As humanity multiplied and spread across the face of the earth, the All-Knowing and Wise Creator bestowed upon mankind ample blessings and determined the best way of life through a series of heavenly-revealed codes to various prophets in various lands and eras, culminating in the revelation of the final and most perfect scripture, the holy Qur'an that was revealed to the Last and Greatest of Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny). Thus, the prerequisite for human dignity and proper growth and development of human faculties, is to obey the commandments of the One and Only God in order to attain ethical and spiritual perfection. In the holy Qur'an God refers to human beings as dignified and honoured creatures and introduced them as vicegerents on Planet Earth. Accordingly, God has advised human beings to take proper care of their body and soul by refraining from unhealthy habits and consuming only clean and healthy foods.
We read in ayah 70 of Surah Isra:
“Certainly We have honored the Children of Adam, and carried them over land and sea, and provided them with all the good things, and given them an advantage over many of those We have created with a complete preference.”
Islam thus pays the utmost attention to various aspects of the human body and soul and presents comprehensive guidelines for prosperity of human beings in the world and their salvation in afterlife. Islam has excellently defined the main points about nutrition, and here in this edition, we intend to make you familiar with the invaluable advantages of certain types of clean and religiously allowed foods that are called halaal. In contrast to the ill effects of haraam or religiously prohibited foods, whose harmful consequences we defined in our previous editions, halaal and clean foods create the grounds for development of moral virtues and good characters within humans. Halaal foods are beneficial for human health and are in harmony with the sound taste and appetite of human beings. The holy Qur'an mentions some halaal and clean foods, mostly in the form of fruits and vegetables. For instance, in ayah 141 of Surah Anaam, God Almighty says:
“It is He Who produces gardens trellised and without trellises, and date palms; and crops of diverse shape and taste, olives, and pomegranates, similar (in kind) and dissimilar (in taste). Eat of their fruit when they ripen, but pay the due thereof (its zakâat,) on the day of its harvest, and do not be wasteful; indeed, He does not like the wasteful (squanderers).”
Olive has been mentioned six times in the holy Qur'an, and in addition there are many sayings from the Prophet and the Infallible Imams on the medicinal and nutritional effects of olive on human health. Olive is a plant indigenous to Asia Minor and the Levant and whose cultivation was later spread to other parts of the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea in Europe and North Africa some 6000 years ago because of the ideal weather conditions. Olive is supposed to be the oldest known tree in the world. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) recommends the use olive oil both for eating and massaging the body since its origin is the Blessed Tree as mentioned by God Almighty in the holy Qur'an.
Today physicians and medical experts are discovering the medicinal and nutritional effects of olive, and they believe that the best food for maintaining a healthy heart and preventing brain hemorrhage is olive. According to the New York based website, Nutrition Examines, olive oil has extraordinary effects on cleaning body vessels. This invaluable oil reduces the effects of bad cholesterol, LDL, and increases the levels of good cholesterol, HDL. Today, edible olive oils are found in many parts of the world and are used in preparing salads and various food items. Iran's Mrs. Fatemeh Meraji, who is a nutrition expert, refers to other uses of olive and says: “olive oil is very effective in healing prostate cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases, in addition to improving the digestive system and preventing hair fall.”
Date is another clean and healthy fruit which has been mentioned in many ayahs of the holy Qur'an. Islamic medicine introduces the date as a tranquil, laxative and heart-soothing fruit which prevents Alzheimer disease. Medical findings show that date produces a lot of energy and increases human power. Since date contains a lot of phosphorus and magnesium, it can boost memory functions. Date is very useful for respiratory diseases including asthma. In view of all these advantages of date, we can consider it as a complete energy-producing food.
Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) recommends the regular consumption of the date. He, however, also advised against its eating while recuperating from illness. Today, it has been discoverer that date contains food tissues which make it difficult to digest for those with weak digestive systems or recuperating from illness. Date increases the amount of milk in pregnant women and mothers giving suckle, since it is full of energy. According to the exegetes of the holy Qur'an, when the Virgin Mary (peace upon her) was having labour pain, it was revealed to her to eat from the date tree below which she was sitting, in order to ease the birth of Prophet Jesus (PBUH).
Nutrition experts say that eating date is very useful in cases of extreme fatigue resulting from heavy physical work. The date has tissues which are effective in reducing fat and supplying the proteins required by the body. Latest scientific researches confirm the wonderful effect of date in providing tranquility and soothing hearts. This fruit controls aggressive and violent behaviours as well and increases spirituality, as is clear by the emphasis on the hadith to break the Ramadhan fasts with dates.
Fish is also mentioned in the holy Qur'an as a healthy diet and part of divine blessings. We read in ayah 14 of Surah Nahl:
“It is He Who subjected the sea (for your benefit), so you may eat from it fresh meat, and obtain from it ornaments, which you wear; and you see the ships plowing through it and that you may seek of His Munificence, and that you may give thanks.”
Recent researchers at Oxford University have found that eating fish, especially fresh, can help boost memory in old people. Head of this research group, Dr. Smith says: consumption of fatless fish is useful. Hence, to boost memory and cure many ailments, omega-3 fish extracts are recommended, while there are many other benefits from substances found within fish.
