{"fatawa":{"id":7367,"title":"Ahaadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which criticize extravagance with regard to food","slug":"ahaadeeth-of-the-prophet-peace-and-blessings-of-allaah-be-upon-him-which-criticize-extravagance-with-regard-to-food","order":"","question":"How authentic are the two following ahadeeth:  \r\nNarrated by A\u2019esha, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said: \u201cthe first calamity for this nation after the prophet\u2019s death is fullness of their stomachs; when their stomachs became full, they became obese and their hearts weakened and their desires became wild\u201d Bukhari.  \r\nThe prophet advised us not to eat everything we desire to eat. Narrated by Anas ben Malik, may Allah be pleased with him that the prophet said: \u201cit is extravagance that one eats whatever he desire\u201d Ibn majah.  \r\nIs there anything that forbids one to eat a lot, or not to be able to control how much he eats? Any hadeeth, verse, or a book about prohibiting extravagance in foods, or about the prophet\u2019s way regarding foods and eating.","answer":"Praise be to Allaah.\r\nFirstly: \r\n\r\nGluttony is one of the greatest sins that lead to doom and it causes many diseases and sicknesses, both spiritual and physical, because it leads to sexual desire, then the desire for status and wealth in order to fulfil the first two desires. Then that generates spiritual diseases such as showing off, destructive envy (hasad), boastfulness and arrogance because of being focused on worldly matters. In most cases that leads to evil and immorality, all of it because of this desire. The Arabs of old said: The stomach is the home of disease and restraint is the basis of the remedy.  \r\n\r\nAllaah says (interpretation of the meaning): \r\n\r\n\u201cand eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allaah) likes not Al\u2011Musrifoon (those who waste by extravagance)\u201d\r\n\r\n[al-A\u2019raaf 7:31] \r\n\r\nThe Sunnah encourages moderation in eating, and strongly criticizes extravagance. \r\n\r\nThe Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink and one third with air.\u201d Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2380); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (2265). \r\n\r\nIt was narrated that Naafi\u2019 said: Ibn \u2018Umar used not to eat until a poor man was brought to eat with him. I brought a man in to eat with him and he ate a great deal. He said: O Naafi\u2019, do not let this man enter upon me, for I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: \u201cThe kaafir eats in seven intestines.\u201d Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5393) and Muslim (2060). \r\n\r\nAl-Nawawi said, commenting on this hadeeth (14\/25):  \r\n\r\nThe scholars said: What the hadeeth means is to be content wit little in this world and encouraging asceticism and contentment, in addition to the fact that eating little is a good characteristic, and eating a great deal is the opposite. As for the words of Ibn \u2018Umar concerning the poor man who ate a great deal in his presence, \u201cDo not let him enter upon me,\u201d he only said that because he was behaving like a kaafir, and if a person is behaves like a kaafir it is makrooh to mix with him unnecessarily; moreover, the amount that this man ate could had fed a number of people. End quote. \r\n\r\nWe have quoted other ahaadeeth on this topic elsewhere on our site; please see question no. 71173. \r\n\r\nSecondly: \r\n\r\nIbn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) has summed up for us the teaching of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with regard to food and drink, which he derived from the saheeh ahaadeeth. He says in Zaad al-Ma\u2019aad (1\/147): \r\n\r\nSimilarly the practice of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was not to reject what was available, and not to go out of his way to seek that which was not available. No good food was brought to him but he ate it, unless he had