Utensils used at time of Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam

19-3-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

What kind of utensils were used in the era of Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam? Did they use ceramic ware?

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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 utensils used during the lifetime of the Prophet were made of diverse materials such as wood, stone, copper, silver, or other materials. The usage of a number of such utensils has been authentically mentioned in ahaadeeth, some of which are the following:

- It has been narrated that 'Aa'ishah said, "The Messenger of Allaah entered upon me when the meat was boiling in the mirjal..." [Ahmad]

The Arabic word 'mirjal' means cauldron or cooking pot made of stone or copper; it is also said that marjal is a pot made of copper only.

- It has been reported that 'Aa'ishah said, "If any member of the family of the Messenger of Allaah was sick, the burmah (earthenware pot) would remain on the fire until one of two things happened; either the person recovered or he died." [Ibn Maajah]

The Arabic word 'burmah' means an earthenware pot made of stone.

- Ibn ʻAbbaas narrated, "A man from Banu Sahm set out with Tameem Ad-Daari and ʻAdiyy ibn Baddaa'. The man from Sahm died in a land in which there were no Muslims. When they arrived with what he left behind, they were missing a jaamm (bowl) made of silver which was inlaid with gold..." [Al-Bukhari]

These were examples of the utensils used during the lifetime of the Prophet .

Among the ceramic ware used then was the 'mirkan', which is a ceramic washtub in which the Prophet took baths with some of his wives, as was established in the hadeeth cited by Al-Bukhari .

Allaah knows best.