Health is one of the underappreciated divine bounties. Our Prophet (pbuh) warns of the common ignorance and negligence in this regard. “There are two divine blessings that people do not properly value,” he said, “health and leisure.” (Bukhârî, Riqâq, 1). Thus he warns us, his community, against the remorse we may suffer for wasting these two precious gifts.
Ibn `Umar (r.a) reported that the Messenger of Allah said, “When you reach the morning, don’t wait for the evening. When you reach the evening, don’t wait for the morning. When you are healthy, take precautions for the time when you may be sick. Throughout you life, take precautions for the time you die.” (Bukhârî, Riqâq, 3)
Allah entrusted each of us with a body, and our bodies have due rights over us. In fact, in order to pursue the life of servanthood properly, it is necessary to maintain physical as well as spiritual health. Acts of worship may only be performed fully when a person has a healthy body. Is it possible for someone who is not healthy to offer ritual prayers serenely or to fast with inner peace? So many ritual acts and good works that allow people’s hearts to draw closer to Allah depend on the blessing of health. When one loses one’s health, one’s acts of worship and of service lose their wholeness. Thus when we still have the opportunity to keep ourselves healthy, we should thank Allah properly for this bounty and pay close attention to our worship and the giving of charity.
Just as with all other bounties, health may be wasted if one does not follow the divine instructions concerning its preservation. Smoking may not be considered very important, but one can lose one’s health by it, as one can by indulging in various forbidden acts. To throw your health away is to treat your body profligately. In order to avoid wasting our health, we must protect it by following the guidance of reason and the divine commands. This involves seeking healthy nourishment, but also protecting our bodies from natural factors like excessive heat and cold, and from the results of negligence, such as traffic accidents.
Our religion includes a variety of material and spiritual teachings concerning the protection of health. It orders us to be prudent in the consumption of food. It advises that we should not go to places where a contagious disease has been identified, but that if we have contracted a contagious disease, we should not travel from where we are. It provides basic principles of preventive medicine through an array of commands and counsels.
Our religion informs us that in order to protect our health, spiritual precautions are also necessary. These include being careful to pay the share of the poor out of our wealth, and giving alms. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) indicated the extent of spiritual precautions needed protect health. He said, “An act of charity is due for every joint of the human body. This is why every instance of declaring Allah’s glory counts as charity; every instance of thanking Allah counts as charity, every recitation of “There is no god but Allah” counts as charity; every declaration of” Allah is greater” counts as charity; to give good advice is charity; to warn against something evil is charity. The ritual prayer of two cycles performed before noon has the same status.” (Bukhârî, Sulh, 11).
Certainly being healthy and happy are great blessings that oblige their possessor to thank Allah. This obligation may be satisfied by giving alms out of one’s material goods. It may also be satisfied by the recitation of litanies, by performing ritual worship, and by a variety of actions undertaken to serve others so that one may please Allah.
The respected Companions of the Prophet, who are presented to us as role models because of their high virtues,[1] made great efforts in the cause of Allah because they took the bounties bestowed by Allah as capital to invest toward the life of the Hereafter. Allah the Almighty blessed their efforts. The modern lifestyle, with its overconsumption, gluttony, luxury and ostentation, was not practiced by the Companions of the Prophet. They pursued their lives in accordance with their consciousness that “the soul’s mansion tomorrow will be the grave.”
If the body, which is entrusted to us for a certain period, is not properly fed, whether because of miserliness or for some other reason, it will be subject to various kinds of weakness and diseases. Overfeeding it will produce a similar result. Whether one overfeeds it on lawful or unlawful food, there will be physical illness. However, if the body is fed on unlawfully obtained food, in addition to losing our bodily health, we may lose our spiritual health as well.
The higher a person’s spiritual state, the greater care that person takes concerning food and drink. For example, according to the religious law, to keep eating after one’s hunger is satisfied is accounted wasteful. According to the Sufi path, to keep eating until one’s hunger is satisfied is accounted wasteful. At the level of truth, to eat without remembering the divine presence is accounted wasteful. And at the level of recognition of Allah, to eat without contemplating the divine disclosure manifested in the gift of food is accounted wasteful.
