Tenth Hadeeth from The Collection of Forty Hadith by Imam Nawawi
Abu Hurairah, radiyallahu 'anhu, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said:
“Verily Allah the Exalted is pure. He does not accept but that which is pure. Allah commands the believers with what He commanded the Messengers. Allah the Almighty has said: "O you Messengers! Eat of the good things and act righteously" [23:51-53]. And Allah the Almighty also said: "O you who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided you with" [2:167-172].
Then he (the Prophet) mentioned (the case of) the man who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled and dusty and who stretches out his hands to the sky (saying): "O Lord! O Lord!" (while) his food was unlawful, his drink was unlawful, his clothing was unlawful, and he is nourished with unlawful things, so how can he be answered?”
[Muslim]
A contemporary issue related to this hadith is about caring what we eat, in terms of two things:
- To be aware of the ingredients of the food in the restaurant or packed/canned foods, especially if they are imported. We need to ensure that they are lawful.
- Many of the things that people eat may cause health problems. We need to be more aware about the healthy aspects of the food, that they are ‘pure’. Universities may need to introduce health education so that people can know what the good foods are. They need to be aware of preservatives, colouring and chemical used in the food. Harmful contents are not ‘tayyiban’ (pure).
Sixth Hadeeth from The Collection of Forty Hadith by Imam Nawawi
On the authority of Abu 'Abdullah al-Nu'man bin Bashir, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say:
"Truly, what is lawful is evident, and what is unlawful is evident, and in between the two are matters which are doubtful which many people do not know. He who guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and honour blameless, and he who indulges in doubtful things indulges in fact in unlawful things, just as a shepherd who pastures his flock round a preserve will soon pasture them in it. Beware, every king has a preserve, and the things Allah has declared unlawful are His preserves. Beware, in the body there is a flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart."
[Al-Bukhari & Muslim]
Related to the above issue is the issue of al-ma'kulat (food) where there are many doubtful matters about what we eat. If we check the ingredients that are used in many manufactured food today, e.g. biscuits, canned food and preserved food, there are ingredients that might raise the question of doubtfulness of what we eat. For example, lecithin is used in the manufacture of foodstuff especially in the west and Muslim countries import a lot of food from the west. If it is not specified otherwise then there is a high probability that the lecithin is derived from khanzir (pig) because it is cheaper to produce. Otherwise, it should be mentioned whether it is derived from soya or plants or from halal production.
Another ingredient is emulsifier. Emulsifiers are labelled as the letter 'E' followed by a series of numbers. Some emulsifers contain things that are not permissible. There are efforts done by some Muslim scientists where they try to identify such ingredients. This can then be used as a checklist to check against when we buy food for our family. We should be very careful when we read the ingredients of foodstuff if we want to ensure that what we eat is halal. It is mentioned in a hadith that if what we eat is haram, even our du'a / supplication is not accepted by Allah.
We should take care of our health. A lot of what we eat today or what is in the market is not fresh. There are so many preservatives, colouring and chemicals which, if used excessively, might affect our health. We have to be careful in the sense that although it is in general permissible, if it is used excessively it will affect our health - then we are not doing good for our health as a Muslim.
Retrieved from http://fortyhadith.iiu.edu.my/hadith06.htm