no appetite for it, in which case he left it but did not forbid it. He never criticized any food. If he wanted it he ate it, otherwise he would leave it, as he refrained from eating lizard meat because he was not used to it, but he did not forbid it to the ummah. He ate sweets and honey, which he liked. He ate camel meat, mutton, chicken, bustard, onager, rabbit and seafood. He ate grilled meat and both fresh and dry dates. \u2026 He did not refuse good food, and he did not go out of his way to seek it, rather he would eat what was available, but if it was not available he would be patient, and he would tie a stone to his stomach because of hunger. Three new moons in a row would be sighted, and no cooking fire would be lit in his house. End quote. \r\n\r\nThirdly: \r\n\r\nThe scholars have mentioned the benefits of moderation in food and not being extravagant. These include: \r\n\r\n1 \u2013 Purity of heart, mental alertness and deep insight. Satiety generates stupidity and blinds the heart. Hence the proverb says \u201cThe one whose stomach is hungry will become able to think deeply and his intelligence will honed.\u201d   \r\n\r\n2 \u2013 Humility and the loss of pride, joy and insolence, which are the foundation of tyranny and neglect of Allaah. \r\n\r\n3 \u2013 One does not forget the wrath and punishment of Allaah, or the people who are afflicted by calamity. For the one who has his fill forgets the one who is hungry and he forgets hunger, but the one who is smart does not see someone else afflicted by a calamity but he is reminded of calamity in the Hereafter.  \r\n\r\n4 \u2013 One of the greatest benefits is that it puts an end to all sinful desires, and brings control over the self that is inclined towards evil, because the source of all sins is desires and energy, and the fuel for energy and desires is food. Dhu\u2019l-Noon said: I never ate my fill but I sinned or thought of sinning. \r\n\r\n5 \u2013 Warding off sleep and being able to stay up. For the one who eats a lot will drink a lot, and the one who drinks a lot will sleep a lot. Sleeping a lot wastes one\u2019s time and causes one to miss out on tahajjud; it makes one slow and hardens the heart. Time is the most precious gift and it is the person\u2019s capital, but sleep is death and sleeping too much shortens one\u2019s life.  \r\n\r\n6 \u2013 Physical health and warding off disease, which is caused by eating too much and mixing foods in the stomach. The doctors say that gluttony is the cause of disease and restraint leads to a cure. \r\n\r\nSummarized from Ihya\u2019 \u2018Uloom al-Deen (3\/103-104). \r\n\r\nFourthly: \r\n\r\nWith regard to the ahaadeeth mentioned in the question, none of them are saheeh. \r\n\r\nThe first hadeeth:  \r\n\r\n\u2018Aa\u2019ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: \u201cThe first calamity for this ummah after the death of its Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) will be satiety, for when people\u2019s stomachs are full, their bodies will grow fat, and their hearts will become weakened and their desires will grow wild.\u201d Narrated by al-Bukhaari in al-Du\u2019afa\u2019 \u2013 as attributed to him by al-Dhahabi in Meezaan al-I\u2019tidaal (3\/335). Also narrated by Ibn Abi\u2019l-Dunya in al-Joo\u2019 (no. 22). \r\n\r\nNarrated via Ghassaan ibn \u2018Ubayd al-Azdi al-Mawsili, who said: Hamzah al-Basri told us, from Hishaam ibn \u2018Urwah, from his father, from \u2018Aa\u2019ishah. \r\n\r\nI say: This isnaad is da\u2019eef jiddan (very weak) because of Ghassaan ibn \u2018Ubayd, in whose biography in Lisaan al-Mizaan (4\/418) it says: Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: We wrote from him, then he came to us here then I burned what I wrote from him. Ibn \u2018Adiyy said: The weakness in his hadeeth is obvious. According to a report from Yahya ibn Ma\u2019een, it is da\u2019eef. \u2026 Then he counted the hadeeth of \u2018Aa\u2019ishah that we have as being munkar. End quote. \r\n\r\nHence Shaykh al-Albaani