The hidden guide Khidr visited `Abdulkhâliq Gujduwânî, one of the Friends of Allah. The conversation between the two concerning the consumption of food and drink is full of lessons, since it displays the peak of spiritual sensitivity.
Showing hospitality, `Abdulkhâliq Gujduwânî offered Kidr food, but Khidr u refused to eat it, and moved away from the table. `Abdulkhâliq Gujduwânî was surprised. “This is a lawfully obtained food,” he said.” Why don’t you eat?”
Khidr replied, “Yes, it is obtained lawfully, but the one who prepared it cooked it with anger and in heedlessness.”
Thus the spiritual quality of our food is influenced not only by whether the food was lawfully obtained, but also by the psychological condition of whoever prepares it. And the spiritual qualify of our inner attitudes and ritual acts is influenced by the quality of our food. So look at how sensitive we must be concerning the food that we eat.
Food sold through public display is set before the eyes of people, some of whom are likely to be poor people who desire to have it but cannot afford it. These people have a certain right over such food because of having been exposed to it. Also, we do not know how commercial foods are prepared. Unfortunately, people are frequently careless about the harm that such foods may cause. However, the history of the food we consume, that is, the way it was made and comes to us, influences our state.
Lawfully obtained food has an important part in purifying the heart. Abdulqâdir Gaylânî stated, “Eating unlawfully obtained food kills the heart; eating lawfully obtained food enlivens it. There is food that makes you occupied with the world. There is also food that makes you occupied with the Hereafter. There is even food that makes you love Allah the Exalted.”
Mawlânâ Jalâladdîn Rûmî said, “Last night some doubtful bits of food went down to my stomach and closed the way by which inspiration comes.” His statement shows that we must be as careful about the spiritual quality of the food we consume as we are about its material quality.
Mawlânâ also said, “Do not feed your body so much! After all, it is a sacrificial victim that will be delivered to the soil. But feed your heart as much as you can, for it is your heart that will ascend to honor. …Feed your body less, because those who feed it more than is necessary begin pursuing selfish desires, and are destined to disgrace.”
To act immoderately in such matters is not suitable to the dignity of a believer.
Our virtuous predecessors said, “Allah summarized the entire science of medicine in a half verse of the Qur’an:
…Eat and drink, but do not waste by excess!…(A’raf, 7/31).
They emphasized the importance of keeping away from waste when consuming food and drink so that one might have a healthy life in spiritual as well as material terms.[2]
In a Prophetic saying we read: “Eat, drink, dress yourself, and give charity without falling into profligacy and arrogance.” (Bukhârî, Libâs, 1). This saying indicates the limits the limits that people should observe when they satisfy their needs. In another Prophetic saying, we read: “It would certainly be extravagance to eat everything you desire!” (Ibn Mâja, At`ima, 51).
Greedily devouring everything is what is termed gluttony, and our religion forbids such an action. Again, this saying indicates that having the opportunity to indulge does not justify overindulgence. Indeed when `Umar came across Jâbir , who had a piece of meat in his hand, he asked him, “What is that?”
Jâbir (r.a) answered: “It is a piece of meat, which I bought because I desired it.”
`Umar (r.a) replied, “Do you buy everything that you desire? Don’t you fear that you might be one of those who are described in the verse: ‘You spent and exhausted all your good things in the life of the world…’(Ahkâf 46/20)” (Ibn Hanbal, Zuhd, p.124).
Our Prophet (pbuh) concisely stated the measure one must observe regarding consumption: “No man filled a cup more dangerous than his stomach. Certainly a few bites of food are sufficient to live. But if one has to eat more, let him allow one third of his stomach for food, one third of it for drink, and one third of it for breathing!” (Tirmidhî, Zuhd, 47).
