CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

EATING, HEALTH AND CLEANLINESS IN THE FAMILY

Health and purity always go side by side. Maintaining purity and health in the family are organically bound to each other. Naturally, another foundation of health is food. If purity and food are as they should be, the whole family will be sound and healthy, God willing. In eating one must rely on the rule — the principles — of lawfulness and purity. When we say lawfulness, we are speaking of preparing, with money earned by the sweat of one’s brow, the food that goes down the throat, reaches the stomach, turns into strength and is absorbed into the body, and whose excess then leaves it. For food we buy oil, flour, onions, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables and products with money; let that money be our own money, earned by our work and as pure as mother’s milk. Let us not buy bread with money extracted by bleeding someone dry, by earning his curses, as a bribe, or by stealing and deceiving. Such money is called haram. A person works in a government job. The state pays him a salary for his work, but he is not content with this salary; instead he demands extra money from the people who need him. This money is called a bribe, and taking it is haram. There is no doubt about this. Every poor and oppressed person whose business must be done gives this money, even calling it charity. But the doctor who does not treat people because they did not pay, the bigwig who does not approve a scholarly work, the functionary who finds fault instead of signing the documents, the police officers and judges who declare the innocent guilty and even fabricate slander — in general, all the people who do this are eating haram morsels, and the curses of the people are raining down on them. When a person enters government service, he entered it saying he would be content with the salary; if he is not content, let him go and do some other work, but let him not, in the name of the state, devour the rights of both the people and the state. Even if he eats it himself, so be it — but what do you say about him feeding it to his wife and children?

