آداب الأكل والشرب
‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When anyone of you eats, let him mention the name of Allah, the Exalted. If he forgets to mention the name of Allah, Exalted, in the beginning, let him say: 'In the name of Allah, for its beginning and its end." Umayyah ibn Makhshi (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting while another man was eating, and had not mentioned Allah's name. Until when only one morsel of food was left and he lifted it to his mouth he said: "In the name of Allah, its beginning and its end." Whereupon the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) laughed and said: "The devil kept on eating with him, and when he mentioned the name of Allah, he vomited all what he ate."
عن عائشة -رضي الله عنها- قالت: قال رسول الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم-: «إذا أكل أحدكم فَلْيَذْكُر اسْمَ الله -تعالى-، فإِنْ نَسِيَ أَنْ يذكُرَ اسْمَ الله -تعالى - في أوله، فَلْيَقُلْ: بسم الله أوَّلَهُ وَآخِرَه». عن أمية بن مخشي -رضي الله عنه- قال: كان رسول الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم- جالسًا، ورجل يأكل، فلم يُسَمِّ الله حتى لم يَبقَ من طعامه إلا لُقْمَةٌ، فلما رفعها إلى فِيهِ، قال: بِسْمِ الله أَوَّلَهُ وآخِرَه، فضحك النبي -صلى الله عليه وسلم- ثم قال: «ما زال الشيطان يأكل معه، فلمَّا ذكر اسْمَ الله اسْتَقَاءَ ما في بطنه».
شرح الحديث :
The Hadīth of the Mother of the Believers ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) states that one has to mention Allah's name at the beginning of the meal, by saying: "In the name of Allah." Mentioning Allah's name over food is obligatory, and if a person abandons it he is sinful, and the devil shares his food with him. There is none who likes that his enemy share his food with him. Therefore no one should like for the devil to share his food with him. If one fails to say: "In the name of Allah", the devil shares the food with him. So, if a person forgets to mention Allah's name at the beginning and remembers it while having the meal, he just has to say: "In the name of Allah, for its beginning and its end", just as the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) guided us to do in this Hadīth. The wisdom behind mentioning Allah's name at the beginning of the meal is that if a person fails to do so, the blessing is taken from his food, since the devil eats with him. Thus, the food that he supposes to be sufficient for him is not really so, since the blessings have been taken out from it. As for the brief prophetic guidance that is mentioned in the second Hadīth concerning one who forgets to mention Allah's name at the beginning of the meal, and then remembers it in the middle of it, should mention Allah's name, then it is part of the blessings of Allah, Glorified and Exalted. That is because the devil is deprived of eating with us when we mention Allah's Name at the beginning of the meal, as well as at the end of it by saying: "In the name of Allah, for its beginning and its end." When someone says this, the devil vomits whatever he has eaten, and he is deprived of the food. The previously mentioned authentic Hadīth is sufficient as evidence to indicate the ruling.