Adab al-Muakala
- Author died
- 984 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Kathir li-l-Tiba'ah wa-l-Nashr wa-l-Tawzi'
Adab al-Muakala (Ādāb al-Muwākalah, "The Etiquette of Dining Together") is a treatise on table manners and dining conduct by the Damascene Shafi'i jurist and scholar Badr al-Din al-Ghazzi (904–984 AH / 1499–1576 CE) .
Subject and Content
The work addresses the proper manners, social comportment, and hygiene expected of individuals when partaking in shared meals . A distinctive feature of the text is its categorization and naming of specific improper dining habits and objectionable table behaviors .
Among the descriptive designations detailed in the work:
- Al-Latta‘ (also called al-lahhas): The diner who licks his fingers to remove food grease before finishing his meal and then returns his fingers to the shared food, which breaches dining etiquette during the meal; al-Ghazzi notes that doing so after finishing is permissible provided one does not resume eating, though attending to the fingers with a table cloth or napkin is preferable .
- Al-Baqqar: The diner who repeatedly sticks out his tongue outside his mouth like a cow to lick his lips during eating .
Context within the Author's Corpus
Adab al-Muakala forms part of al-Ghazzi's broader contributions to the genre of Islamic etiquette and behavioral literature (adab) . His other treatises in this domain include Adab al-Nikah on marital etiquette, Adab al-Ishrah on companionship and social interaction, and al-Durr al-Nadid fi Adab al-Mufid wa-al-Mustafid on pedagogical ethics .
Answer updated