DO WE EAT LIKE A KING OR LIKE OUR PROPHET?

Let the picture speaks for itself. How is that even possible? Allah says in Quran :

      O beloved! Undoubtedly, We have bestowed you abundance of good.       (108 :1)

So what are the abundance of good that we always take for granted? Health is one of them. And how does obesity have got anything to do with this? According to WHO, overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. It’s not too late to change or to start. Prevention is better than cure afterall. Let us look from our deen’s perspective; Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Allah touches on two extremely important points in the Qur'an when it comes to food consumption: quantity and quality.

As to food quantity, He states:

وَڪُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ وَلَا تُسۡرِفُوٓاْ‌ۚ

                                              Eat and drink, but not to excess   (7:32)

As to food quality, He states:

                                        يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ كُلُوا۟ مِمَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ حَلَٰلًۭا طَيِّبًۭا

“Eat of what is lawful and wholesome on the earth. (2: 168)

 A highly important factor of health promotion is proper nutrition. Choosing wholesome food and avoiding what is unwholesome are essential to health

Here are three simple basic rules of our Prophet Muhammad SAW  ; 1. food quantity, 2.food quality and 3.exercise.

Our Prophet Muhammad SAW and Food Quantity

“The worst vessel the son (or daughter) of Adam ever fills in his (or her) stomach.  It is enough for the son of Adam to eat a few morsels that will maintain his back’s uprightness.  But if he must add more to his stomach, then let it be one third for food, one third for water, and one third for air 

                                                             (Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasaa'I, Ibn Majah – Hadith sahih)

Looking at this hadith, our Prophet is actually drawing our attention to the dangers of overeating and how surprisingly little food we really need to live but of course not asking us to starve. In other words, we eat to live, not live to eat  Looking at the society, (which include us obviously) , our approach to food is somehow flawed. We take things for granted. We eat when we are bored, we eat when  are stressed, we eat when we are happy. We scroll through food blogs, we eat. We watch Food Netwrok, we eat.Try to recall the last time you eat when you actually feel hungry and when we eat, we tend to overeat. Aha.

Consuming food is not wrong but the way we consume might be wrong. So how do we change our perspective on food consumption? Fasting! One of the best remedies of Prophet SAW. Fasting was a regular part of the Messenger's life. He would fast every Monday and Thursday. He would also fast the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th of each month. Once you add them up you get eleven days, or roughly one-third of the month in which the Messenger would fast.

Many Muslims do not realize that when the Qur'an states that the purpose of fasting is to increase taqwa (God-Awareness), this "taqwa" attained through fasting should also manifest itself on a physical level. These physical results of fasting may have some of the following benefits :reduce blood pressure,decrease oxidative stress,protects against degenerative brain disease, control appetite,increase fat burning,increase sense of well being and so on.

Our Prophet SAW and Food Quality

Rasulullah SAW  lived to the age of 63 yet he was never reported to have experienced any cases of stomach ache or any severe illness.Our prophet himself is a very good dietitian.His diet was simple, but packed with nutrients.Among the foods that he ate regularly are dates, watermelon, cucumber, olive oil, honey, milk,yogurt, barley bread and meat (occasionally). Of course there are rules or guides on the eating principle. Try this few tips : 

http://islamicwellness.com/lets-follow-the-sunnah-eating-habits-of-rasulullah-saw/

Our Prophet SAW and Exercise

 Our Prophet Muhammad SAW was a very physically fit person. He used to walk at a fast pace and those who walked with him had difficulty keeping with him.  In a hadith reported by Ali (r) in Tirmidhi, he described Muhammad’s (s) vigorous way of walking:

“When he walked, because of the speed and force of the legs, it seemed as if he was descending from a high place.”  

Abu Huraira in another hadith in Tirmidhi narrated that,

“I did not see anyone walk faster than him, as is the earth folded for him. A few moments ago he would be here, and then there. We found it difficult to keep pace when we walked with him and he walked at his normal pace.”

The Prophet taught the importance of walking as a physical exercise by walking around Madina on foot even when he could have ridden a horse or a donkey. The prophet taught by example that the best manner in walking is taking quick and big steps,  harwalat.  The Prophet’s walk is described as form of jogging, harwala, as he was always in a hurry. He never walked lazily. So the next time you feel like a zombie walking helplessly or walking lazily gossiping with friends, think of how Rasulullah SAW would walk.

So that’s it for now. There are a lot of guides out there from scientific researches, Rasulullah SAW ,and the  Quran itself What is in here is just a tiny bit of those. Wallahu’alam

Penulis:

Anonymous

Pelajar perubatan tahun ke empat

Medical University of Warsaw