Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, especially in affluent and developed societies. Despite intense social pressures to have an ideal physique, rates of obesity continue to increase at alarming rates. The health impact of obesity has been staggering, as it is associated with chronic and life-threatening diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, arthritis, and cancers.

Radical bariatric surgical procedures have become one of the most effective methods in reducing weight in morbidly obese patients.  These surgeries dramatically reduce the capacity of the stomach and impact satiety. However, these surgeries have many risks and carry long-term health consequences as well. No optimal method of prevention has been formulated and adopted to address this growing problem.

The wisdom of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ‎ (peace be upon him) and his approach to eating and satiety can fill volumes of books. One of his narrations sums up the challenge of eating and satiety that can have a profound impact on individuals, communities and whole societies.

It has been narrated that the Prophet ﷺ‎ said, “No man fills a container worse than his stomach. A few morsels that keep his back upright are sufficient for him. If he has to, then he should keep one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for his breathing.” (At-Tirmidhi)

This single narration defines the “eating” problem, especially as it relates to an intense struggle with one’s desires, advocates prevention, and provides practical advice.

The first portion of the hadith (narration) warns of the dangers of filling one’s stomach. Not only will there be health consequences, but an impact on our iman (faith). Eating to satiety is the tendency of the nafs (spirit), which ultimately commands to harm. There are indeed strong hunger impulses and satiety hormones that are closely related to the capacity of the stomach and one’s need for nutrition. The architecture and orientation of muscle fibers allows distention of the stomach, thus allowing one to over-consume, prior to the sensation of satiety. If we rely on our body’s feedback to stop eating, we will always eat in excess. In essence, the stomach can be seen as a trap.

Every time one eats, the body has to respond to the meal intake, not only by absorbing nutrients, proteins and carbohydrates, but by storing anything that is in excess as fat. Unfortunately, excess fat in our bodies results in many disorders, such as insulin resistance, chronic inflammation and atheriosclerosis.

In his book on “Breaking the two desires”, Imam Al-Ghazaly claims that happiness can be achieved when one struggles for control over his nafs and desires, and misery results when one is controlled by their desires. Once one is aware that consuming food is inherently a struggle between the nafs and the soul, we may start to appreciate the magnitude of the problem.

In the second portion of the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ teaches us about what our bodies really need. Very little is actually required to keep us up and running. As fasting teaches us, we can eat a third or less of what we typically eat and be fully productive. This concept has been advocated in the form of caloric restriction and intermittent fasting in recent medical literature. This was the Prophet’s ﷺ practice through out his prophethood; he fasted frequently and every week, and never ate to satiety.

The third part of his hadith gives us practical advice. While it is implied that one should ideally not fill one’s stomach, there is still understanding for our weakness, especially with the matter of food and satiety. He advises us to divide our capacity in three: a third for food, a third for fluids, and a third for air. This strategy encourages us to plan our meals, to prepare healthy foods without waste, and always be conscious of how much we put in our stomachs.

He ﷺ has encouraged us to make less while preparing foods:

“The food of two persons suffices for three persons, and the food of three persons suffices for four persons.” (Al-Bukhari)

In these few prophetic words, the Prophet ﷺ teaches us the principle of prevention and thoughtful restriction, to be conscious of our eating habits, and to prepare and eat our foods with taqwa (consciousness) and responsibility.  He always looked for blessing in his food and praised Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He) for what he was given. Hopefully, Muslims can follow his prophetic method and expect to live healthier lives, free from excess weight and diseases, and gaining hasanat (rewards) for their actions.

Allah (swt) knows best.

Photo: Colleen P

My wife says that this could be her last Ramadan.  I protest saying it could be, but it could also be mine, and it could be anyone else’s, and that no one is guaranteed anything, anyway.   This is half-hearted and she knows it.  We do indeed all know that we are going to die but my wife—age 32, and a year into her diagnosis of stage 4 kidney cancer with metastasis to multiple organs and bone—is keenly aware of this.

Ramadan is a time to reflect on death and to turn platitudes like “remember death” into spiritual cures.  For many—and ourselves included prior to the cancer diagnosis —death was not routinely on our minds.  We may think about it during Ramadan, then we forget, settling back into our comfortable routine.

But cancer disrupts routine.  There are appointments and scans and side-effects and drugs.  There are waiting rooms filled with other patients, seeing their frail bodies and strong souls and then whispering, “May Allah save us.”  Your own body, weakening and shrinking, testifies to its eventual demise; the cancer is literally waging a mutinous war.  We shudder when reading articles that talk about survival in months, not years.  A quickly evaporating sense of time races perspective forward, and forces you to focus on the finite period of time you have left.  We have learned some lessons along the way, although we ourselves have by no means fully implemented all of them.  We still struggle every day. Nonetheless, we hope that sharing some of these realizations may help others benefit without the trial.

We have learned that effective use of time starts with paying real, active attention—to be firmly attuned to your state and the blessings surrounding you.  Whether that is pondering the richness of the Qur’an, the power of the ocean waves, the beauty of your spouse, the soft caress of a summer breeze, the miracle of your mental and physical faculties… Doing this consistently takes effort.  This diagnosis has given us an opportunity to deeply reflect on the bounty of our Rabb (Lord). What is important quickly separates, like cream rising from milk.  Frivolity becomes lame and spending moments with loved ones and God becomes paramount. And diagnoses like these shows that life is a collection of moments, and our goal should be to make each of those moments an act of ibadah (worship), because that moment is itself a mercy of our Creator.  Recognition and attentiveness to your blessings are keys to happiness.  Even in this difficult time we realize that we are still so very blessed. Remember the refrain:

“Then which of your Lord’s blessings would you deny?” (Surah Rahman)

Know that however bad you think you have it, there are better people who are in worse conditions.  Be grateful: “So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.” (Qur’an, 2:152)

Going though this make it abundantly clear that control is only an illusion.  The veil is lifted and you are reminded over and over again that the only one in control is the One. “Allah [alone] is sufficient for us, and He is the best Disposer of affairs [for us]” (Qur’an, 3:173). In the end no one can help you, not your degrees, connections, doctors, friends, or family, unless God allows them to.

