Eating One Meal, Or Three
Question
“A person may eat one meal a day and eat extravagantly in that meal; or, he may eat three meals without being extravagant. The Hadith of Al- Miqdaad Radiallahu Anhu encourages eating small amounts of food and be content with that which is enough to keep one going.”
Please comment on the above post.
Answer
The Hadith states that it is sufficient that a person eats a few morsels of food that will “keep his back straight”, meaning that he should eat according to necessity to fulfil his duties. If a person is overpowered by his desires (and eats a little more), then one-third of the stomach should be for food, one-third for drink and one-third for air. There is no mention of eating one meal or three meals as stated in the post.
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ الْحِمْصِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، حَدَّثَتْنِي أُمِّي، عَنْ أُمِّهَا، أَنَّهَا سَمِعَتِ الْمِقْدَامَ بْنَ معد يكرب، يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ “ مَا مَلأَ آدَمِيٌّ وِعَاءً شَرًّا مِنْ بَطْنٍ حَسْبُ الآدَمِيِّ لُقَيْمَاتٌ يُقِمْنَ صُلْبَهُ فَإِنْ غَلَبَتِ الآدَمِيَّ نَفْسُهُ فَثُلُثٌ لِلطَّعَامِ وَثُلُثٌ لِلشَّرَابِ وَثُلُثٌ لِلنَّفَسِ (ابن ماجة #٣٣٤٩)
شَرًّا مِنْ بَطْنِهِ) قِيلَ: لِأَنَّهُ سَبَبُ غَالِبِ أَمْرَاضِ الْبَدَنِ. قُلْتُ: مَعَ أَنَّهُ يَمْنَعُ عَنِ الطَّاعَةِ وَيُفْضِي إِلَى الْبَطَالَةِ وَالْمَعْصِيَةِ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ (لُقَيْمَاتٌ) تَصْغِيرُ لُقْمَةٍ (يُقِمْنَ) مِنَ الْإِقَامَةِ، وَهَذَا إِشَارَةٌ إِلَى الْغِذَاءِ الضَّرُورِيِّ، وَقَوْلُهُ: (فَإِنْ غَلَبَتْ. . . إِلَخْ) إِشَارَةٌ إِلَى الْمُعْتَدِلِ، وَالْمُرَادُ بِالثُّلُثِ الثُّلُثُ تَخْمِينًا (لِلنَّفَسِ) بِفَتْحَتَيْنِ بِخِلَافٍ فَإِنْ غَلَبَتِ الْأُدْمَةُ نَفَسَهُ فَإِنَّهُ بِفَتْحٍ فَسُكُونٍ قَالَ الْغَزَالِيُّ ذُكِرَ هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ لِبَعْضِ الْفَلَاسِفَةِ مِنَ الْأَطِبَّاءِ فَعَجِبَ مِنْهُ وَقَالَ مَا سَمِعْتُ كَلَامًا فِي قِلَّةِ الْأَكْلِ أَعْظَمَ مِنْ هَذَا وَاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَكَلَامُ حَكِيمٍ ( حاشية السندي على سنن ابن ماجه = كفاية الحاجة في شرح سنن ابن ماجه ج٢ص٣٢١)
- Answered by
- Maulana Ahmed Saeed
- Checked & approved by
- Mufti Mohammed Desai Saheb
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