Unmodern Aspects of Islam (1): Silent Meals, Silent Hearts

 

Have you noticed how dinner tables today have gone silent? Four people sitting together, four glowing screens in their hands. The food is shared, but the hearts are distant. Everyone is connected to the world, but disconnected from each other.

We think we’re multitasking, but in reality, we’re losing one of life’s most essential gifts: human connection. Studies show that families who don’t talk at meals suffer weaker bonds, more loneliness, and less trust between parents and children. The table that should unite us slowly becomes another wall of isolation. 

The Prophet ﷺ encouraged speaking during meals. He said that remembering Allah and conversing with one another while eating is a good deed, a way of keeping hearts alive. Silence at the table, unless for brief reflection, was never the Sunnah. Eating was more than filling the stomach—it was nourishing the soul of the family.

In early Muslim homes, the dinner table was not just about food. It was a place of shukr (gratitude), dhikr (remembrance), and storytelling. Children learned manners and wisdom from their parents. Companions bonded as brothers over a shared meal. This practice built families who trusted one another and communities that stood united.

The solution is simple yet revolutionary: put the phone aside. Tonight, when you sit with your family, ask one question. Share one story. Laugh once together. These small moments of Sunnah bring back warmth to the home, rebuild bonds, and heal the loneliness that technology has left behind.

Unmodern? Absolutely. But in a world of endless screens, nothing feels more modern than the Sunnah of speaking heart-to-heart at the dinner table.