Tag Archives: common sense

Remedies from the Sunnah Part 2

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It’s finally here!! I do apologise from the bottom of my gluten free heart. I have been busy lately and also struggling with food.

So… Health and the Sunnah!

Ibn Qayyim said: After guidance the next blessing is our health.

We need to fulfil our duty with our health and being healthy is from the Sunnah.

We learn that for every disease there is a cure:

“…There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its remedy.” Bukhaari 7,582.

Thus, there is no such thing as an incurable disease (except old age).

We learn that eating healthily is from the Sunnah:

Four Aayaat relating to this in the Qur’aan:

  1. “O mankind, eat which is halaal and tayyib …” (Al-Baqarah, 2:168)Ibn kathir explains this as meaning that which doesn’t harm the body or harm your mind.
  2. “Eat from what Allah has provided you as halaal and tayyib, and fear Allah in whom you believe.” (Al-Maa’idah, 5:88)
  3. “So, eat of the spoils you have got, halaal and tayyib, and fear Allah. Surely, Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful.” (Al-Anfaal, 8:69)
  4. “Eat from the good things (tayyibaat) We have provided to you, and do not exceed the limits in it, lest My wrath should descend on you…” (Taa-Haa, 20:81)

So now we have the commands how can we do this? Let’s take a look…

Importance of Breastfeeding:

There ate three Ayaat in the Qur’aan relating to this:

  1. “Mothers (should) suckle their children for two full years, for one who wants to complete the (period of) suckling…” (Al-Baqarah, 2:233)
  2. “We commanded man (to be good) in respect of his parents. His mother carried him (in her womb) despite weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years…” (Luqmaan, 31:14)
  3. “…His mother carried him with difficulty and delivered him with difficulty. And his carrying and his weaning is (in) thirty months*, …” (Fussilat, 41:15)

*here 30 months includes the minimum period of pregnancy, that is 6 months and the maximum period for suckling a child, that is 2 years. So 6 months plus 24 months is the full two years.

As we all know that breastfeeding an infant increases intelligence, immunity, decreases risks of diabetes, obesity, risks of infections, asthma, allergies etc.

However, what the World Health Organisations (WHO) and other similar organisations don’t tell you is that if you don’t breast feed your baby you are putting them at risk of exposing them to the above diseases. For instance not breastfeeding your baby and switching to bottle feeding increases the risk of diabetes and obesity. This message, when put this way is more alarming. (As a side note, have you seen how many formula milks contain soya amongst other rubbish? I had a look out of curiosity!)

Wean your child correctly:

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah said: “A child should be given only milk until their teeth appear, because their stomachs are weak and unable to digest food. When the baby’s teeth appear, his stomach has grown strong and is able to be nourish by food. Food should be introduced gradually.” Book: Tuhfat al-Mawdood bi Ahkaam al-Mawlood. 16th chapter.

Do not force feed them into eating when they are not ready. Instead wait another week and try again until they are interested in food.

With that I shall conclude and inshaaAllaah the next part which you won’t have to wait long for I hope, we will look at fasting and praying and the benefits of each briefly.

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Forgive me, I think I sinned…

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We all know in Islaam the first glance is allowed if it wasn’t intentional but what if after the first glance you took a second look? And after the second look you just started staring? And staring turned into thoughts and so on?

I know we shouldn’t reveal our sins but it happened to me the other day, I saw a beauty and the smell was so delightful I was being led into temptation! So many thoughts and memories went through my head. I could imagine myself running away with this beauty and giving out an abundance of hugs… I’m talking about bread!

I’ve been dreaming of bread and cakey things with custard. I really have no desire for it but it’s stalking me. You know you have a problem when you look at bread and have an urge to run away with it and give it a hug! And you know you have issues if you dream of desserts (and that’s not because I’m a cake baker and decorator either, let me tell you!). The other day when my sister was making this “healthy” baguette all I had to do was think about the effects that consuming bread would have on me. I’d become a moody, reckless mess and it wasn’t worth it. Alhamdulillaah I just knew I was better off without. I thought about how I’d feel even I ‘cheated’ even with just one crumb and it wasn’t worth it.
That dream last night though… I woke up so confused this morning at Fajr (morning prayer) time thinking ‘Did that really happen??!’ – It didn’t! Phew! I can tell you I’ve woken up hungry and I need to be out the house at 8am (that’s currently 21 minutes away)

On both ‘sinful thoughts’ occasions I also thought about this image I’d seen, it’s actually quite motivating so here you go:

Also known as stuff half the population can't pronounce yet we consume it everyday... well, at least I don't... anymore...

Also known as stuff half the population can’t pronounce yet we consume it everyday… well, at least I don’t… anymore…

No matter how much you’re tempted, just remember your intentions. Why are you eating healthily? What are the benefits to your body, mind and even eemaan (faith)?
Before you feel like quitting, think about why you started to begin with!

