the glass looks dirty and none agrees to drink water using this glass, especially when we sit with others to have the meal at the same table. So I drink with my left hand when I share the same glass with others. Is it permissible for me to drink water with my left hand in this situation?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The view that we adopt here at Islamweb is that drinking with the right hand is a recommended etiquette of drinking and not an obligation; this is the opinion of the majority of the scholars from the Four Schools and others. Therefore, there is no sin on you, Allaah willing, for drinking with the left hand out of fear of dirtying the glass or otherwise.

However, it is better to drink with the right hand in all cases, as some scholars are of the view that it is an obligation to drink with the right hand and that it is forbidden to drink with the left hand. Indeed, some of those scholars, such as Ibn ‘Uthaymeen stated that fearing that the glass gets dirty is not a sound excuse that makes drinking with the left hand permissible.

Allaah knows best.