Sunan Ibn Majah
Chapters on Drinks
كتاب الأشربة
Chapter 25
الشُّرْبِ بِالأَكُفِّ وَالْكَرْعِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn ʿUmar reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade us to drink on our bellies—this is al-karʿ—and forbade us to scoop water with one hand. He said, ‘None of you should lap as a dog laps, or drink with one hand as do people with whom Allah is displeased. At night, none of you should drink from a vessel before stirring it, unless it is a covered vessel. Whoever drinks with his hand, despite being able to use a vessel, seeking humility, Allah will record for him good deeds equal to the number of his fingers. This is the vessel of Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon them both: he set the cup aside and said, “Uff! This belongs with the world.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Al-karʿ is left in transliteration because the report’s gloss (‘drinking on our bellies’) is unusual and its precise physical action is unclear.
The report juxtaposes a prohibition on drinking with one hand and praise for drinking by hand when done out of humility; both statements are retained as given.
The final identification of the hand as the vessel of Jesus son of Mary and the words ‘This belongs with the world’ are translated literally; their connection to the preceding statement is not explained.
عَنْ زِيَادِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ،
The rare term al-karʿ is glossed as drinking ‘on our bellies,’ but the precise posture or method is not clear from this wording.
What specific way of drinking is meant by al-karʿ here?
قَالَ نَهَانَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنْ نَشْرَبَ عَلَى بُطُونِنَا وَهُوَ الْكَرْعُ وَنَهَانَا أَنْ نَغْتَرِفَ بِالْيَدِ الْوَاحِدَةِ وَقَالَ " لاَ يَلَغْ أَحَدُكُمْ كَمَا يَلَغُ الْكَلْبُ وَلاَ يَشْرَبْ بِالْيَدِ الْوَاحِدَةِ كَمَا يَشْرَبُ الْقَوْمُ الَّذِينَ سَخِطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ يَشْرَبْ بِاللَّيْلِ مِنْ إِنَاءٍ حَتَّى يُحَرِّكَهُ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ إِنَاءً مُخَمَّرًا وَمَنْ شَرِبَ بِيَدِهِ وَهُوَ يَقْدِرُ عَلَى إِنَاءٍ يُرِيدُ التَّوَاضُعَ كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَهُ بِعَدَدِ أَصَابِعِهِ حَسَنَاتٍ وَهُوَ إِنَاءُ عِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلاَمُ إِذْ طَرَحَ الْقَدَحَ فَقَالَ أُفٍّ هَذَا مَعَ الدُّنْيَا " .
The long passage first forbids drinking with one hand but then praises doing so in humility, and ends with an unclear reference to Jesus’s vessel and the worldly life.
How are the prohibition of one-handed drinking and the later praise of humble hand-drinking meant to relate, and what does the closing reference to Jesus’s cup mean?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ visited an Anṣārī man who was directing water around his garden. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, ‘If you have water that spent the night in a waterskin, give us some to drink; otherwise, we will drink directly from the water.’ The man said, ‘I have water that spent the night in a waterskin.’ He went off, and we went with him to the shelter. He milked a sheep for the Prophet ﷺ into the water that had spent the night in a waterskin. The Prophet ﷺ drank, then he did the same for his companion who was with him.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The verb karaʿnā refers to drinking directly from a water source, without using a vessel.
The phrase about milking a sheep ‘over’ the water is rendered as milking into the water; it may describe diluting the milk, though the report does not explicitly explain the preparation.
The setting term al-ʿarīsh refers to a shelter or shaded structure; its exact form is not specified.
قَالَ دَخَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ وَهُوَ يُحَوِّلُ الْمَاءَ فِي حَائِطِهِ فَقَالَ لَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " إِنْ كَانَ عِنْدَكَ مَاءٌ بَاتَ فِي شَنٍّ فَاسْقِنَا وَإِلاَّ كَرَعْنَا " .
Karaʿnā means drinking directly from a water source, but the report does not specify what source or posture is intended.
Does karaʿnā here mean drinking directly from the garden water source?
فَانْطَلَقَ وَانْطَلَقْنَا مَعَهُ إِلَى الْعَرِيشِ فَحَلَبَ لَهُ شَاةً عَلَى مَاءٍ بَاتَ فِي شَنٍّ فَشَرِبَ ثُمَّ فَعَلَ مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ بِصَاحِبِهِ الَّذِي مَعَهُ .
The phrase says that a sheep was milked ‘over’ water kept overnight in a waterskin; it may describe mixing milk with that water, but the method is not explicit.
Was the sheep milked into the stored water so that the milk was diluted?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn ʿUmar reported: We passed by a pool and began drinking directly from it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Do not drink directly from it. Rather, wash your hands, then drink from them, for no vessel is purer than the hand.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report contrasts drinking directly from the pool with washing the hands and using them to drink.
The closing expression literally says that no vessel is purer than the hand; the report does not elaborate on this comparison.
قَالَ مَرَرْنَا عَلَى بِرْكَةٍ فَجَعَلْنَا نَكْرَعُ فِيهَا فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لاَ تَكْرَعُوا وَلَكِنِ اغْسِلُوا أَيْدِيَكُمْ ثُمَّ اشْرَبُوا فِيهَا فَإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ إِنَاءٌ أَطْيَبَ مِنَ الْيَدِ " .
The pronoun in ‘then drink from them’ appears to refer to the hands, and the closing line calls the hand a better or purer vessel.
Does the instruction mean to drink water from cupped hands after washing them?
Chapter 26
سَاقِي الْقَوْمِ آخِرُهُمْ شُرْبًا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Qatādah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘The one who serves drinks to a group is the last of them to drink.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The saying describes the server’s place in the order of drinking.
Chapter 27
الشُّرْبِ فِي الزُّجَاجِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn ʿAbbās reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had a glass cup from which he would drink.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says the cup was made of glass; no further description is given.