And the main means of accessing Him is through du`a’ (supplication), genuine, heartfelt—and in our case, desperate—du`a’.  Remember:  “And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way,” (Qur’an, 2:186).  We make du`a’ and beg everyone we meet to make du`a’ for us as well.

We are also reminded that the outcomes that we pray for may not be the outcomes that He has planned. Remember:  “It may be that you hate something when it is good for you and it may be that you love something when it is bad for you. Allah knows and you know not,” (Qur’an, 2:216).  It is a humbling reminder, but we still must maintain hope.  We continue to pray for what we think is best, but know that God may have something better in store for us.

In the end, we are all terminal—a mitotic misadventure away.  But do not wait for a calamity to bring you to your knees to remind you of this and make the most of the precious, limited, beautiful time you have now.

May we humbly request that you remember us in your du`a’.

The author wishes to remain anonymous.  You can contact him at: CancerIslam@outlook.com

Glimpses of Marital Bliss: Part I

By Anonymous

Here is an inspiring narrative of a woman who was married through an arranged marriage, who grew to love her husband with passion and compassion, and who was there for him—as he was there for her—through the thick and thin of life.

“AlhamduliLah (praise be to God), I’ve been married for many years, despite all our ups and downs we never left each other’s side.

Within three weeks of being married, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. We laugh about it now and say our honeymoon destination was the hospital!  By the way, we never did end up going on a honeymoon. We were just starting off our marriage which was forcibly arranged but alhamduliLah we grew to like one another after our long distance nikah (marriage contract).

During that time, we wrote letters to one another and waited weeks for a response! Long gone are those days now. But they were beautiful hand-written letters full of love and passion for a stranger—in western terms— that we wrote to one another only on the basis of knowing that a powerful contract bound us—our nikah.

So when I was finally “given away,” we started our life. I was in my second year of university and my husband was a new immigrant to Canada from Pakistan. As you can imagine, money was tight—we had an apartment, I had a part-time job, he had no work or adequate education at the time, and our parents thought this was a good time for marriage although we did not think so!

Anyway Allah, subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He), is truly the best of planners. After a modest wedding party we were “officially” married. Three weeks later after experiencing shortness of breath, it was discovered my husband had cancer.

Our world came to a stop. The first week of his treatment was the longest week of my life! Time stood still, but I knew Allah (swt) would save him.  I questioned my faith at that time. We plowed ahead through all the treatment—both chemo and radiation! And the treatment worked beautifully alhamduliLah.

All the while I worked in a part-time job trying to pay rent and cover the basic expenses. My parents allowed us to move in with them temporarily.

Luckily, living in Canada, we had access to top of the line cancer treatment at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.  What a blessing indeed…if my husband was in Pakistan his family would have had to sell their modest home and sell much of what they owned for his treatment.

AlhamduliLah after the treatment, tears, pain and physical and emotional scars, my husband has been cancer-free for 14 years by Allah’s grace (swt).

We have two beautiful children. This was another blessing because after all his treatment, doctors were unsure if we could have children, and due to the cost of storing sperm we decided that was the last of our priorities.  We left it up to Allah (swt). If we were meant to have children he would bless us with them! And indeed He did!

During my husband’s treatment he had a dream that he was making tawaf in Mecca around the Kabah.  He wanted to go for Hajj but of course he was too weak.

A few months after my husband’s treatment was complete, my Aunt called and asked us if we could go on a fully sponsored Hajj trip from herself and my uncle!  Subhan’Allah (glory be to God)! So our first anniversary was spent on the Hajj! Who could have asked for a more beautiful trip than that—all expenses paid? So we went and had the most wonderful experience!  My first experience hearing the adhan (call to prayer) in Medina filled my eyes with tears and I trembled as I cried uncontrollably. Was this for real? Subhan’Allah!

Because my husband’s tumor was close to his heart, during radiation therapy we were told some damage could result on his heart making him more likely to develop a heart condition. Fast-forward and we are now in the process of finding out if his heart is completely healthy or not. Doctors have raised some concerns. Again we are together, side by side!  Pray for him please!

During experiences like this, how can we not thank Allah (swt) for each other’s company?  Although our marriage took place under not so ideal conditions, it was worth it because it brought us closer to Allah (swt).

There isn’t a day that I don’t thank Allah (swt) for bringing my husband into my life.  He has always been my rock, and I see him as a wonderful gift from Allah (swt) to me.  He has helped me grow in so many ways.

We still argue and disagree but honestly, compared to what we have been through so early in our marriage, many issues do not bother us.

AlhamduliLah I joke with my husband and say my dad made the best decision for me! My dad went for Hajj and prayed for a partner for me, and if I wanted to find such a wonderful man on my own I doubt I could have!

So that’s my story! Thank you for the opportunity to express my gratitude to Allah (swt) for bringing such a fine man in my life!”

*If you would like share sweet glimpses from your marriage with hopes of spreading awareness of positive relationships in the Muslim community, please email info@VirtualMosque.com with a short narrative. Your submission may be featured anonymously in this mini-series of Glimpses of Marital Bliss.