The following event that happened during the Age of Felicity clearly indicates the importance of following the prophetic guidelines concerning the consumption of food and beverage.
Along with many precious gifts, the governor of Alexandria sent our Prophet (pbuh) a physician. Our Prophet (pbuh) said to the physician, “You may go back to your family. We are a community that does not eat unless it gets hungry, and when we eat, we stop before our stomachs are full.” (Halabî, Insân al-`Uyûn, III, 299).
These Prophetic statements include the prescription to heal many diseases resulting from the excessive consumption and extravagance commonly observed in our age.
`Umar (r.a) gives the following advice in this regard: “Refrain from entirely filling your stomach with food and drink. Otherwise it will be harmful to your body, will encourage the emergence of disease, and will make you lazy about ritual prayer. Follow the middle way regarding the consumption of food and drink! That is more useful to your body, and will also move you away from wastefulness.” (Ali al-Muttaqî, Kanz, XV, 433/41713).
Thevenôt, a Western traveler, wrote a book of observations made during his travels and published it in Paris in 1665. In that book he recorded how our predecessors, who carried the flag of Islam for so many centuries, organized their lives. He noted their cleanliness and simplicity and their moderation in consumption, and how all these customs resulted in a society of healthy people. He said:
Turks live a healthy life and rarely get sick. Among them, you do not find the diseases related to the kidneys and so many other dangerous diseases that we come across in our homeland. They do not even know their names. I suppose that the reasons why the Turks have such perfect health conditions are that they bathe frequently and are moderate in their consumption of food and beverages. They eat only small amounts of food. And the foods they eat are not mixed, unlike the kind of food commonly eaten among Christians.[3]
A proverb reminds us, “A person should not live to eat, but should eat to live!” The principle describes an important characteristic of believers. The following episode explains this measure of Islamic morality. It is full of lessons.
One day, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) had a guest, who was an unbeliever. The Prophet (pbuh) ordered that a sheep should be milked for the guest. They milked the sheep and brought the milk to the guest. The guest drank all the milk that was brought to him. So they brought another pot, and the guest drank all of that. This happened seven times; the guest drank seven pots of milk. The next day the guest embraced Islam. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) again ordered that they should bring milk to the guest. They brought one pot of milk, and the guest finished it. The Prophet (pbuh) ordered another pot, and. they brought it, but this time the guest could not drink it all. Upon this the Prophet (pbuh), the pride of the universe, said: “A believer drinks with one intestine, while an unbeliever drinks with seven intestines!” (Muslim, Ashriba’, 186).
Allah the Exalted wants us to be moderate in the consumption of food and drink and keep away from the custom that unbelievers follow in this regard. He warns us:
…while those who reject Allah will enjoy (this world) and eat as cattle eat. And the Fire will be their abode. (Muhammad, 47/12)
All behaviors that remove the blessing of the food are included under wastefulness. So if one begins eating without washing one’s hands and without remembering Allah, and if one does not thank Allah at the end of the meal, such negligence is considered not only ingratitude, but also profligacy.
In a Prophetic saying we read: “The blessing of the meal is in washing one’s hands before and after the meal.” (Tirmidhî, At`ima, 39).
“When someone goes to bed without washing the food off his hands, if he experiences harm, let him not blame anybody but himself!” (Abû Dâwûd, At’ima, 53).
