The Prophet and his state regarding eating and drinking

The Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who was sent as a mercy to all the worlds, was also a man who performed the same necessary actions of daily life as we do, including eating, drinking and sleeping.

In Chapter Two of the book Ash-Shifa of Qadi ‘Iyad, it detailed Allah’s perfecting the Prophet’s good qualities of character and constitution, and giving him all the virtues of the Deen and this world.

In the corresponding Section 7, the Prophet’s state regarding the necessary actions of daily life was discussed, in particular with regards to eating, drinking as well as sleeping.

The following can be found in page 44, which is reproduced here with permission inshallah from the translator Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley, for the benefit of all.

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SECTION 7
His state regarding the necessary actions of daily life

The things necessary for daily life can be of three kinds:

1. There is the kind which is excellent when it is little in quantity.
2. There is the kind which is excellent when it is large in quantity.
3. There is the kind which varies according to the situation.

The sort of thing agreed to be more perfect and praiseworthy when it is little in quantity in any situation, both according to custom and the Shari’a, consist of such things as food and drink.

Both the Arabs and the men of wisdom continue to praise making do with little of them and censure having too much of them, because indulging in a lot of food and drink indicates greed, avaries, avidity and being dominated by appetite.

The results in harm in this world and the Next. It brings about physical illnesses, courseness in the self and dullness in the brain. A little of it indicates contentment and self-control. Restraint in appetite produces health, clear thought and a sharp mind.

The same applies to excess of sleep. It is an indication of feebleness and weakness, and lack of intelligence and astuteness. This produces laziness, the habit of failure, frittering away one’s life in what is not useful, hardness of heart and the neglect and death of the heart.

The proof of this is well-known, observed and transmitted in what previous communities and wise men of the past have said, particularly in the poems of the Arabs and their stories.

It is also to be found in sound hadists and the traditions of the Salaf and those who came after them which do not need to be quoted.

We will not mention them in full here, giving only a summary, since the knowledge they contain is quite well-known.

Regarding both of the above-mentioned things, the Prophet was the most abstemious of men, a fact which can be gleaned from his well-known biography. He commanded and encouraged people to make do with little of them, connecting them together.

Al-Miqdam ibn Ma’dikarib said that the Messenger of Allah said, “The son of Adam does not fill any container worse than his belly. Sufficient for the son of Adam are some morsels to keep his back straight. If there must be [more], then it is a third for his food, a third for his drink and a third for breath,” (1) because the result of a lot of food and drink is a lot of sleep.

Sufyan ath-Thawri said, “By having only a little food, one is able to stay awake at night.”

One of the Salaf said, “Do not eat a lot so that you drink a lot and then sleep a lot and lose a lot.”

It is related that the Prophet said, “The kind of food which I prefer is that with many hands in it.” (2)

The kind of food which I prefer is that with many hands in it. - The Prophet

‘Aisha said, “The Prohet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, never filled his stomach completely. When he was with his family, he did not ask them for food nor desire it. If they fed it to him, he ate. He accepted whatever they served him and he drank whatever they gave him to drink.”

This is not contradicted by the hadist of Barira when the Prophet said, “Didn’t I see a pot with meat in it?” (3)

It is possible that the Prophet asked in this instance since he realised that they thought it was not lawful for him and he wanted to make the sunna clear. Seeing that they did not offer him any of it, even though he knew that they did not prefer themselves to him, he ascertained whether what he thought was true and made the matter clear for them by saying, “It is sadaqa for her and a gift for us.”

Part of Luqman’s wisdom is, “My son, when the intestines are full, reflection sleeps, wisdom is dumb and the limbs falter in worship.”

Sahnun said, “Knowledge is not fitting for someone who eats until he is full.”

In a sound hadist, the Prophet said, “As for myself, I do not eat sitting in a settled posture.” (4)

Sitting in a settled posture is sitting firmly settled or reclining in order to eat, or instance cross-legged or in some other such comfortable manner of sitting. Someone who sits in this manner demands food and seeks a lot of it. When the Prophet sat down to eat, he sat squatting, as someone ready to get up. (5)

He said, “I am a slave. I eat as a slave eats and I sit as a slave sits.” (6)

The import of this hadist is not merely reclining on one’s side as some people say.

It was the same with his sleep, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He slept but little. Sound traditions testify to that. Furthermore, the Prohet said, “My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep.” (7)

He used to sleep on his right side in order to be able to sleep less (heavily) because sleeping on the left side is easier for the heart and the internal organs since they incline to the left side.

Sleeping on the left side leads to a deep, long sleep. When someone sleeps on his right side, the heart is suspended and agitated, and the sleeper tends to wake up quickly and is not overpowered by deep sleep.

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Footnotes:
(1) At-Thirmidhi, an-Nasa’i and Ibn Hibban.
(2) Related by all from Anas and Jabir.
(3) Muslim and Bukhari. The point of which was to prove the lawfulness of the meat Barira was cooking.
(4) Al-Bukhari.
(5) Muslim
(6) Al-Bazzar from Ibn ‘Umar with a weak isnad.
(7) Muslim and al-Bukhari.

Reproduced with permission from the book Muhammad Messenger of Allah (Ash-Shifa’ of Qadi ‘Iyad) by Qadi ‘Iyad Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi, translated by Aisha Abdarrahman Bewley. Published by Madinah Press, Inverness, Scotland. Buy the book online here. Photo courtesy of TheGrandInternational.com