I asked: “Why (was this)?

📌He would eat on the ground and sleep on the ground.[^9] Note: The three respected scholars, al-Barqi, al-Husayn ibn Sa’id and al-Tabarsi have narrated many similar narrations.[^10] From al-Ghazali in al-Ihya: When he (S) sat to eat, he would sit with his knees and feet together as one who is praying sits, except that one knee would be above the other and one foot above the other, and he would say: “I am only a slave, I eat as a slave eats and I sit as a slave sits.”[^11] In the book al-Ta’rif of al-Safwani: From Amir al-Mu’minin (as): When the Prophet of Allah (S) sat down on the table-spread (to eat), he sat as a slave sits and would sit resting on his left thigh.[^12] In al-Makarim: From Ibn ‘Abbas who said: The Noble Prophet (S) used to sit on the ground, and would restrain the ewe (in order to milk it), and accept the invitation of the slave to (join him in eating) barley bread.[^13] 12.From al-Barqi in al-Mahasin: Narrated from Abi Khadijah from Abi ‘Abdillah (as): He (S) would sit like a slave and place his hand on the ground and eat with three fingers.

📌He (as) said: The Prophet of Allah (S) used to eat like this and not as those who are arrogant eat.[^14] Note: It is evident from this that when it is said that the Holy Prophet (S) never used to lean, it does not include leaning on the hand which is placed on the ground, rather it refers to the leaning on a cushion or pillow and such things as was commonly practiced by kings and others.