I read this today: World faces a ‘devastating’ diabetes epidemic - WHO
Here is the interesting part:
The per capita death toll was highest in the Middle East and parts of the Pacific, with more than one in four deaths in the 35-64 age range attributed to diabetes.
Every Muslim is first to proclaim that Islam is a natural solution to the worlds ills. I continuously hear about the solutions that Islam brings; our sobriety is the solution to alcholism, our committment against Zina is what will cure the world of STD’s or unwanted pregnancies, our hatred of usury will solve the economic problems of the world.
If our belief is perfection, then why aren’t we in a perfect state? The examples of what I hear in response is that Islam has been held back by corrupt leaders, or by Wahabi’s or by the television.
I laugh at this, we blame everything else. But, look above, we cannot even control the morsels we put in our mouth, we cannot give an ounce of thought to what it is that Allah has provided, and what we have chosen to sustain us.
Why do we not reflect on the importance of food to our souls and to our bodies? How much of the Quran and Hadith, in regards to such a simple thing as food, is spent indicating what is forbidden, what is allowed, and how we should eat?
Yet, we give it no spiritual significance. We see an Oreo cookie and wonder, green light or red light? Gelatin or not? That is the sad extent of the depth of our thought regarding food.
When the Prophet (sallalahu’alaihee-wassalam) was asked how he could fast for so long, we were told he received his sustenence from Allah. The Prophet (sallalahu’alaihee-wassalam) was the perfect man, and he was sustained by perfection. Can we not see that we literally are what we eat?
We read of Rabi’a al-Adawiya (May her secret be sanctified), at Seeing the Dawn, that animals ran from Hasan and he asked:
“Why did they run away from me, and associated so tamely with you?” he asked Rabi’a.
“What have you eaten today?” Rabi’a countered.
“A little onion pulp.”
“You eat their fat,” Rabi’a remarked. “Why then should they not flee from you?”
There is a -deep- spiritual significance to what we eat and how it affects our reality and our relationship with God. This is just one of many stories of the awliya and their remarkable relationship with food.
What is the relationship of todays Muslim and food?
The pure pleasure of eating into a slice of pizza is what attracts most students to endure the endless drivel repeated by the president of their local MSA. The ambrosia of Coca-Cola is awaiting us when we break open our fast. Zam Zam water remains in our fridges, too holy to drink, while we instead ingest high-fructose corn syrup by the gallons. Fasting is simply an excuse to gouge ourselves at dusk.
Our bodies are powerful and balanced systems. Why don’t we draw some relationship between our food, our bodies and our souls, since they are so closely intertwined?
Ya Muslimeen! Your bodies will be called to testify against you! Each part will discuss how it was used or abused. Our strongest souls are being collected by death! Why? Because of we have abandoned the sunnah of the Prophet (Sallalaahu’alaihee-wassalam)!
We choose refined flour in our breads, when the Prophet (Sallalaahu’alaihee-wassalam) ordered Umm Ayman, when refining bread for his consumption, to put the bran back into the dough (in a hadith related by Ibn Majah). We eat man-made foods from robotic factories rather than the pure food of the earth that the Companions ate. We worry about the minute details of ingredients, looking for the forbidden and permitted, but we don’t spend a thought to recognize that partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is literally a killer.
Hey, as long as its vegetable, right?
May 6th, 2004 - 10:01 pm
Isn’t today Carb day? Woooohooooo! Blueberry muffins and chips here I come!
Well written, and it makes a lot of sense. But definitely not easy to follow in life. The ease of unhealthy foods is partly to blame as well. I rarely have time to prepare healthy meals for each in the day. Rarely is a man in this day and age fortunate enough to have that luxury. Why is it that things that are good for you are harder to come by, or even less appealing in the case of food?
Don’t tell me you aren’t looking forward to that blueberry muffin on your counter, or that slice of pizza you have when your carbing up =] I guess in your defense though, I know it is in moderation and your diet is well thought out. But you do crave the tastier foods in life.
May 6th, 2004 - 10:17 pm
haha.. yes but as you and I both know I’ve learned the hard way about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 90% of my diet is now all natural meats, cheeses, vegetables, fruits. But this blog entry is just as much an admonishment to myself as it is to the few readers who reads the site.
My current diet plan does allow me to indulge in sweets once, weekly, but it is quite controlled and I track every food I eat on http://www.fitday.com .
May 6th, 2004 - 11:15 pm
as-salaamu `alaykum, great post and great blog brother, jazaaka l-laahu khayran. I blogged about this post at my site but I can’t figure out how to “ping” you so that it shows up in your trackback. I’m still new at this, so if you can tell me what to do that would be great.
May 6th, 2004 - 11:55 pm
wa-laikum’salaam Sister Umm Zaynab,
Jazakalaah, and thanks so much for the comments. To ping me, first click on my trackback link and copy the URL to ping.
Then, if you use Haloscan, you can login to haloscan and click on “Manage trackback”.
Click on Send ping, fill out the information and click just paste the Trackback url from my page into the “URLs to Ping”.
It’s a bit of a chore, but once you do it once it should be easy.
I do a lot more trackbacks then most people probably because I use moveable type instead of Blogger and those other things. It makes it quite easy to trackback, very ‘built-in’.
Thanks again for the kind words.
-Yursil
May 7th, 2004 - 3:06 am
Salaam ‘Alaikum
Interesting… I guess you’ve heard “Food for Thought?” I wish more people would listen to it. My personal thing is the meat issue, how people now eat meat all the time or expect it at every meal. Even my own husband likes meat at his dinner meal, but he’s sort of mystified that Americans will snack on meat (Slim Jims and all that).
May 7th, 2004 - 4:54 am
mashallah gr8 entry
May 7th, 2004 - 7:56 am
Good point. But man tracking your intake? You are fortunate to have that time and luxury, but I guess after a while it becomes second nature. Eventually you will run into the complications of family and surrounding pressures that will make it harder to eat healthy. Stick with it my friend, because it is worth it. I’m in such a dietary rut that with the added time consumption of 1 kid, 2 on the way, a wife and home life stopping to cook all natural foods for all meals is just not an option. Even for dinner it is tough and tends to be on the less healthy more processed side of the food choices.
I hope when the dust settles a little I will be able to follow some of the suggestions you put forward in both your words and actions. By then you will be a pro at it with your own book and can give me insider info =]
I wish I knew some fancy foreign language words to throw in my post two… So think of all the nice friendly Urdu phrases a friend can say to another and pretend I said them
May 7th, 2004 - 7:58 am
I also wish I could edit my posts to fix my proofreading errors. Great blog bro, best of luck.
May 7th, 2004 - 10:13 am
Wa’laikum-salaam UZ,
I have not actually heard “Food for thought”, it sounds interesting. Where can I find it?
May 7th, 2004 - 11:30 am
Seen in Blogistan
The adab of food and eating is a big one I am thinking about when it comes to parenting and family life because, sadly I think, so much of family life (and the accompanying struggles) seems to revolve around food. When, what, how much, with whom, man…
May 7th, 2004 - 11:32 am
I did it! Jazaaka l-laahu khayran.
May 7th, 2004 - 5:27 pm
Salaam ‘Alaikum
‘Food for Thought’ is a two-part weekend class that Sh. Hamza Yusuf did some time ago. I am guessing you can get it at Alhambra Productions. I got mine at Ta-Ha’s store in Newark when he was still carrying Sh. Hamza tapes.