The 365 · Sunnah · Day 64 · Food
Praising Allah After Every Meal with the Prophetic Duʿāʾ
The hadith
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَطْعَمَني هَذَا وَرَزَقَنِيهِ مِنْ غَيْرِ حَوْلٍ مِنِّي وَلَا قُوَّةٍ، غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Whoever eats food and then says: al-ḥamdu lillāhi alladhī aṭʿamanī hādhā wa razaqanīhi min ghayri ḥawlin minnī wa-lā quwwah (all praise belongs to Allah who fed me this and provided it for me, without any power or strength of my own), his previous sins are forgiven.' (Sunan at-Tirmidhī 3458, Abū Dāwūd 4023, Ibn Mājah 3285, classed ḥasan, narrated by Muʿādh ibn Anas.)
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ sade: 'Den som äter mat och säger: Al-hamdulillah alladhi at'amani hadha wa razaqanihi min ghayri hawlin minni wa la quwwah, hans tidigare synder förlåts.'
Sunan at-Tirmidhī 1805, Sunan Ibn Mājah 3277, Sunan Abī Dāwūd 3772 (ṣaḥīḥ, Ibn ʿAbbās)
The story
Muʿādh ibn Anas narrated this hadith. The classical scholars considered this duʿāʾ one of the most rewarding short-duʿāʾs in the Sunnah. Imam an-Nawawī in his Adhkār placed it as a daily-practiced foundational duʿāʾ. The Prophet ﷺ also had a shorter version: 'al-ḥamdu lillāh, ḥamdan kathīran ṭayyiban mubārakan fīhi, ghayra makfiyyin wa-lā mawaddaʿin wa-lā mustaghnan ʿanhu, rabbanā' (all praise to Allah, abundant, good, blessed praise, that we are not without need of, that we should never stop, that we cannot do without, our Lord). (Bukhārī 5458.)
Why it's here
The post-meal duʿāʾ is the structural attribution of food to its real source. The believer who ate (with apparent agency) acknowledges that the eating, the providing, and the digesting were all from Allah, not from his own ḥawl (power, capacity) or quwwah (strength). The named reward is forgiveness of past sins: an extraordinary multiplier for a 15-second recitation.
Try it today
1. Memorize the short Bukhārī version (the longer Tirmidhī version optionally). 2. Recite after every meal, including snacks. 3. If you forget, recite when you remember. 4. Teach children: the al-ḥamdu lillāh after eating is as foundational as the bismillah before. 5. The bracket of bismillah-before and al-ḥamdulillāh-after structurally Islamizes every meal.
In your day
The named reward (forgiveness of past sins for a 15-second duʿāʾ) is structurally one of the most efficient sunnah-practices in the religion. Build the habit. The cost is trivial; the named outcome is enormous.
A reflection to carry
The duʿāʾ after eating: 'Al-ḥamdu lillāhi alladhī aṭʿamanī hādhā wa-razaqanī min ghayri ḥawlin minnī wa-lā quwwah.' (Abū Dāwūd 4023.) Whoever recites this, his past sins are forgiven.
Read the longer reflection
The structural reward (past sin-forgiveness) for the post-meal duʿāʾ is operationally severe. The duʿāʾ acknowledges three structural realities: Allah fed me; Allah provided this without my power; therefore, all praise is due to Him. Cure: memorize the duʿāʾ; recite after every meal, no matter how small; train children. The Companions practiced this consistently; modern Muslims often miss this Sunnah because they have not learned it. Variant: 'Al-ḥamdu lillāhi alladhī aṭʿamanā wa-saqānā wa-jaʿalanā muslimīn' (Abū Dāwūd 3850).
Sources: Sahih Bukhari, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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