Eat in Moderation and Variety

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “الْمَعِدَةُ بَيْتُ الدَّاءِ وَالْحِمْيَةُ رَأْسُ الدَّوَاءِ”, “Al-mi’dah bāytu d-dā’i wa l-ḥimya ra’su d-dawa’i”, “The stomach is the house of diseases, and diet is the best medicine.” Ṣadaqa Rasūlu Llāh ﷺ fi ma qal aw kamā qal. (The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ says the truth in what he ﷺ said or as he ﷺ said). The stomach is the place of people’s illness. It’s the house of illness, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. And diet is the medicine, the best of medicines.

That’s why, you should watch what you eat. You should eat in moderation. As a cure for you, whatever harms you, you should stay away from it or you should eat a little of it. Too much of anything is harmful. They say, too much of a good thing is bad. That’s why, there wasn’t this much food in the past. People couldn’t find this much food. Now when they find it, they don’t recognize any limits or boundaries. One eats as much as his ego wants. Normally in a day, one meal is a must; two is the sunnah of the mashāyikh; and three is for normal people. People are not satisfied with three. They eat all the time. And as we said, they don’t pay attention to what they eat.

Now they’re saying again, meat is that much, it’s expensive. It’s not necessary to eat meat all the time. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “سيِّدُ الطَّعامِ اللَّحمُ”, the most valuable of foods is meat. But of course, one cannot find meat all the time. He should also eat vegetables. There is cure in everything Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has made ḥalāl for us. He must eat from everything. Now people are used to only one thing. They eat something and don’t want anything else. Vegetables, no one will approach it much. It has to be meat. So there must be things to balance the body. If you’re going to eat meat, there’s no need to eat too much. One must eat from vegetables, from grains, from everything.

People of old times used to cook from everything. There were varieties. On the Ottomans table, on the Sultan’s table, there were fifty varieties. It would be much more even; there was at least fifty varieties and they were all different. Of course, people cannot make that much now. But people are too lazy to cook at home now. They get from outside. And it’s not clear what they put outside. So it’s not clear what they eat. And there are some really weird things that have come out. They put substances in it in order make it taste better. Those substances poison the human body. They destroy the organs inside you. Also drinks, they’re a thousand times worse.

That’s why, our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says that the place of illness is the stomach. Be careful what you put in it. Some things may be sweet and taste nicely, yet everything should be eaten in moderation. As much as you can, let your children eat from home. It will be both beneficial for them and healthy. Allāh ﷻ has given favors. There is a cure for everything. Apart from cure, everything has many benefits for the body and for the soul. Not only for the body, it is also important for spirituality.

Therefore, be careful with what you eat and drink, and what you feed your children. Get them used to eating everything from childhood. Children now are now like the four-legged creatures. These creatures too, if you give them straw all the time, they eat straw. But if you take them outside, they try to eat more grass, leaves and such. They love it more. Since Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla even gave them that, human beings are more important, more intelligent. We must make them used to it.

Let them eat everything. Intend for it to be cure, light and īmān for them. Before you eat, wash your hands and say BismiLlāh. Now most people don’t wash their hands. Most people don’t know BismiLlāh anyways. After that, they ask why the illnesses have increased. May Allāh ﷻ help us. May what we eat be cure, light and īmān for us, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

• Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbaniق

19 April 2025/ 21 Shawwal 1446

Fajr Prayer – Akbaba Dergah, Istanbul