Health in the Quran

​​The Quran give us perfect and timeless guidance that if implemented will solve our health problems as a whole. The sad part about this is very few Muslims today follow this guidance.

The Guidance is related to 3 aspects about our diet: 

1. What to eat, 
2. How to eat 
3. Where to go to eat.

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What to eat?

Allah SWT says in Surat Al Baqarah

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا

O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth: lawful ( Halal) and good ( Tayyib)

The food that we are told to eat has 2 qualities:
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1. Halal ( lawful/permissible)
2. Tayyib  (good/ wholesome food)

In other words it is Halal food that is grown how Allah wants it to be grown and consumed the way Allah wants us to consume it.

For example if we look at most supermarket products, much of it is halal per se but the extra additives, flavours, colours etc  will turn the food from something that is Tayyib to that which is khabeeth - foul/disease causing.

How to eat ?

Allah SWT says in Surat Al A'raaf

كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا ۚ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ

eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.

We are told to eat and drink but not commit israaf (excessiveness). In other words not to over eat and over drink. It’s a very simple instruction but how many of us are actually doing this??? Our protruding bellies are a clear sign we are not following this command.  Over-eating will no doubt make one sick in the long run therefore limiting what one eats will go a long way in eliminating food related diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, obesity etc.

Where to go to eat ?

Allah SWT says in Surat Al A'raaf

فَلْيَنظُرْ أَيُّهَا أَزْكَىٰ طَعَامًا فَلْيَأْتِكُم بِرِزْقٍ مِّنْهُ

Let him look to which is the purist of food and bring you provision from it

This was what the Youth of the Cave advised their comrade after waking up from their sleep. The verb used li yanthur is a command to investigate. If we want to search and investigate for the purist of foods we need to get educated and spend our time and efforts to find out where to get it from.
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Fruits and vegetable that have been stored for 6 months in incubators and ripened prior to being sold is not the purist of foods.  Food that is filled with growth hormones or pesticides is not the purist of foods. Paying a bit extra can go a long way into making our food purer and beneficial rather than disease causing.

Question

Q. Is paying more to get an organic option considered Israaf ( excessiveness)? 

A. Excessiveness does not exist when trying to purchase pure and wholesome food, which is actually a command. We need to take the means to good health and rely on Allah. If we are feeding our bodies poison we would contradict the commands of the Quran to eat food that is Tayyib. Our bodies are an amaana ( trust) and we need to treat it as such.

 Wa Allahu A’lam

Nabeel Alkhalidy