Overburden
In the last verse of part 3,
Almighty Allah says:
لَا يُکَلِّفُ اللّٰهُ نَفْسًا اِلَّا
وُسْعَهَا
Allah
places not burden on any being but to the extent of his strength.
[Kanz-ul-Īmān (Translation of Quran)] (Part
3, Sūraĥ Al-Baqaraĥ, verse 286)
Dear Islamic brothers! There is
absolutely no doubt that Allah never overburdens anyone. Alas! How sad is the
state of the greedy person who eats in excess at meals just for the pleasure of
his Nafs and devours many other things during the day and night, overburdening
his stomach. Obviously, if the person who can carry just 40 kg weight is
overburdened with 100 kg weight, he will collapse. In the same way, there is a
limit to the functions of the stomach. If someone overeats without chewing food
properly, then how will his stomach be able to digest it? As a result, the
entire digestive system will be badly affected. The stomach will become ill and
begin to cause diseases in other parts of the body. As our Beloved Rasūl ﷺ has rightly stated, 'The stomach is like a
pond in the body and the veins are the streams which proceed towards this pond.
If the stomach is healthy, the veins return with health and if the stomach is
ill, the veins return with disease.'
(Shu'ab-ul-Īmān, vol. 5, pp. 66,
Ḥadīš 5796)
I eat
very little
Some Islamic brothers who are either
overweight or have stomach illnesses are heard saying that they eat very
little. Some of them lie because of the hardness of their hearts while some say
this due to their misconception. If we observe what they call 'little eating'
we will come to know that their 'little eating' includes quite a lot of food.
During breakfast, they eat eggs, bread, cereal, halvah and Pūrī and then during
the day they consume a few cold drinks, ice creams, several cups of tea,
biscuits, burgers, pieces of cake, few sweet delicacies etc. In this way, the
real cause of their obesity and stomach problems is exposed. If someone's
stomach gets full by eating a little, he should also cut down on his food
intake so that a little desire for hunger remains. In other words, an ant
should cut down according to its weight and an elephant should cut down
according to its weight.
Precautions
of eating less
1. If your father or mother commands
you to eat until the stomach is full, you should obey their command.
2. If you are an employee and eating
less causes weakness and makes you less efficient at work, it is necessary to
seek permission from your employer for eating less in this case.
3. Similarly, if eating less creates an
obstacle in acquiring or imparting Islamic knowledge, you should eat according
to your needs.
4. If you are eating with a guest and
it seems that he may stop eating (in embarrassment) if you do, then you should
continue to eat with him.
5. If your host insists that you eat
more and there are no obstacles and you are still a little hungry, you may eat
a little as making a Muslim happy is a good deed.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ has stated, 'He who makes happiness enter a Muslim household,
Allah does not like anything else for that person except Paradise.'
(Ṭabarānī Ṣaghīr, vol. 2, pp.
51)
صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبِ ۞ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ
تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد
Eating
less is preferable but lying is Ḥarām
If you are a guest somewhere and
your host insists that you eat more, but you do not want to eat anymore despite
having hunger, so be cautious before replying. You should say, for example,
'May Allah bless you! May Allah reward you! جَزَاكَ
اللّٰهُ خَيْرًا etc.'
Do not tell lies. Despite having
hunger, some people tell lies on such occasions. Here are some examples of
false statements, 'I have eaten a stomach full', 'My stomach is full', 'No, no,
there is no place in my stomach', 'I am telling the truth', 'I am not hungry at
all.' etc.
Bear in mind that lying is a major
sin and a Ḥarām act that could lead to Hell. We should be extremely cautious
while treading on the path of Taqwā (asceticism). We must not be deceived by
our Nafs into committing Ḥarām deeds like ostentation, lying, having pride,
disobedience to parents, belittling and having an ill opinion about Muslims
just for fulfilling the Mustaḥab act of eating less. Remember that Nafs always
induces everyone to do evil. The Holy Quran states:
اِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَاَمَّارَةٌۢ بِالسُّوْۗءِ
Without
doubt, Nafs strongly commands bad deeds.
[Kanz-ul-Īmān (Translation of Quran)] (Part
13, Sūraĥ Yūsuf, verse 53)
We should make every possible effort
to overcome our Nafs. Without doubt, there are glad tidings of Paradise for the
person who overpowers his Nafs and succeeds in preventing it from evil desires.
In this regard, the Holy Quran states:
وَاَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهٖ وَنَهَى
النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوٰى فَاِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِیَ الْمَاْوٰی
And
he who feared standing in front of his Creator and prevented his Nafs from
desires, without doubt, for him is Paradise.
[Kanz-ul-Īmān (Translation of Quran)] (Part
30, Sūraĥ An-Nāzi'āt, verse 40, 41)
What
is Nafs?
If you have made up your mind to attain
the blessings of hunger by applying the Madanī guard to your stomach for the
pleasure of Allah , then remember that you will be strongly opposed by your
Nafs. Controlling the Nafs is not easy. In this regard, Sayyidunā Bāyazīd
Bisṭāmī has stated, 'Nafs is such an attribute which is not satisfied (with
anything) but evil.' (In other words, Nafs is happy only with evil). Sayyidunā
Sulaymān Dārānī has stated, 'Opposing the Nafs is the most virtuous deed.'
(Kashf-ul-Mahjūb, pp. 395-396)
Better
than one year's worship
Sayyidunā Sulaymān Dārānī has
stated, 'Abandoning a desire from the desires of Nafs is more beneficial to the
heart than fasting and remaining awake (in worship) for the entire year.'
(Jażb-ul-Qulūb, vol. 2, pp. 336)
صَلُّوْا عَلَى الْحَبِيْبِ ۞ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ
تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد
No comments:
Post a Comment