A Defining Moment

Bismillah.

Islam is definitely the perfect and most reasonable way of life. It encourages everyone to lead a life that is pure, natural and well-balanced; be it in our food, our houses, our attire, our dealings with others, basically, everything that an individual is concerned with in his life. The man who was sent to teach this beautiful religion to all mankind was as much balanced and admirable himself. He taught by example to those around him how to lead a simple, happy and productive life.

Sahih Bukhari, 3394:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “On the night of my Ascension to Heaven, I saw (the prophet) Moses who was a thin person with lank hair, looking like one of the men of the tribe of Shanua; and I saw Jesus who was of average height with red face as if he had just come out of a bathroom. And I resemble prophet Abraham more than any of his offspring does. Then I was given two cups, one containing milk and the other wine. Gabriel said, ‘Drink whichever you like.’ I took the milk and drank it. Gabriel said, ‘You have accepted what is natural, (True Religion i.e. Islam) and if you had taken the wine, your followers would have gone astray.‘ “

It was a defining moment for the whole Muslim community. A moment when the whole course of our existence, of our lives was being decided. Doubtlessly, he was the prophet and he wouldn’t have taken the wrong cup but think about this, it was a test for him. And his wisdom saved us all. If wine had become permissible, imagine what would have been the consequences? Such is a leader! He thinks far ahead and plans for generations to come.

In case you’re wondering does it really matter, you should know that “nutritional psychiatry” is an emerging popular concept today. Your food affects your physical, mental and emotional health. You can browse some of the studies on the subject and be amazed what science has to say about it today. Take fast food, for example. The youth today lives on fast food. It usually comes from artificially produced plants or animals.

Bring a fat juicy burger to your mind, the one you see commonly in ads and consider the habits that it would generate in its devourer. It’s quick food, today you can see the restlessness in the people around you. We want quick results. A relationship almost broke, well just throw it away and get a new one. We have a deluge of information in this age, everything is stored on the internet yet we can’t stay on it long enough to learn and implement anything, we’d rather watch videos of a few seconds, keep sharing images with short texts and only go through the headings of an article. Also, the meat used in fast food comes from animals and birds that do not move around and do not eat fresh food, rather they are born, made fat and stay pretty much in the same spot till they’re slaughtered. Eating this food has made us lazy and obese. We’d rather talk, argue and debate than do something. As for the diseases that come with obesity, you all know about them.

The list of habits that we’ve adopted by eating fast food is never ending. Plus the other kinds of food that we eat today and their consequences are uncountable as well. The long and short of it is that what kind of generations would we raise when we prefer soft drinks to milk and pure water? The future looks bleak from this end. We need to change this by a mass campaign to change the direction of the whole society. Our media is full of trashy food made to look appetizing, we need to come up with better marketing for the real pure and healthy food. We need to rewire the perspectives and cognition. Not just because science tells us this today, but because this is what Allah conveyed to us many centuries ago in His Book, because He is our Creator, He knows! All we need to do is to trust Him and accept what He tells us and we can live happily.

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ

O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy. [2:168]

Don’t just eat halal (lawful) but also what is tayyab (good, pure and healthy). And don’t follow in the footsteps of Satan because step by step he will take you away from the good food and eventually towards destruction.

P.S. Together we can make a difference bit by bit inshaAllah, the first step being eating lawful and good ourselves and being a role model. :)