said in Da\u2019eef al-Targheeb (1239): It is munkar mawqoof. End quote. \r\n\r\nNote: In the question this hadeeth is attributed to al-Bukhaari, and this is a serious mistake, because saying that a report \u201cwas narrated by al-Bukhaari\u201d usually means that it is from his Saheeh, but al-Bukhaari wrote many other books, in which he narrated ahaadeeth with their isnaads, but they are not necessarily saheeh, such as his book al-Du\u2019afa\u2019 al-Sagheer, which has been printed, and al-Du\u2019afa\u2019 al-Kabeer, which was mentioned by Ibn al-Nadeem and Brockelmann in Tareekh al-Adab (p. 65), and which still exists in the library of Patna in India. If it so happened that al-Bukhaari narrated a hadeeth in any of his books apart from al-Saheeh, which is the greatest book written by a scholar in Islam, then it should be stated when quoting the hadeeth: \u201cnarrated by al-Bukhaari in al-Taareekh\u201d or \u201cin al-Du\u2019afa\u2019\u201d or \u201cin al-Adab al-Mufrad\u201d for example, then one should research the isnaad of the hadeeth: is it saheeh or not, as is done in other books. \r\n\r\nThis hadeeth of \u2018Aa\u2019ishah may be in al-Du\u2019afa\u2019 al-Kabeer. We have looked for it in al-Sagheer but I could not find it. al-Du\u2019afa\u2019 al-Sagheer rarely mentions ahaadeeth and isnaads. And Allaah knows best. \r\n\r\n The second hadeeth: It was narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: \u201cIt is extravagance to eat everything you want.\u201d Narrated by Ibn Majaah (3352); Abu Ya\u2019laa in al-Musnad (5\/154); Abu Nu\u2019aym in al-Hilyah (10\/213); al-Bayhaqi in Shu\u2019ab al-Eemaan (5\/46) and others, via Baqiyah ibn al-Waleed, Yoosuf ibn Abi Katheer told us, from Nooh ibn Dhakwaan from al-Hasan from Anas in a marfoo\u2019 report (i.e., attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)). \r\n\r\nThis isnaad is da\u2019eef jiddan (very weak) and has a number of faults, such as: \r\n\r\n1 \u2013 Yoosuf ibn Abi Katheer, of whom Ibn Hajar said in Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb (11\/421): One of the Shaykhs of Baqiyah who are not known. End quote. \r\n\r\n2 \u2013 Nooh ibn Dhakwaan, whose hadeeth is munkar. It says in his biography in Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb:  \r\n\r\nIbn \u2018Adiyy said: His ahaadeeth are not sound. Ibn Hibbaan said: His hadeeth is munkar jiddan and his hadeeth should not be narrated. Abu Nu\u2019aym said: he narrated problematic reports from al-Hasan, and he has a document from al-Hasan from Anas. End quote. \r\n\r\nHence the hadeeth was classed as da\u2019eef (weak) by more than one of the scholars: Ibn Hibbaan in al-Majrooheen (3\/47); Ibn \u2018Adiyy in al-Kaamil (8\/299); Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Mawdoo\u2019aat (3\/182); al-Busayri in Misbaah al-Zujaajah (2\/188); al-Sakhkhaawi in al-Maqaasid al-Hasanah (515).Shaykh al-Albaani said in al-Silsilat al-Da\u2019eefah (no. 241):  It is mawdoo\u2019 (fabricated). \r\n\r\nThe saheeh ahaadeeth quoted above are sufficient and we have no need of these two weak ahaadeeth. The one who wants to know more about this topic may refer to al-Joo\u2019 by Ibn Abi\u2019l-Dunya; Mukhtasar Minhaaj al-Qaasideen by Ibn Qudaamah; Zaad al-Ma\u2019aad by Ibn al-Qayyim and Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen by Shaykh Ibn \u2018Uthaymeen. \r\n\r\nSee also the answer to question no. 6503. \r\n\r\nAnd Allaah knows best.\r\n\r\nIslam Q&A","status":1,"created_at":"2014-10-25T20:51:56.000000Z","updated_at":"2014-10-25T20:51:56.000000Z","language_id":1,"fatawacate_id":31,"parent_id":7366,"author_id":"","books":[],"articles":[],"videos":[],"audios":[],"author_name":"","category_name":"\u0627\u0644\u0623\u062d\u0627\u062f\u064a\u062b \u0627\u0644\u0635\u062d\u064a\u062d\u0629","category_slug":"","get_date":"2014-10-25"},"translations":[],"fatawa_books":[],"fatawa_articles":[],"fatawa_videos":[],"fatawa_audios":[],"url":"http:\/\/www.islamland.com\/eng\/api\/fatawas\/7367"}