In a country where almost every single food is genetically modified, injected with hormones, grown under artificial conditions and with complete lack of hygiene, it becomes very hard to eat healthy. When you have soda priced higher than water and genetically modified fruits priced lower than organic, how do you expect the average Mohammad/Fatima to eat healthy and sustain his/her body? When you are not given any choice but to eat from the types of food mentioned above, when you cannot pick anything else, your priority should be to put as little of the poison into your body as possible. Let’s take a look at the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ from 1400 years ago, still applicable today:

I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: ‘The human does not fill any vessel that is worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat what will support his back. If this is not possible, then a third for food, a third for drink, and third for his breath.’ [Tirmidhi]

There is so much wisdom and benefit in this prophetic saying. Let’s first analyze this economically. The less food you eat, the less money you spend. The less money you spend on food, the less food farmers make. The less food farmers make, the less they waste. We have a huge surplus of food in this country. So much so, that the surplus is regularly thrown away because it costs more to preserve it. When you have no choice but to make a set amount, your surplus will decrease and you sell more efficiently. How do you look at the majority of the world starving to death and still throw out the food?

Now let’s analyze the health benefits derived from this hadith. When a person overeats, his/her body reacts to the sudden nutrition overload with sleepiness and lethargy. This is commonly referred to as “food coma.” A person is sapped of any energy they had and only wish to sleep. Don’t let this happen to you. When you only fill a third of your stomach, you will never experience food coma. You will actually retain, if not increase your energy level without feeling or showing any signs of lethargy.

Another benefit of not filling your stomach is proper digestion. When your stomach is not full, your stomach has space to move the acids inside. When you overeat however, the stomach has less space to work with, and you get problems like acid reflux, constipation, and incomplete digestion. Although the worst vessel the son of Adam can fill is his stomach, it is not haraam to do so and the Sahaba did this on occasion. The narration is of when Abu Hurayrah was told to give milk to the other Companions and when it was his turn to drink, the Prophet ﷺ told him to drink until he was full and could not drink anymore.

So eat—but eat moderately—because moderation is what the Sunnah is all about.

Perfection is what was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, and perfection is what the Prophet ﷺ was. Allah has wisdom behind everything that is decreed. There is wisdom in Islam coming to the Arabs, there is wisdom in Islam coming to the Tribe of Quraish, and there is wisdom behind Islam being revealed to Muhammad ibn Abdullah ﷺ. There is wisdom behind EVERYTHING Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did. There is wisdom in his speech, wisdom in his dealings, wisdom in his physical features, and the list goes on.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was the best of mankind. He was not only the epitome of spirituality but also the epitome of health. Such a huge part of his Sunnah deals only with his diet. Why then do many people ignore this? Did you know the Prophet ﷺ had broad shoulders? In a narration, the Companions said the Prophet ﷺ had a very wide chest. They described his hands and feet as “fleshed,” implying strength as a great quality in men. They described his walk as quick, so quick the other Companions couldn’t keep up with him. The Companions narrated the story of when he wrestled with the champion wrestler of the time, Rukana, and beat him! How does a man accomplish this if he isn’t physically fit? The Companions described the Prophet of Allah ﷺ as having creases on his stomach, and in another narration, they called them folds. This is something every man craves, something every man dreams of having. THIS WAS THE PROPHET’S ﷺ SIX PACK!! Why do we then, knowing all of this, continue to ignore this aspect when it comes to following his Sunnah?

It is a shame that because this Sunnah is forgotten, we have an Ummah predisposed to diabetes and hypertension. We have parents feeding junk to their children and keeping them busy with television. We have fathers walking around with potbellies due to laziness. Do you know what Umar did when he saw an overweight person during his Khilafah? He asked the person, “What is this?” The person cleverly replied, “This is the blessing of Allah.” Umar countered and said, “NO! Rather this is the wrath of Allah.” This was the anomaly at the time, but now unfortunately, it’s the norm.

I plan to change that. This is the reason behind the birth of Muslim Muscle. I hate seeing relatives and other fellow Muslims suffering from serious, self-inflicted illnesses. Muslim Muscle WILL change this, with the permission of Allah. Educate yourself with the Sunnah, follow it, and watch your life improve. When we learn the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad  ﷺ, let’s not skip over the Sunnah of the six pack.