So we have recalled that halal money must be spent on food. Now, after peeling the potatoes, onions and carrots, before putting them into the food, each of them must be washed three times, rubbing them under running water. Yes, like this: you pour water over the vegetables, rub and wash them, pour off the water, and wash them again in the same way. One must take eggs seriously. An egg comes out of the place from which the hen’s droppings come out, and its hard surface is covered with the hen’s slimy and transparent waste; unless you wash it at least with ash or a special gel, it will not come off. When you crack it into the frying pan, that slime melts and goes together with it into the food, and through the food into your precious body. That is why eggs must be washed three times with ash or gel; this is essential. It is not enough to clean the dishes of dirt or impurity either; they must also be washed three more times separately under running water. Be very attentive to washing your hands as well: after leaving the toilet, always wash them with soap. And when you wash, wash the whole hand up to the wrist and between the fingers, three times each. Take care that dirty water does not drip into the food. As a result of carelessness in such matters, filth and dirt get mixed into your food. Even if these things do not spoil the taste of the food, they enter your body, mix into your blood as strength, and lead you to a gloomy temper, to becoming a shameless, brazen person with a hard heart and a paralyzed mind. People who eat with the left hand from impure dishes without washing their hands certainly have dirty hearts and certainly have short minds. So we have agreed to use the purest products for food after washing them until they are pure. When we say pure products, we mean meat and other things considered halal for us. Meat slaughtered without saying Bismillah, pork, dog meat and all haram things in general we do not eat at all; indeed, even if you wash them, they cannot be made pure. It is important that food be liquid or thick and nourishing according to the season and the weather. One should eat bread made from leavened dough. As far as possible, it is better to avoid chocolate, cookies and, in general, all kinds of baked goods made outside, because, first, it is unknown to us how far the principles of purity were observed, and secondly, this humble servant regards the artificial chemical substances added to them against spoilage as a slow-acting poison. That is why the most fitting thing is for every family to prepare everything it eats with its own hands. It is even a good habit to take the lunch eaten at the workplace from home. Moreover, food prepared at home costs several times less than doubtful food cooked outside. There should be no colored drink of any kind and no colored sweet of any kind on the table. Rather, it would be beautiful and wise for our table to be filled with dried apricots, dried fruit, raisins, walnuts, roasted pistachios, rock candy, honey, butter and things prepared at home. Eating four times a day is recommended in the family. In the morning breakfast, lunch, a small meal before the afternoon (Asr) prayer (in some regions this is called alvon), and then supper. The most important rule is this: at mealtime let everyone who is at home come to the table, willingly or not. Let no one stay aside saying, “I am upset, I have no time, I am busy.” Of course, let everyone come to the table at the same time and begin eating at the same time; naturally, the elders of the family begin the meal. Let everyone rise from the meal at the same time, let no one be left out of the blessings there are, let everyone benefit from the provision Allah has given — this is what is called baraka, blessing. Another important thing is that when people eat at the same time, everyone should eat their fill; then there will be no need to look for food at odd hours, and with orderly eating there will be neither obesity nor stomach disease. If this humble servant may speak from the experience of our own family, there is no stomach disease among my paternal uncles and aunts, because in that household everyone always eats well and beautifully at the same time, at the appointed hour. When the stomach is well filled, a person’s mind is not distracted, he works well, learns well and worships well. Eating in pinches and then fumbling around every half hour, never knowing fullness, is not right either in terms of morals or in terms of the demands of health. We have said the general and important things about eating. Not hurrying while eating, not smacking the lips, not belching, taking from what is in front of you, chewing unhurriedly and similar manners must surely be known to everyone. Another important rule is that food should be prepared in sufficient amounts — so that it is neither left over nor runs short; one should avoid freezing leftover food and eating it reheated, and instead strive always to prepare fresh food. One must not be lazy in this matter; preparing fresh food every time at least prevents food poisoning. These were words about the etiquette of eating needed for the health of the family; now let us touch a little on the cleanliness of the courtyard, the house and the clothes. It is recommended that cleaning be done in the family twice a day. That is, the mistresses of the house and the girls, dividing the work clearly and without laziness, must clean the courtyard and rooms in the morning and toward evening; this means sweeping and wiping the floors and the dust. This work should be routine twelve months a year, seven days a week. Cleanliness keeps the temper clear and pure, ensures that a person is healthy and in a cheerful mood, and the children of such a family also grow up to be pure beings. A person accustomed to cleanliness cannot bear even a little dirt. Avoiding cleaning with the thought “it’s clean already” in the end leads to getting used to slovenliness and accepting filth as normal. Honor to the pure! Let dirty clothes not lie piled up at home; dirty clothes must be washed quickly, and the purity of underwear in particular must be the first thing checked. On hot days it is advisable to clean the underwear every day. Every person must look very strictly after the purity of the body, and parents must be very attentive to their children going about clean. The underwear of women and men should not catch the eye even of family members, let alone of strangers. So that the courtyard and rooms smell fragrant, basil and roses and other kinds of flowers should be planted. It is recommended to put freshly cut flowers in vases filled with water in the rooms every day. The family should not be lazy about these tasks. It should do them every day. After the cleaning, how wonderful it is to drink hot tea and coffee over a beautiful flowered tablecloth, is it not? With, for example, pashmak, halva, jam made from peaches or apricots or pears, or dates? Great, isn’t it? Only those who love purity know such delight, and they are worthy of it! By the way, cleaning does not mean it is only women’s work; it is a virtue if men too, according to their ability, help with sweeping the doorsteps and the inside of the house and with wiping and dusting. If the street needs to be cleaned, this work lies only on the man. A man does not send the women of his family out to clean the street. So, to conclude our words: can anyone fall ill in a household where people eat such halal and pure food at the proper time, live purely, do not drink, do not smoke, do not get nervous, never shout and do not oppress? After all, it turns out that one can close the door to illnesses with reason and discernment! What about unexpected misfortunes and calamities, you say? If you do not bloody anyone’s nose and live honestly, calamities will stay far from you; moreover, if you keep reciting every day the supplications that come from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, no unexpected misfortune will harm you, by God’s leave.

Akrom MALIK