ভূমিকা

The Messenger of Allah (S) has said, “I warn you in relation to eating too much because surely this act poisons the heart by making it hard (no emotional feelings), and makes your body parts lazy and lethargic in relation to obedience of Allah, and it deafens the ears from hearing advice and good counsel.

I also warn you in relation to looking around with inquisitiveness because surely this act excites your desires and gives birth to negligence.”[^1] In the above tradition, we have been prohibited from eating too much (filling our stomach) and looking at other people and (immaterial) things with inquisitiveness.

Eating too much: The issue of observing moderation in our food is something whose importance we do not know or realize as we are not acquainted with the important benefits - both from the point of view of our physical body and health, and also in relation to our spirit and soul that this action has upon us. Thus, eating too much can be looked at from two different angles: the physical aspect and the spiritual aspect.

A) The Physical Aspect: It has been confirmed that a majority of the diseases which people are afflicted with are due to eating too much food.

There are some doctors that have even brought proof to back up this claim and state that, “Microbes can and do enter the body from four different channels which are air, food, water and sometimes even through our skin and there is no way to prevent these from coming into our system.” When this skin of ours - which is a thick barrier that should prevent microbes from entering our body - has a scratch or wound on it, it is possible that through this injury, microbes can enter the body, thus breaking through this barrier of protection.

Thus, we always try to defend ourselves from various types of attacks of microbes and illnesses. In addition, our body develops the means of protection and the defense mechanisms needed so that it does not become a source of infections.