Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
What is the ruling on eating with the hands? What if one wants to use the left hand for assistance when necessary?
Eating directly with the hand is an established action of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, so it is a sunna. And the sunna is to eat with the right, to wash it before eating and afterwards, and to use three fingers as he did, peace and blessings be upon him.
As for using the left hand to eat, it is disliked, even if for assistance, as our imams have stated, unless there is some hardship in using the right hand, such as it being broken, or another similar excuse that causes difficulty in using it to eat with. As for using the left hand only to add food to a morsel, as is the habit with many people, that is not an excuse, and Allah knows best.
As for using something other than the hand for eating, such as spoons, there is no problem with that, as long as it doesn’t get affected with saliva that is then returned into the food, or if [s. using something other than the hand] is out of arrogance or imitation of non-Muslims. If any of that is involved, it is considered a reprehensible innovation, as Shaykh Ibn Hajar said in the Fatawa.
– Amjad Rasheed
(Translated by Shazia Ahmad)