Our ancestors were quite careful about washing hands before and after meals. Ricaut, a secretary who worked in the British Consulate in Istanbul in the seventeenth century (and indeed an enemy of the Turks), described the carefulness of our predecessors regarding meal-time hygiene. “Hand-washing is so common a custom among Turks,” he remarked, “that they have a proverb that Allah created food so that people might wash their hands!”[4]
Thus observing the rules of hygiene when eating or drinking becomes a means to increase blessing and supports both material and spiritual health and peace. Additionally, if people begin a meal by saying bismillâh (“in the name of Allah”) and end it with alhamdulillâh (“the praise belongs to Allah”), that meal becomes curative, whereas a meal consumed without remembering and thanking Allah produces only negligence and excess weight. Our Prophet (pbuh) declared:
If a person says bismillâh when entering his house and when beginning his meal, the Devil says to his soldiers, “You can neither spend the night nor find food here.” But if a person does not say bismillâh when he enters his house, the Devil says to his soldiers, “Here is a place for you to spend the night.” And if that person does not say bismillâh when he begins to eat, the Devil says to his soldiers, “You have found both a place to stay the night and something to eat.” (Muslim, Ashriba’, 103)
A’ishah (r.a) related :
Once the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sat down to eat with six of his Companions. A Bedouin came; he ate all the food in two bites. Then our Prophet (pbuh) said, “If he had said bismillâh, the food would have been enough for all of us. Thus when any of you begins eating, let him say bismillâh. If he forgets to say it at the beginning, let him say bismillâh fi awwâlihi wa akhirihi, “In the name of Allah be its beginning and its end.”
When drinking water, the proper manners are to say bismillâh and to drink it in three sips; at the end one should say alhamdulillâh. Our Prophet (pbuh) used to drink water and other beverages by dividing them into three parts. He said, “Don’t drink things down all at once, as camels do. Drink in two or three sips. Pronounce bismillâh before you drink something; and at the end say alhamdulillâh. (Tirmidhî, Ashriba, 13). Our Prophet (pbuh) also forbade blowing into a beverage for any reason.
A certain man asked him, “What shall I do if I see that something dirty has fallen into the water jar?”
The Messenger of Allah said, “Pour the fallen thing out!”
Then the man said, “I don’t feel that my thirst is quenched when I drink.” The Messenger of Allah suggested that he drink the water divided into three parts, and added, “Then take the cup of water away from your mouth!” (Tirmidhî, Ashriba’, 15)
Eating alone also decreases the blessing in the food, and is a kind of wastefulness.. Our Prophet (pbuh) said that “There is compassion in community, and fire in solitude.” He advised us to be together when we eat.
Wahshî b. Harb related that some Companions said, “O Messenger of Allah! We eat but we do not feel satisfied.”
The Messenger of Allah asked, “Perhaps you have your meals alone?”
They said, “Yes, we do!”
The Messenger of Allah told them, “Have your meals together and say bismillâh, so that your food becomes blessed.” (Abû Dâwûd, At`ima, 14)
The Prophet (pbuh) also warned us, “If one of you drops a bite of food and it gets dirty, let him clean the dirt off and eat his bite. Do not leave it to the Devil.” Continuing his warning, he encouraged us to eat all the food on our plates. “You do not know where the blessing of the meal is found,” he said. (Muslim, Ashriba’, 136).
One feels terribly shaken when one sees the wastefulness dominating our habits of consumption of food and drink, in our daily life and especially during wedding ceremonies and feasts. At such times the amount of waste is immeasurable. We may form a rough idea of our wastefulness by watching our consumption of bread. Although it is difficult to precisely measure the amount of waste involved in other sorts of expenses, we may form some estimate by watching what happens with loaves of bread. The estimated results are frightening.
Preparing ostentatious banquets to show off pride and power, encouraging gluttony with all-you-can-eat meals, strutting about foolishly in expensive designer clothes – all these excessive behaviors will certainly bring regret in the Hereafter, since we shall be questioned on these expenditures according to the divine measure.
Wedding ceremonies and banquets are important means for strengthening community feeling. Unfortunately, when such celebrations are designed egotistically, for purposes of show, they do not function to build community feeling. Instead they push people toward evil sentiments like pride, arrogance, jealousy, and envy, which lead to disappointment. Communities where such celebrations are encouraged fall away from the divine mercy and blessing.
