Is There Any Truth to Satan Eating Uncovered Food in the Home?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

I used to hear people talk about cleaning the dishes and kitchen before going to bed and not to leave scraps of food as satan will consume it, and it will also invite poverty. Are there such things in Islam?

Is there any truth to Satan eating uncovered food in the home?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) has indeed advised covering food containers and water vessels.

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Cover you (food) containers, seal your (water) vessels, lock your doors and blow out your lamps. Surely, Shaytan can not untie a vessel, open a door, or uncover a container. Thus if any of you can only place a stick over his container and mention the name of Allah, he should do so….” [Muslim]

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Cover your food containers and seal your water vessels. Surely within the year is a night in which sickness descends. It does not pass by a container or a vessel uncovered, except that the sickness descends upon it.” [Muslim]

Wisdom

“The scholars have mentioned many pearls of wisdom for covering vessels. Two of them are mentioned in these narrations. Protection from Shaytan and from sickness (waba’) descends one night of the year. Third wisdom is protecting (the food) from getting dirty or impure. A fourth protects the food from insects and critters. And Allah knows best.” [Sharh al-Nawawi, Sahih Muslim]

Hope this helps
And Allah knows best

[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.