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Question

What is the Islamic ruling regarding eating at a dining table? Is it Haram or Makrooh or permissible?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

It is preferable for the Muslim not to eat on a table or on anything that is elevated from the ground.
Safarini (A Muslim scholar) said: 'Eating on dining sheet is better than eating on a dining table' .
The evidence for this is the Hadith reported by al-Bukhari and al-Tirmizi from Anas who said: "The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) never ate on a dining table, nor ate thin well-baked bread till he died" .
al-Bukhari , Ahmad and al-Tirmizi reported from Qatadah who reported from Anas that the latter said: "The Prophet never took his meals at a dining table, nor in small plates, and he never ate thin well-baked bread" . The sub-narrator asked Qatada, 'Over what did they use to take their meals?' Qatada said, 'On leather dining sheets' .
Ibn Hajjar while explaining this Hadith said: ' The use of "They ate" which is plural means that not only the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) did this but also his companions' .
Allah knows best.

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