The Worst Container : #Obesity

Whenever we consider what Rasoolullah told us with regards to eating, we are remembering Allah. So among the basic principles or pillars of eating, the etiquette of eating in Islam, is that we eat a third, drink a third, and leave a third for breathing. Of course, those who are used to over-indulging, because when they give you on Sheikh Google what is the capacity of the stomach, they are giving you the capacity of the normal stomach, not the capacity of the people who are used to gorging themselves on a regular basis, over eating. Cuz the stomach is like a balloon, the more air you blow into it, the bigger it gets. So it's the same thing, it is an expandable organ. So if you are used to packing it in every time, every meal you are just piling it in, then your stomach gets bigger, bigger and bigger. So your capacity now is maybe double or triple of what the normal person's capacity is. But the point is that if you are able to control yourself, because your stomach again, if you stop packing it in and set a specific regime of how much you are going to eat, then the stomach starts to decrease, and it will go back down to its normal size. And then when you eat that two thirds, you will feel, not full because that's the whole point, you don't fill the stomach. And the Prophet (sallalaho alaihi wasallam) emphasized that saying, 'the worst container that a human being can fill is his stomach.' The worst container. You have containers, things which contain things, you pour things in them all the time, right?

The worst one to fill is the stomach. This is prophetic advice. So if we are able to take this on, it would make a difference for most of us. Because now we are in a generation according to WHO (world health organization) from the year 2004 onwards for the first time in recorded human history, the number of people who are obese is greater than the number of people who are starving. This is the state of the world today. And Prophet Muhammad (sallalaho alaihi wasallam) in Sahih Al Bukhari, when talking about the future, the signs of the last day, the coming of the last day, he said...

'and there would appear them (amongst the Muslims) obesity.'

Because in the Prophet (sallalaho alaihi wasallam)'s time this was very uncommon, only people who had medical problems (were obese). You know, cuze for some people it is a medical thing. You are not talking about the average person, we are talking about special people, they have some problems where they eat a little bit, they get fat. But we are talking about the norm. So, the norm amongst the Muslim ummah was for people to be of moderate build, moderate or lean. They lived, you know, lives which was active, so that obesity, and they didn't, you know, this luxury eating styles, lifestyles, etc. wasn't there. So people maintained natural states they were not obese. Obesity was rare. But Prophet (sallalaho alaihi wasallam) said, 'Among sings of coming of the last day was that obesity will appear among Muslims.' Meaning it becomes prominent, it becomes known, we see it all around us. The worst container that a human being can fill is his stomach. The worst container. This is prophetic advice.

- by Sheikh Dr. Bilal Philips