Photo by Bryan Natanael
Sahfa is the second of the largest
bowls which could feed from four
to five men. ‘Umar bin Abi Salama
g says, “I was a child raised in the
house of the Prophet a his mother
was Umm Salama j, Mother of the
Believers. My hand was roaming
around the sahfa. The Prophet a
said to me, ‘O child, say the name
of Allah, and eat from in front of
you’” (Bukhari).
The sukurruja was a small dish for
holding condiments. Anas g relates
that he never saw the Prophet
The tabaq was most likely flat and
wide like a pizza pan and used only
for dry foods. Ikrash g says a tabaq
adorned with a variety of dates
was presented to the Prophet a.
He says, “I started eating from the
front of the tabaq while the Prophet’s
a hand was going here and
there (picking from different parts
of the tabaq). He said, ‘O Ikrash, eat
from wherever you like for it is not
one type of food i.e. if the food is
of one type, you should eat from in
front of you, but if there is a variety
of foods, you may take from here
and there.”
a use sukurruja and never saw him
eat bread made from sifted flour or
eat on a table (Tirmidhi).
Mi’kala is a large bowl which can
feed from two to three people.
Suhayfa is a concave plate which can
feed only one person. The suhayfa
was similar to the individual plates
we use in our times that is sufficient
for a single serving.
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