And I’d  like to leave you with this:

diet

That’s a pretty good point. So if you do fall into temptation and you have that one crumb or bite, don’t think it’s all over. Accept that you’re a human being, you make errors and move on. Trust me, I know from experience, there’s no point in dwelling over the past, mistakes and moments of weakness. Accept it, forgive yourself and move on. Sometimes in order to get better we need to get worse… I know I did.

I also received a message from a sister telling me sugary foods were a fitnah (trial…ish) for her. Who can relate?!

You are what you eat…

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Based on that I’m nuts..! An apple and herbal tea.

I’ve been doing some thinking over the last month or so, bear with me as my thoughts are a little mixed as I had a lot to contemplate. Food really affects me, particularly gluten and in more ways than you could imagine! I don’t have coeliac disease but there are other symptoms I have not related to the gut. That said, I recently noticed that I no longer wake up with stomach aches. It wasn’t a major concern because the stomach aches were minor but it was significant enough for me to notice… which makes me think that perhaps gluten was having some kind of effect on my guts, Allaahu a’alam, but I’m glad it’s over.

For any women out there (or men!) who have tried dieting in the past, and I mean with the intention to lose weight, you may have noticed that when you cut out fried and greasy foods, sugary drinks and so on, that your body starts to look a little rough. I’m talking about things like an outbreak of spots for example. It’s usual for this to happen because your body is finally being given the opportunity to cleanse itself so it’s forcing all the muck and dirt out the pores. You’ll realise than in order to get better you start looking a little worse. Stick it out, it’s worth it… after a couple of weeks or so.

You may have seen similiar quotes to this, I don’t know the specific time period for various organs but you get the gist… “Every 28ish days your skin replaces itself and various other organs do the same. Your body makes these new cells from the food you eat. What you eat literally becomes you. You have a choice in what you’re made of. You are what you eat. ”

In short: Whatever food we put into our bodies, become our cells and becomes our body. Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it. Fact.

Speaking of bad foods, I Loved crisps. Note the past tense. I saw a documentary about food ont he BBC a good couple of years ago I think and someone was investigating what made crisps so addictive. Turns out it was the ‘crunch factor’. I’m not surprised, I love crispy and crunchy things, there really is something pleasurable about the sound. I can’t remember specificis as it was too long ago but it triggers something in our brain that makes us a little addicted. They even had a machine which measure the level of crunchiness of a crisp and that determined if a batch passed the test or not! Actually, considering I loved crisps, I didn’t eat them that often and I didn’t really eat much bad food pre-GF and Paleo… just the bread and stuff(!)
I quite like this advert by the British Heart Foundation. It’s gross and for those of you who still munch on packets of crisps you know there’s always an extra greasy packet… oh, the things I don’t miss!

A change in diet can change everything about your life in a positive way. I recently saw the following on a bumper sticker: “My day starts backwards…. I wake up tired and go to bed wide awake.” – That used to be me and it’s pretty much everyone I know unfortunately. It’s never too late to change your habits, ditch the comfort foods and all things unhealthy.
I used to be a fairly busy person, always multi-tasking and doing things to distract me in attempt to focus my attention on something semi-worthwhile. Looking back on those times, although I enjoyed the adrenaline rush and the craziness, it wasn’t good for my body and did nothing to help stress levels back then.
As soon as I started feeding my body well and eliminated everything that was harmful to me my thoughts became a lot clearer and organised. I suddenly wasn’t stressed despite the fact that I was writing my dissertation and had a few bits of bad news. Alhamdulillaah alaa kulli haal (All praise is to due to Allaah in all circumstances) …. things worked out well, my dissertation was done on time, problems were solved and the normal effects of stress on my body weren’t present… all of this was of course due to the Will of Allaah and His guidance but also because I tied my camel and did everything I could in order to make my life better and placed my trust in Allaah. Which reminds me, I need to share a book with everyone, it was one of the first I read on my recent ‘journey’ and I focused on it for a few weeks… with some guidance.

It’s now 10:35pm and in my world, that’s late. A part of my new lifestyle is sleeping no later than 10:30pm and not focusing on any screens (other than my phone) so I’m gonna lazily finish this post in a hurry, apologies!
Everyone’s different, we all have a different story and we have different things motivating us. Giving up the things you love is difficult but it is replaced with something much better… I know my motivation and intentions and I wouldn’t swap it for all the treasures on this planet.
Remember this: whatever changes you make, don’t expect everyone to understand the journey you’ve embarked on, especially if they have never walked your path.

And lastly, some good quality advice:

You’ll need this skill if you want to find alternatives for the bad foods and you don’t have to be a chef!

Hayakumullaah!