To sum up, the end of a life controlled by extravagance is such a huge disappointment that Allah the Almighty says:
The profligate are the friends of devils.(Isrâ, 17/27)
The Messenger of Allah reminded us that in the Hereafter we shall be required to give an accounting of all the bounties and trusts that we received during our worldly life. He urged us to move away from negligence. “No servant of Allah will be able to leave his place before he provides an explanation of where he spent his life, what he achieved with his knowledge, how he earned his wealth and how spent it, and how he spent the strength of his body.” (Tirmidhî, Qiyâmah, 1)
Thus we should never forget that going beyond the divinely set limits with regard to consumption of food and drink is wastefulness. Neglecting the bounty of health and thus losing it is wastefulness. Spending our lifetime in vain is grave wastefulness. Neglecting to protect the material and spiritual trusts in our care, orienting our thoughts and feelings in wrong directions – these are also wastefulness. Especially in the area of education, which is the making of human personality, neglecting to help other human beings to understand that they are the most honored of creatures, and thus losing them, is a most serious wastefulness.
Certainly it is an indispensable task for parents to provide their children education that promotes adoption of the Qur’an and the Prophetic tradition. This education should be such that it prevents the loss of children’s spiritual life. Efforts in this direction also show how much we love the Qur’an and the Prophet (pbuh), and abide by them. As the Prophet (pbuh) declared, “I have entrusted two things to you: the Book and the Tradition (Sunnah).” (Muwatta’, Qadar, 3).
Thus we must make efforts to increase our love for the noble Qur’an. And we must pay close attention to the spiritual and moral formation of our children, since these are usually neglected in the formal life of education.
Indeed the most precious legacy that we may leave to our children is the culture of the noble Qur’an and the Prophetic tradition. We must try hard to lead our children to adopt the Prophetic moral traits, which means the implementation of the Qur’anic guidelines with full acceptance. We should not waste their eternal life in exchange for concerns regarding their temporary life.
In this regard, if we love our children, if we want to protect them from all kinds of danger, and if we want to be together with them in the Hereafter, we must make efforts to be sure that they receive an education that incorporates the tenets of faith. Allah the Almighty states how efforts in this regard become a means of happiness in the Hereafter:
Those who believe and whose seed follow them in faith, We cause their seed to join them (there), and we deprive them of nothing of their (life’s) work. Every person is a pledge for that which he has earned.(at-Tûr, 52/21)
Those believers who receive this blessing shall be together with their faithful progeny in the Hereafter. It is an exceptional divine grace bestowed upon them, that they should live in Paradise together with their children. In this way the joy and happiness of parents become perfect. The condition of receiving such a grace is that our children be educated as faithful generations, raised within the atmosphere of the noble Qur’an and the Prophetic tradition. To fulfill our duty toward our children concerning the life of the Hereafter is a heavy responsibility that we take upon our shoulders. Let us keep far away from the “waste of human resources” that is the gravest of all kinds of profligacy.
***
If our most important activities are analyzed in the light of the measures we have now identified as relevant to profligacy, we will see how extensive the application of this concept truly is. Wastefulness categorizes a wide range of behaviors that manifest in a variety of forms in every area of our lives, from too much hatred and too much love to the ostentation in celebrations and banquets.
What we have done so far is to attempt to identify usable standards and to point in the general direction of their implementation by analyzing a few essential issues. But the standards and attitudes we have tried to identify here are not bound to the topics mentioned: they are applicable to all kinds of human actions. Thus we should not forget that it is our responsibility to apply these standards wherever they turn out to be applicable, and so keep away from all kinds of extravagance and miserliness.
May Allah the Almighty keep us away from the extremes of either too little or too much! May He help us to achieve a life of servanthood that pleases Him! May He guide us so that we use all of His bounties according to the great principle of moderation, and may we thank Him for them properly!
Amin…
[1]. See at-Tawbah, 9/100.
[2]. See, Ibn Kathîr, Tafsîr, II, 219.
[3]. M. De Thevenot, Relation d’un Voyage Fait au Levant, s. 58, Paris, 1665.
[4]. Ricaut, Histoire de I’état Présent de I’Empire Ottoman, s. 285, Paris, 1670.