Eat To Live

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

I was sitting by a fence waiting for a bus this morning. It was about 9:30 a.m. A lady came and sat on my left and got a bag of potato chips out of a grocery bag and started eating. She was polite and offered some to me. I declined her offer nonetheless. She finished the whole bag pretty swiftly and then she got out a chocolate bar and finished that too in no time. I thought she was done. But then she whipped out a can of soda and drank it all! Maybe this is normal breakfast for some people, but what are you doing to the poor body?

My eye caught on to a food wrapper that was flying to the ground. I looked up and there was this man standing in front of me who had just released it from his hand. He was still chewing the food that was in it.

While I was thinking about the two behaviors and if I should say something, a man came and sat on the empty space to my right and started to lit a cigarette. And I definitely didn't want to have second hand smoke for my breakfast and so I stood up and walked away.

The most basic matters in living is eating and drinking. Eating and drinking have a great effect on what we turn into. Ultimately, you are what you eat.

We eat for a purpose. That purpose governs what we eat, how much we eat, when and how often we eat. Our body, we should nourish it with halal and wholesome food to keep us healthy and give us strength to worship Allah. That purpose also governs our attitude and that attitude is full of gratitude.

Our attitude to eating and drinking is extremely important and it should be in line with the teachings of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Otherwise, the thing which is the essence of living, can turn into a curse, ruin our body, ruin our heart, ruin our worship, and become an obsession.

We begin eating with, “With the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,” (Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim). If one forgets then one should say, when one remembers, “With the Name of Allah, in its beginning and its end,” (Bismillah
awwalahu wa aakhirahu). At the end, we say, “All praise is for Allah,” (Alhamdulillah).

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever eats food and says, “All praise is for Allah who fed me this and provided it to me without any ability of mine or power,” his previous sins are forgiven.”

Allah created the world for us and He didn't create us for the world. He created us for Him. A Muslim eats to live, not live to eat.

May Allah make us among His grateful slaves. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam