The Prophetic Diet: The Perfect New Years Resolution

Moutasem Atiya on 30 December 2013

Moutasem Atiya
Moutasem Atiya is the Director and Co-founder of Al-Madina Institute.
Originally published in December 2012

It is probably the most common New Years resolution. We have likely made it
ourselves, or have heard it from countless friends and family. It goes something
like "This year I will lose weight and get fit." The stampede to the gym ensues,
and about three weeks later our resolution finds itself buried inside our mashed
potatoes at the Cheesecake Factory. A familiar story, we all know. So how do we
break the cycle? The answer involves reorienting our eating habits with that of the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).

Qur'anic Perspective on Food

Allah touches on two extremely important points in the Qur'an when it comes to food
consumption: quantity and quality.

As to food quantity, He states:

????????? ???????????? ????? ??????????????

Eat and drink, but not to excess

As to food quality, He states:

?????????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ??? ?????????? ??? ?????????????

O people of faith, eat from the pure provisions we have given you

These verses are the golden rules of food consumption. Both the quantity and
quality of food we eat have a direct impact on our physical, emotional and
spiritual well-being. Excessive food consumption and poor food choices can lead to
obesity. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, a staggering
35.7 percent of U.S. adults suffer from obesity and 17 percent of adolescents aged
from 2-19 are obese. Americans on average currently consume 31 percent more
calories than we did forty years ago. Obesity can lead to countless health
problems, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers,
anxiety and depression.

So what is the solution to this growing problem? It begins with changing our
approach to food.

The Messenger and Food Quantity

The worst vessel the son (or daughter) of Adam ever fills in his (or her) stomach.
It is enough for the son of Adam to eat a few morsels that will maintain his backs
uprightness. But if he must add more to his stomach, then let it be one third for
food, one third for water, and one third for air."

The statement is a stark warning and profound advice from the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings be upon him and his family). He is not advocating starvation
here, but drawing our attention to the dangers (both physical and spiritual) of
overeating and how little food we really need to live.

The way most of us approach food and its consumption is fundamentally flawed. We
eat for sport, not survival. When we are bored, we eat. When we see food, we eat.
When we watch Food Network, we eat. It is very rare we eat when we are hungry and
when we do eat we overeat.

So what is the correct way of approaching food consumption? One Prophetic answer to
this is fasting.

Fasting was a regular part of the Messenger's life. He would fast every Monday and
Thursday. He would also fast the 13th, 14th and 15th of each month. Once you add
them up you get eleven days, or roughly one-third of the month in which the
Messenger would fast.

When the Messenger was not fasting, he was "intermittently fasting", eating only
once a day. If he ate in the morning, he would not eat again until the next
morning. If he ate at night, he would not eat until the next night. He once stated,
A believer eats with one stomach while a nonbeliever eats with seven stomachs."
The profound import of this Prophetic statement points to the importance of rooting
even our food consumption in faith and the Sacred. It is interesting to note that
even ascetics of other religions (such as Buddhist monks) eat one meal a day. This
prophetic advice of fasting and intermittent fasting has even recently been
championed by some contemporary fitness gurus today.

Now we are all aware of some of the great spiritual rewards of fasting, but I want
to share with you and emphasize some of the physical results of regular fasting as
well. Many Muslims do not realize that when the Qur'an states that the purpose of
fasting is to increase taqwa (God-Awareness), this "taqwa" attained through fasting
should also manifest itself on a physical level. These physical results of fasting
may have some of the following benefits :

-Reduce blood pressure

-Reduce risk of developing cancer

-Decrease oxidative stress

-Protect against degenerative brain diseases

-Increase fat burning

-Improve blood sugar control and appetite control

-Increase sense of well-being

The Messenger and Food Quality

The Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was a careful
and healthy eater. His diet was simple, but packed with nutrients. Among the food
he would regularly eat:

- Dates

-Watermelon

-Barley Bread

-Yogurt

-Olive oil

-Cucumber
-Honey

-Milk

-Gourd

-Meat (on occasion)

It is important to note that the Messengers diet did not center on meat. It is
well known in the modern context as well as through most of the world's wisdom-
traditions that excessive consumption of meat can lead to serious physical and
spiritual aliments. There is currently a push in America to make every Monday
Meatless, and this is something I think all of us should join. The proponents of
this initiative cite evidence that keeping your red meat consumption at bay can
limit your cancer risk, reduce heart disease, fight diabetes and curb obesity. You
can check it out for yourself here: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/why-meatless/

The Messenger and Exercise

By all accounts, the Messenger of Allah was what could be described today as a
"power walker". Abu Hurairah once said, I did not see anyone walk faster than him,
as if the earth folded for him. A few moments ago he would be here, and then there.
We found it difficult to keep pace when we walked with him and he walked at his
normal pace. When another companion complained to the Messenger about being
overweight, the Prophet advised him to walk fast, or in other words, power walk!
The health benefits of walking are too many to numerate, but here are a few:

Low Impact Exercise Many of my friends complain of bad knees and joints.
Walking can help improve those issues

Build Aerobic Fitness A strenuous walk can help build up your maximal oxygen
consumption (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max)

Burn Fat Power walking, for 4-plus hours a week, has been proven to burn fat.

Stress Relief and Means of Meditation (Fikr) A brisk walk is a great time to
collect your thoughts and reflect on Allah's signs (ayaat) in the world and our
life.

Our New Year Resolutions should not be to go on just another diet. Instead let us
try and align our health habits to some degree to what could be called the
"Prophetic Diet"! If you start to add fasting, better food choices with whole and
pure foods in lesser quantity, and power walking into your weekly mix you will, God
willing, see a renewed sense of spiritual and physical well-being. Better yet, you
will be reviving three habits of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and
his family). So tell us, what will you do differently for the next year? We want to
hear from you.

Moutasem Atiya & Hasan Awan, M.D.

Follow Moutasem Atiya on Twitter - Click Here

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Assalamu alaikum Wa rahmutulla hi Wa barakatu!

This article is right on time! I'm a revert in USA and one of my health resolutions
is to eat more fresh organic veggies and fruits, raw juicing when I can, and to
eventually go vegetarian/vegan! As a new Muslim I find it frustrating sometimes to
eat only Halal and the local halal markets are very expensive. I once bought 3
packs of meat and it cost me over $30!! This is when I seriously started looking
into an organic plant based diet. Less stress/worry for me as a cook! My kids and I
love simple dishes like rice and beans and were introducing ourselves to new spices
like Tumeric! Its been fun so far.

I LOVED the info on the Prophet's (SAW) diet and the fact that he used to fast on
certain days! This is also a practice I intend to keep this year along with
walking, inshaAlah. I have 1 question though....These days-Mondays and Thursdays
and the 13th, 14th, and 15th of each month-are we to go by the Gregorian calendar
or the Islamic calendar? I've been doing it by the Gregorian calendar and I pray
this is correct!

May Allah (swt) grant us all success in adapting more Prophetic discipline in our
lives this year and the years to come inshaAllah! Ameen.

Asslamu alaikum

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What were the diet and eating habits of the Prophet , and his Companians?
Published Date: 2000-01-01
Praise be to Allaah.

The Prophets guidance with regard to food is perfect guidance. It was described by
Ibn al-Qayyim as follows:

When he put his hand in the food, he would say, Bismillaah (in the Name of
Allaah), and he told people to say this when eating. He said, When any one of you
eats, let him mention the name of Allaah. If he forgets to mention the name of
Allaah at the beginning, let him say Bismillaahi fi awwalihi wa aakhirihi (in the
name of Allaah at its beginning and at its end). Saheeh hadeeth, narrated by al-
Tirmidhi (1859) and Abu Dawood (3767).

The correct view is that it is obligatory to mention the name of Allaah (say
Bismillaah) when eating. The ahaadeeth which state this are saheeh and are clear,
with no contradictions in them.

When he raised the food to his mouth, he would say, Al-hamdu Lillaahi hamdan
katheeran tayyiban mubaarakan fihi ghayri makfiyyin wa laa muwadda wa laa
mustaghni anhu Rabbanaa azza wa jall (Allaah be praised with an abundant,
beautiful, blessed praise. He is the One Who is Sufficient, Who feeds and is never
fed, The One Who is longed for, along with that which is with Him, and the One Who
is needed. He is Our Lord, may He be glorified). Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5142).

He never criticized food at all. If he liked it, he would eat it, and if he did not
like it, he would leave it and not say anything. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3370) and
Muslim (2064).

Or he would say, I do not feel like eating this. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5076)
and Muslim (1946).

Sometimes he would praise the food, as when he asked his family for food, and they
said, We have nothing but vinegar. He asked for it and started to eat it, saying,
What a good food is vinegar. Narrated by Muslim (2052)

He used to talk whilst he was eating, as is seen from the report quoted above about
vinegar.

And he said to his step-son Umar ibn Abi Salamah when he was eating with him: Say
Bismillaah and eat from that which is in front of you in the dish*. Narrated by
al-Bukhaari (5061) and Muslim (2022). [* At the time of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), people used to eat together from one dish, and
children would sometimes forget the correct etiquette. - Translator]

He would repeatedly urge his guests to eat, as generous hosts do, and as is seen in
the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah, narrated by al-Bukhaari, about the story of drinking
milk, where he repeatedly said to him, Drink! and he kept telling him to drink
until he (the guest) said, By the One Who sent you with the truth, I have no more
room for it! Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6087).

When he ate with others, he would not leave until he had made duaa for them. He
made duaa in the house of Abd-Allaah ibn Bisr, and said: O Allaah, bless for
them that which You have provided for them, forgive them and have mercy on them.
Narrated by Muslim (2042).

He commanded people to eat with their right hands and forbade them to eat with
their left hands. He said, The Shaytaan eats with his left hand and drinks with
his left hand. Narrated by Muslim (2020). This implies that eating with the left
hand is haraam, and this is the correct view, because the one who eats with his
left hand is either a shaytaan (a devil), or he is imitating the Shaytaan.

It was also reported in a saheeh hadeeth that he told a man who was eating with his
left hand in his presence, Eat with your right hand! The man said, I cannot. He
said, May you never be able to! and the man never lifted his right hand to his
mouth after that. Narrated by Muslim (2021). If it was permissible (to eat with the
left hand), he would not have prayed against him for doing so. It was the mans
stubborn arrogance that made him refuse to obey the command, and this is the utmost
disobedience which deserved this prayer against him.

He commanded those who complained that they never felt full to eat together and not
separately, and to mention the name of Allaah (say Bismillaah) over the food so
that He might bless it for them. Narrated by Abu Dawood (3764) and Ibn Maajah
(3286).

(See Zaad al-Maaad, 2/397-406)

It was also reported that he said, I do not eat reclining. Narrated by al-
Bukhaari, 5083.

He used to eat using the first three fingers (of his right hand), which is the best
way of eating.

See: Zaad al-Maaad, 220-222. And Allaah knows best.

The Prophets guidance regarding diet:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to know what he was
eating.

He used to eat what was good for him.

He used to eat enough to keep him going, but no so much as to make him fat. Ibn
Umar narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
The believer eats in one stomach whilst the kaafir eats in seven. Narrated by al-
Bukhaari (5081) and Muslim (2060).
He taught his ummah something to protect them from diseases caused by eating and
drinking. He said: The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his
stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him
going. If he must do that (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with
food, one third with drink and one third with air. Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1381),
Ibn Maajah (3349); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah
(2265).

And Allaah knows best.