How The Food We Eat Affects Our Spirituality

Transcript of the Khatira delivered by Dr. Munawar Haque on Oct 28, 2017

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين

Brothers and sisters! Our spiritual life has different dynamics. The ups and downs of our spiritual life depend a great deal on many things in life. In today’s khatira I want to share with you how even the food we eat can affect our spirituality. Our spirituality rises and falls. Many factors affect the ups and downs of our spirituality, such as our sins, our lack of ‘ibadah, our bad companionship etc. Even the food we eat affects our overall spirituality.

One might consider oneself healthy as long as one’s body is free from any disease. But that’s a very narrow definition of health. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This statement is true. However, Islam takes a much broader and a more holistic approach to defining health. The Islamic definition of health isn’t just related to our physical, mental and social well-being. It also includes our emotional and spiritual well-being. And these two factors tend to be neglected in discussions and definitions of health.

Man is a highly sophisticated creation of Allah (SWT). Our body, mind, emotions and spirituality are all interconnected. Anything that affects our mind affects our body too. For instance, when we neglect the health of our body and get sick, it takes a toll on our spirituality too. Don’t we notice how even a slight headache makes it challenging to pray with full attention?

One of the aims and purposes of the Shariah is to protect our intellect, which is among the most cherished gifts of God, and which differentiates us from animals. Anything that threatens the intellect is prohibited by the Shariah. That’s why the Qur’an prohibits certain foods and drink for us, because their consumption not only harms our body; it also harms our mind, and therefore our spirituality too.

While the list of prohibited (haram) foods is very clear to us, there are also foods that are in fact permissible (halal) but not necessarily good for our body, mind or spirituality. As Muslims, we always look for foods that are halal, but sometimes we forget to ask whether or not it’s good for us. However, the commandment of Allah (SWT) is explicit:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا

“O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good.”  (al-Baqarah, 2:168)

So, note the emphasis on “lawful and good.” Whatever we eat should not only be halal but also good. Islam encourages us to eat foods that are rich with the ‘good stuff’ such as vitamins and nutrients. And it discourages us to eat food that has elements that may do harm to our body and mind.  

Generally speaking, foods that are least processed and closest to their natural state are good foods. These are so-called whole foods or real foods, such as vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, grains, nuts, seeds etc. So we should strive to include these real foods in our diet. We should also try our best to reduce the consumption of highly processed and refined foods that come from factories and laboratories. Most of these foods are easy to identify as they usually come with wonderful health claims on the package: “good for your heart,” “low-fat,” “high in fiber,” “100% natural” etc. These foods are not produced in farms, and have a long list of ingredients.

How do these foods affect our spirituality? Our spirituality can be significantly affected by the level of our energy. In fact, the lack of energy is one of the reasons for us not to be able to do enough good deeds or not to engage in many beneficial things. When we are tired and have low energy, we’ll notice how difficult it is to focus on anything meaningful. That’s because our brain needs energy to think and focus. When we run low on energy, focusing is the last thing our brain wants to do.

Maintaining a constant level of energy provides us with the focus we need. Real foods not only give the endless energy we need but are also full of nutrients to improve our overall health. A chocolate bar does give us energy, but it’s only for a short period. Such an energy spike is promptly followed by a crash that leaves us feeling more depleted of energy, so it’s not a good long-term strategy to maintain our energy level.

There is another role that our diet consisting of halal and good food plays. Such food keeps our thoughts positive, making us feel more optimistic. We may wonder what optimism has to do with our spirituality—a lot in fact. Being optimistic is, indeed, a prophetic Sunnah. Abu Hurairah (RA) said that the Messenger of Allah liked optimism and detested pessimism.

In a study, the researchers wanted to find out whether depression and anxiety have any association with the food people eat. So they compared the traditional diet characterized by vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, and whole grains with the western diet, which is a diet of processed or fried foods, refined grains, sugary products etc. The western diet was found to be more associated with major depression and anxiety disorders. So the food we eat affects our thoughts and in turn, affects our spirituality.

The food we eat also plays a vital role in determining the quality and quantity of our sleep. Taking fatty, fried, or spicy foods just before bedtime are known to disrupt our sleep. We should also avoid caffeine that is found in coffee, tea, soda, chocolate etc before we go to bed. And of course, smoking, which is well known to be injurious to health, also impairs sleep. Research studies link nicotine with insomnia which is the inability to get sufficient sleep.  

Getting adequate sleep is one of the pillars of a healthy, meaningful and productive life. The Quran and the Sunnah highlight the importance of sufficient sleep in many places:

وَجَعَلْنَا نَوْمَكُمْ سُبَاتًا

“And we made your sleep as a thing for rest” (an-Naba, 78.9)

The Prophet (SAW) told one of his companions who was praying the whole night “Offer prayers and also sleep at night, as your body has a right on you.” 

Also, overeating lawful and good food isn’t conducive to improving our relationship with Allah. The quantity of food is as important as the quality of food. In a hadith, the Prophet (SAW) said, “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is enough for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls to keep him going, but if he must (fill his stomach), then one third for his food, one third for his drink and one third for air.”

When we eat healthily and eat only until we are slightly full, our mood, our energy, our thinking pattern and even our sleep improves. And all these improvements help us to enhance our spirituality.  

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

• Prev
• Next