Nutrition in Islam
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A highly important factor of health promotion is proper nutrition. Choosing wholesome food and avoiding what is unwholesome are essential to health.
Aallah says in the Qur'an: Eat of the good things which We have provided for you. (2:173)
Eat of what is lawful and wholesome on the earth. (2:168)
Describing the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) Allah says: He prohibits them from all that is foul. (7:157)
To abstain from eating without a valid reason is contrary to health protection. Hence, Islam does not approve of it. Allah says in the Quran: Do not forbid yourselves the wholesome things Allah has made lawful for you. (5:87)
Healthy nutrition means having a balanced diet, in order to maintain the balance that Allah has established in all matters, and to which reference is made in the Qur'an: "And He enforced the balance. That you exceed not the bounds; but observe the balance strictly,. and fall not short thereof". (55:7-9)
Healthy nutrition means a diet balanced in quantity. Eating too much is contrary to Islamic teachings.
In the Qur'an we read: Eat and drink, but avoid excess. (20:81)
According to a hadith, the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) said: "No human being fills a container to worse effect than he fills his own stomach. It is sufficient for a human being to have a few bites to keep himself fit (which means that it is sufficient to have only what one needs to maintain strength and well-being).
If he must eat ( or according to another version "If a human being cannot resist the temptation..."), then let him use one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for breathing".
Another authentic hadith quotes the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) as saying: "The food of one person will be sufficient for two, and the food of two people will be sufficient for four, and the food of four will be sufficient for eight".
Healthy nutrition also means a diet balanced in its contents. This means that it must have a mixture of the different types of food which God has graciously provided for His creation, so that it satisfies all the body needs in terms of proteins, fat, carbohydrates, salts and vitamins. Most of these are mentioned in the Quran: He created cattle which give you warmth, benefits and food to eat. (l6:5) It is He who subdued the seas, from which you eat fresh fish. (16:l4)
Referring to vegetarian food Allah says: It is He who sends down water from the sky vvith "which He brings up corn, olives, dates and grapes and other fruit. (16:11) Milk and honey are also mentioned: In cattle too you have a worthy lesson. We give you to drink of that which is in their bellies, between the chyle and the blood: pure milk, a pleasant beverage for those who drink it. (l6:66)
From within their (i.e. the bees) bellies comes forth a fluid of many hues, that provides people with a cure (of illnesses) (16:69)
Elsewhere in the Quran God says: We have made the camels a part of Allah's rites. They are of much benefit to you. (22:36)
Eat of these fruit when they ripen. (6:141)
And from it (the earth) we produced grain for their sustenance. (36:33)
Islam prefers wholemeal food. An example is the Prophet's (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) preference for wholemeal bread, as reported in a hadith' which mentions that Umm Ayman once refined some flour to bake bread for the Prophet (pbuh). He asked her what she was doing, and she replied: "This is a type of food which we used to make back home, and I thought of baking it for you". He said: "Put it (the bran) back in then make the dough".
Washing one's hands before eating is a basic principle. It ensures the cleanliness of the food we handle, so that it is not contaminated with what may be harmful. This protects the stomach from infections. A hadith, the Prophet's wife (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) mentions "the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) used to wash his hands before eating".
Another health rule stresses the need to ensure the cleanliness of food and drink. Islam urges that food should be covered so that nothing falls in it. A hadith includes the instruction: "Cover your water container". And in another version: "Cover your food and drink".
In several places in the Qur'an, Allah warns against corrupting the earth. To corrupt or pollute the environment is one aspect of such corruption. Indeed it is the first thing that comes to mind when we read God's directives, such as:
Eat and drink of the sustenance God has provided and do not corrupt the earth with evil. (2:60)
Do not corrupt the earth. (7:85)
Do not strive for corruption in the land. (28:77)
Indeed all prophets have warned their communities against spreading corruption on earth.
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