On Gluttony and Obesity.

 

Obesity is a disorder involving excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems. Obesity often results from taking in more calories than are burned by exercise and normal daily activities. Obesity occurs when a person's body mass index is 30 or greater. The main symptom is excessive body fat, which increases the risk of serious health problems. 

Obesity is serious because it is associated with poorer mental health outcomes and reduced quality of life. Obesity is also associated with the leading causes of death in the United States and worldwide, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.

Gluttony, one of the classical seven deadly sins, an inability for one to stop, habitual greed or excess in eating. Gluttony is 'consumption at one's own expense'. The inability of one to take just what he needs and let the rest go is an epidemic of this age. This manifest itself in the modern world's obsession with unrestrained growth, accumulation, a classic pointer to an empty soul, compensating by going all out to accumulate worldly possessions. 

A great tragedy and irony of the age is that whilst millions of people are dying from starvation, millions are dying of over consumption.

Narrated by Aisha RA, she said: “the first calamity for this nation after the Prophet’s SAW death is fullness of their stomachs; when their stomachs became full, they became obese & their hearts weakened and their desires became wild”.

The Prophet SAW said: “it is extravagance that one eats whatever he desire”.

Umar RA once met a man with a protruding stomach. When he questioned him about it, he answered that it was a blessing from Allah. Umar RA corrected him saying that it was, instead, a ‘punishment’ from Allah.

Throughout the ages, a large stature has been seen as a sign of affluence & high status in society. It became associated in the West with feudal lords & the clergy. Peasants, on the other hand, were dismally thin, weak & held a wretched place in society.

This collective, flawed attitude to a plump disposition remained until the tides were turned by scientific research, providing evidence for the disadvantage of being overweight. It is ironic that these days, especially in the west, it is the wealthy that can afford to eat well and maintain a healthy lifestyle, while obesity is prevalent amongst the poverty-stricken where the staple diet consists of food that is cheap & easily available.

Obesity is on the rise with estimates of 61% of the total adult population in the UK being overweight and almost 1 in 4 adults being obese. More than 1.5 million cases per year in Nigeria. Poor weight management is also conspicuous in the Muslim World, where recent reports cite 70% of women in UAE being overweight.

The Prophet SAW warns against the dangers of gluttony and obesity thus:

“Avoid filling the stomach with food and drink. Overeating exhausts the body and causes illnesses. Follow a middle way in eating and drinking as this improves the body.

"The son of Adam fills no container worse than his stomach. One third of the stomach is for food, one third for drink,  and one third for air.” the blessed Prophet SAW said. 

The following saying uttered in relation to the spiritual harm caused by over-eating, can also be read in relation to heart diseases arising from overeating: 

“Do not kill your hearts by eating and drinking too much. For it is like a sown field: over-irrigation causes the seed to rot.”

Umar, the second caliph RA said: “Avoid getting a pot-belly, for it spoils the body, causes diseases, and makes doing the prayer tiring. And avoid all excess, for God hates a learned man who is fat.”

Harith ibn Khalada, the physician of the Arabs, was once asked: “What is the best medicine?” He replied: “Necessity, that is, hunger” When asked what the disease was, he said: “The entry of food upon food.”

The mainstay of treatment is lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. Sustainable lifestyle modification strategies are needed to address obesity and cardiovascular risk factors. Boredom is usually the root cause of soo many vices, thus, it is necessary to keep people engaged, people resort to certain behaviors to fill voids in their lives, from porn addiction, drugs abuse to overeating which leads to obesity. Reason it is  important to encourage kids develop a healthy hobby right from childhood.

Fasting also not only detoxifies the body, but also the soul as it aids us get our impulses under control. 

Exercise can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer and lower your risk of early death by up to 30% according to the NHS. 

The Arabs have a saying that implies the inverse relationship between the size of one's gut and his intellect, showing the bigger the gut, the smaller the intellect. 

Allah says: eat and drink, but do not waste; indeed He does not like the wasteful. 

(Q7:31)