Adab of a guest

In his book, Mercy Oceans, page 98-99, Shaykh Nazim al Haqqani says:




"When I first met our Grandshaykh (Shaykh Abdullah Al-Faiz Ad-Daghestani), " Shaykh Nazim replied, "I was also very strict, very particular, about my food. But he told me, 'It is not good manners to be like that. When you are a guest, you must not ask, 'Is this food clean?' No! You must give your host the benefit of the doubt. When you know that the food is pork, don't eat it, but say instead, 'I am a vegetarian,' or something like this. You must have good manners towards everybody. If you are in doubt as to whether meat (assuming that it is not pork) is halal or not, you may say, three times, 'Shahada,' and, seventy times, 'astaghfirullah.' Then, as you eat, and you say, 'Bismillah,' Allah Almighty will make that food clean for you, in the time it takes for you to raise it from your plate and put it in your mouth!




"When you are buying meat and you think that it has come in contact with pork, or utensils that have been used to handle and prepare pork, you may wash it, and repeat the formula we just said. If you can obtain Halal (or Kosher) meat, of course it is best. But, when you are somebody's guest, don't ask! Even if it is known to you that they usually cook with lard, you must assume that, this time, for you, they cleaned their pots and pans and didn't use it. Only if you are certain that pork or pork products were used may you refrain from eating."







just something random, perhaps anyone who has watched congkak might have noticed a framed picture of a shaykh hanging on the wall of the kampong house towards the end of the movie when the possessed girl was going through exorcism. i have a strong suspect that it is the picture of Shaykh Abdullah Al-Faiz Ad-Daghestani

Shaykh Abdullah al-Faiz Ad-Daghestani, 38th in the Naqshbandi Haqqani silsilah