Eating fish leads to a healthy coronary heart system. This feature is due to the existence of omega-3 and omega-6 acids in fish. Researchers have discovered in recent years that omega-3 acids found in fish and its oil prevents the mass accumulation of dangerous fats in arteries and hence, eating fish can prevent brain and heart strokes. We should note here that Islam allows the eating of only those species of fish that have scales on their bodies and has also specified ways of hunting them in order to be considered as halaal. In other words if fish are caught alive from the water and dies in dry area, then it is halaal to eat them, while the eating of fish that has already died in water is haraam because it is detrimental to human health.
We read in ayah 70 of Surah Isra:
“Certainly We have honored the Children of Adam, and carried them over land and sea, and provided them with all the good things, and given them an advantage over many of those We have created with a complete preference.”
Islam thus pays the utmost attention to various aspects of the human body and soul and presents comprehensive guidelines for prosperity of human beings in the world and their salvation in afterlife. Islam has excellently defined the main points about nutrition, and here in this edition, we intend to make you familiar with the invaluable advantages of certain types of clean and religiously allowed foods that are called halaal. In contrast to the ill effects of haraam or religiously prohibited foods, whose harmful consequences we defined in our previous editions, halaal and clean foods create the grounds for development of moral virtues and good characters within humans. Halaal foods are beneficial for human health and are in harmony with the sound taste and appetite of human beings. The holy Qur'an mentions some halaal and clean foods, mostly in the form of fruits and vegetables. For instance, in ayah 141 of Surah Anaam, God Almighty says:
“It is He Who produces gardens trellised and without trellises, and date palms; and crops of diverse shape and taste, olives, and pomegranates, similar (in kind) and dissimilar (in taste). Eat of their fruit when they ripen, but pay the due thereof (its zakâat,) on the day of its harvest, and do not be wasteful; indeed, He does not like the wasteful (squanderers).”
Olive has been mentioned six times in the holy Qur'an, and in addition there are many sayings from the Prophet and the Infallible Imams on the medicinal and nutritional effects of olive on human health. Olive is a plant indigenous to Asia Minor and the Levant and whose cultivation was later spread to other parts of the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea in Europe and North Africa some 6000 years ago because of the ideal weather conditions. Olive is supposed to be the oldest known tree in the world. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) recommends the use olive oil both for eating and massaging the body since its origin is the Blessed Tree as mentioned by God Almighty in the holy Qur'an.
Today physicians and medical experts are discovering the medicinal and nutritional effects of olive, and they believe that the best food for maintaining a healthy heart and preventing brain hemorrhage is olive. According to the New York based website, Nutrition Examines, olive oil has extraordinary effects on cleaning body vessels. This invaluable oil reduces the effects of bad cholesterol, LDL, and increases the levels of good cholesterol, HDL. Today, edible olive oils are found in many parts of the world and are used in preparing salads and various food items. Iran's Mrs. Fatemeh Meraji, who is a nutrition expert, refers to other uses of olive and says: “olive oil is very effective in healing prostate cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases, in addition to improving the digestive system and preventing hair fall.”
Date is another clean and healthy fruit which has been mentioned in many ayahs of the holy Qur'an. Islamic medicine introduces the date as a tranquil, laxative and heart-soothing fruit which prevents Alzheimer disease. Medical findings show that date produces a lot of energy and increases human power. Since date contains a lot of phosphorus and magnesium, it can boost memory functions. Date is very useful for respiratory diseases including asthma. In view of all these advantages of date, we can consider it as a complete energy-producing food.
Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) recommends the regular consumption of the date. He, however, also advised against its eating while recuperating from illness. Today, it has been discoverer that date contains food tissues which make it difficult to digest for those with weak digestive systems or recuperating from illness. Date increases the amount of milk in pregnant women and mothers giving suckle, since it is full of energy. According to the exegetes of the holy Qur'an, when the Virgin Mary (peace upon her) was having labour pain, it was revealed to her to eat from the date tree below which she was sitting, in order to ease the birth of Prophet Jesus (PBUH).
Nutrition experts say that eating date is very useful in cases of extreme fatigue resulting from heavy physical work. The date has tissues which are effective in reducing fat and supplying the proteins required by the body. Latest scientific researches confirm the wonderful effect of date in providing tranquility and soothing hearts. This fruit controls aggressive and violent behaviours as well and increases spirituality, as is clear by the emphasis on the hadith to break the Ramadhan fasts with dates.
Fish is also mentioned in the holy Qur'an as a healthy diet and part of divine blessings. We read in ayah 14 of Surah Nahl:
“It is He Who subjected the sea (for your benefit), so you may eat from it fresh meat, and obtain from it ornaments, which you wear; and you see the ships plowing through it and that you may seek of His Munificence, and that you may give thanks.”
Recent researchers at Oxford University have found that eating fish, especially fresh, can help boost memory in old people. Head of this research group, Dr. Smith says: consumption of fatless fish is useful. Hence, to boost memory and cure many ailments, omega-3 fish extracts are recommended, while there are many other benefits from substances found within fish.
Eating fish leads to a healthy coronary heart system. This feature is due to the existence of omega-3 and omega-6 acids in fish. Researchers have discovered in recent years that omega-3 acids found in fish and its oil prevents the mass accumulation of dangerous fats in arteries and hence, eating fish can prevent brain and heart strokes. We should note here that Islam allows the eating of only those species of fish that have scales on their bodies and has also specified ways of hunting them in order to be considered as halaal. In other words if fish are caught alive from the water and dies in dry area, then it is halaal to eat them, while the eating of fish that has already died in water is haraam because it is detrimental to human health.
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