Food Is Your Test Until Judgment Day

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Food is a great blessing and so it is befitting that we deal with it with proper manners.

We eat out of thankfulness to Allah and out of our service to Allah. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught us the proper manners of eating. A concern believer should feel within them the preference of the Prophetic practice and accept that the Prophetic practice is superior. We should try to put into practice the sunnah of eating as much as we can.

We practice basic manners not only in public (formal or informal) but also in private. True adab is a natural part of our behavior. So you avoid pretenses by upholding proper manners even when you are eating alone.

Begin eating with the Name of Allah (e.g. say Bismillah) and end with praising Allah (e.g. say Alhamdulillah)

Eat with humility. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "I am but a servant and I eat like a servant." So following the way of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, one eats with one’s hand, sit on the ground, lean forward, etc.

Humility with respect to food is that we realize that this is a tremendous blessing so we eat while feeling overwhelm by the blessing of Allah.

Avoid overeating and wasting food.

Narrated Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that,

The family of Muhammad never ate their fill three days in a row till the Prophet passed away.

[Bukhari]

Abdullah ibn Umar narrated that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

The believer eats with one stomach while the disbeliever eats with seven stomachs.

[Bukhari and Muslim]

Meaning: The believer eats with the manners of Islam and in moderation, while the disbeliever eats based on desires and gluttony and so he eats with seven stomachs.

Allah talks about the disbeliever in the Qur'an, He says:

وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ وَٱلْإِنسِ ۖ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَّا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ ءَاذَانٌ لَّا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَآ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ كَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْغَـٰفِلُونَ ﴿١٧٩

And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless. (179)

[Qur'an Al-'Araf 7:179]

Overfill the stomach is the means of you causing much harm to yourself. It is well known that overeating is injurious to health. Every individual has a personal need for food. If this threshold is exceeded then the excess fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals become a burden upon the body. It will usually be dealt with by either expelling this excess from the body through the kidney, lungs or skin, or by storing it in the body in the form of fat. In both cases, the individual will not have benefited from what was eaten.

Ultimately, one eats to live, not lives to eat.

Allah says,

فَخَلَفَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضَاعُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلشَّهَوَٰتِ ۖ فَسَوْفَ يَلْقَوْنَ غَيًّا ﴿٥٩﴾ إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًا فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ شَيْـًٔا ﴿٦٠

But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil - (59) Except those who repent, believe and do righteousness; for those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged at all. (60)

[Qur'an Maryam 50:59-60]

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

The best generation is my generation, followed by the one after them then the one after them. Then will come a people who bear witness but are not asked to bear witness, who swear oaths but do not fulfill them and fatness will appear among them.

[Bukhari and Muslim]

On the authority of Al-Miqdaam ibn Maadiy-Karib who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying:

No human ever filled a vessel worse than the stomach. Sufficient for any son of Adam are some morsels to keep his back straight. But if it must be, then one third for his food, one third for his drink and one third for his breath.

Ibn Masaweh, a Muslim doctor, said after reading this hadith: "If the people only used these words, they would avoid all diseases and maladies and the clinics and pharmacies would be idle."

Another doctor, Al-Harith ibn Kalada said: That which has killed mankind is the introduction of food on top of food before it has been digested.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

My greatest fear for you is the appetites of transgression with regard to your stomachs and your privates and the inclinations which lead astray

[Ahmad]

Overeating has also behavioral and social effects, such as reducing productivity and efficiency at work.

We eat to seek the pleasure of Allah and to give us strength to worship Him and go out to help people.

`Abdullah bin Busr Al-Aslami, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Messenger of Allah, Allah be pleased with him, said,

The best of people is one whose life is long and his conduct is good.

[At-Tirmidhi].

Longevity of life is a blessing, provided it is accompanied by Faith and good deeds; otherwise, the longer life one has, the greater will be the number of sins. Such a long life is disastrous.

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, reported:

The Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, was the best of all the people in behavior.

[Bukhari and Muslim].

Al-Hassan Al-Basri:

The test of Adam, peace be upon him, was food and it is your test until Qiyama. And, it used to be said: Whoever takes control of his stomach gets control of all good deeds. And, wisdom does not reside in a full stomach. One day, Al-Hassan offered some food to his companion who said: I have eaten until I am no longer able to eat. To which Al-Hassan said: Subhaana Allah! Does a Muslim eat until he is no longer able to eat?

Ash-Shafi’I said:

I have not filled myself in sixteen years because filling oneself makes the body heavy, removes clear understanding, induces sleep and makes one weak for worship.

We should be wary of the size of our containers. Don't take more than you can eat. It will wind up in the garbage. Allah does not love the wasteful.

Allah says,

يَـٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ خُذُوا۟ زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ وَلَا تُسْرِفُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُسْرِفِينَ ﴿٣١

And eat and drink and be not extravagant; surely He does not love the extravagant.

[Qur'an Al-A'raf 7:31]

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, told us not to eat on your own but to share your food with others. You will it to be more than enough.

Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

Food for two is enough for three, and food for three is enough for four.

[Agreed upon]

Jabir said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say,

The food of one person is enough for two, food for two is enough for four, and food for four is enough for eight.

[Muslim]

Sharing food is a means of developing and strengthening relationship and healing strained and broken relationship that has been strained and fractured. It is much more powerful to invite them for food than go to restaurant.

May Allah help us realize the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and grant us excellent health so we may worship Him well. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh