A New Series Sunnah in the Kitchen #SunnahKitchen

Let's revive the Sunnah not only in our hearts but our homes too!

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

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This is Sunnah In The Kitchen  #SunnahKitchen – A segment where we make gradual changes that we as Muslims can make in our homes and kitchen to revive the Sunnah (practice of the Prophet Mohamed ﷺ ) . I will be focusing in the food and health related habits and manners of the Prophet ﷺ; also the foods He preferred. And I'll also be including round-ups and linky parties for others to also share their ideas. So be sure to share the wealth and link your ideas and recipes!

"I would not foresake the Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed ﷺ for the opinion of anyone."

One of the most best sayings that Ali Ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه that hits me so hard whenever I read it. It goes into that thought of that the Sahabah رضي الله عنه used do a Sunnah because it is a Sunnah. But nowadays sadly many of us just leave it because it’s just a Sunnah. Meaning that it's unimportant or not even necessary for us to *try* to follow in the footsteps of our Beloved Prophet Mohamed ﷺ. Do we even know how beautiful it is to follow the Sunnah of Mohamed ﷺ, what benefit we get from it?

Have you ever considered that emulating the life of the Prophet ﷺ? Have Or thought that we should include the Sunnah in every action we make? Should include our homes? Our kitchen? have you ever pondered upon what the Prophet  ﷺ and the Sahabah رضي الله عنه ate? For me, it is all part of the package of my Islam. Islam is a living faith. It's engrained in our very being and everyday lives.

In regards to our food and health what roles do they play in our lives as Muslims. In Islam, "health" is actually not seen to be of the body, but rather the state of the heart. There is a hadith in which Prophet Mohamed ﷺ said:

"Indeed there is a piece of flesh in your body which, if it be sound, then the whole body will be sound and if it be corrupt then the whole body will be corrupt. Indeed it is the heart." [Al-Bukhari]”

He wasn't talking primarily of the physical body or the physical heart but of the spiritual body and the spiritual heart. A healthy heart is filled with trust, love, charity, compassion, lack of material desire, patience, hope, awe of God, and most importantly, gratitude. a diseased heart is filled with suspicion, envy, hatred, anger, pride, anxiety, hopelessness, and ingratitude.

Islam What is the role of food in our basic well-being, in the state of the spirit, intellect, emotions and body? Is food only related to the state of ones body and is there a connection between the body and the other integral elements of man? Many Muslims often forget that food and nourishing the body is very important in Islam. In fact, there was a deep concern about food from the very early period of Islam.  Companions of the Prophet ﷺ) were more concerned about their food than about the night prayer (qiyaamul-layl). The reason being, because if they were eating food that was not good or lawful, there wouldn’t be any night prayer! 

In relation to food, whenever the Qur’an mentions the word halal, which indicates what is permissible, it mentions tayyib, which means pure, immediately after it. What is meant by permissible and pure is that the food is not simply good to eat but it is a morally sound food, its source was ethically sound. It also has the meaning in the Arabic language of “lawful”, “pure,” “esteemed.” A person who is cheery and of good disposition is called Tayyib. Something that is pure and innocent is also Tayyib. The Prophet’s son, peace be upon them, was known as both Tayyib and Tahir, both meaning pure. Thus, the Qur’an commands us to eat “pure and permissible food.” And until the recent times the majority of food worldwide was primally close to its natural state in which Allah made it. And there was very little people could do to alter or contaminate it. But with the resources available today, people change the chemical structures of food thus making it them "faux foods". And Allah warns us not to change HIS creation in Surat Ar Rum. Not changing the natural state of something meaning "fitra". 

Everything in Allah's creation is connected in a fabric of resonances. Each creation and action connected. Even food has a resonance.  And when you eat it, it either nourishes or harms, although the food itself is neutral. If you eat in its right proportions, and if you eat good food, then it is going to be beneficial to the body. But if you overeat or eat bad food you'll get the opposite.  The worst thing you can do is to completely fill the body with food. In a Sahih Hadith the Prophet ﷺ said: 

“The worst vessel that the son of Adam can fill is his stomach.” [Sahih]

And he also said: 

“It is enough for the son of Adam to have just morsels (of food) to keep his back upright. But if you have to eat more than that [and everybody thinks this is part of the Sunnah] then one third for food, one third for water, and one third for air.”[Al-Bukhari]

The Prophet ﷺ taught us how to eat, sleep, and worship. He taughts us food is our essential connection with the world. He reminded us that our bodies have rights over us too. The Sunnah is to consume enough morsels to keep our backs straight, while filling one third of the stomach with food, one third air and one third with water, is the dispensation (rukhsa) given to us by the Prophet ﷺ . One of the early pious Muslims said that he would prefer to stop eating before he became satiated so that he would be able to perform the night prayer. But at the same time, we know that the Prophet ﷺ  did not encourage self-denial since he did not like going to extremes. He always encouraged the "middle path" in all matters.

As the "minister of the interior" J I've made certain lifestyle changes over the years to facilitate hahal living and reviving the Sunnah. These changes have been slow and gradual, working with the wisdom of the Sunnah and what is locally avaliable to us. We still have a ways to go but we're working on it. Being encourages and inspired by the sisters on Facebook, and the hard working sister Ameenah over at Mariam Poppins I'm happy to present this new series to you all my dear readers. And encourage you to join in and revive the Sunnah in your home.

Here are some questions to ponder on ..

• Did people at the time of Prophet ﷺ hit the McDdrive-thru for lunchfor lunch?
• Did the people at the time of the Prophet ﷺ grab one of those prepackaged meals before heading home after work ?
• Did they have out of season vegetables irradiated and flown across the world so that that they could enjoy strawberries in December?
• Did the people at the time of time of the Prophet ﷺ have to assign themselves to the "fad diet" to be healthy?
• Did the people at the time of Prophet ﷺ eat low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-carb or even vegan?
• Did the Prophet ﷺ or the Sahabah fast all day only to stuff themselves in the evening?
• Did they have cupboards full of canned and packaged foods?
• Did the food during the time of the Prophet ﷺ have to be "enriched" or have "vitamins" added to it?
• Did the people at the time of Prophet ﷺ cook or eat from plastic or aluminium vessels?
• Did bleached sugar exist during the time of the Prophet ﷺ?
• Did bleached rice exist during the time of the Prophet ﷺ?
• Did they prepare bread from bleached white flour during the time of the Prophet ﷺ?
• Come to think of it, did bleach exist during the time of the Prophet ﷺ?
• Did they have hydrogenation plants at the time of the Prophet ﷺ to process our oil to within a molecule of plastic?
• What about chemical pesticides? Chemical preservatives? Artificial coloring? Artificial flavoring? Artificial anything?

So to all who say they are striving to emulate the life and times of the Prophet ﷺ and the Sahabah, please think about the food you eat and it's sources. As they were the ORIGINAL Islamic Green Movement... natural, self-sufficient, living off the land, growing and eating organic, whole grain, in-season and locally grown foods. I see many of us Muslims forgetting the ways of Prophet ﷺ and eating highly processed foods. Does the Sunnah end where the stomach, and sadly our lust for food, begins?

Want to make some lifestyle changes to bring it closer to the Sunnah? Don't know where to start? Just ask! We can work on it together, enchAllah. 

Welcome to Sunnah Kitchen!

How are you reviving the sunnah in your home and kitchen?

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