One of the most basic requirements for life is food. Human beings cannot survive without it, and yet, so many forget what a blessing it is to have it. Many enlightened Teachings point out the significance of food for spiritual aspirants on the path of Self-realization, the path of realizing God/Allah. Our relationship to food affects our mental, physical and spiritual growth. Through the Teachings, we learn that the growing, preparing and eating of food can be practiced as forms of prayer. Over a decade ago, Sheikh Din Muhammad Abdullah al-Dayemi put forth a comprehensive vision for sustainable living through a set of principles called Progressive Development. This spring, Sheikh Din offered several sohbets (discourses) on Progressive Development to help the Community begin to study and discuss it more deeply. He is teaching us that our work, our sadhana and the projects we have developed in the Community are all for the purpose of creating an optimal environment so that transformation can take place. We are creating this optimal environment for us to progress, to increase our capacity to love, to increase our knowing of our true Selves and in so doing, increase our realization of Allah. One of the principles of Progressive Development addresses the basic birthrights of every human being. The first of these birthrights is that every human being be guaranteed the opportunity to have food. Not only is food a basic birthright, but Sheikh Din has also taught that eating is a form of prayer – spiritual practice. Therefore, when it comes to food, this means that ensuring that everyone has something to eat is an integral part of a more loving, spiritual relationship. What is it about food that we love so much? The smell of onions frying, fresh baked bread and the juice explosion from a fresh, crisp apple are just some of the wonderful experiences that food offers. From the smells, colors and textures to the sweet, salty and spicy tastes, from the first bite to the last . . . food is amazing. In this country, we have seemingly unlimited options. We can get cuisine from almost any nationality, any fruit, vegetable, meat or sweet; we can sit down in a restaurant or take-out; we can get food fresh or frozen at almost any time of the day or night! Perhaps as a result of having so many options and varieties, we have become picky about what we want to eat, opinionated and even snobbish about what is the “best” food, and worst of all, we can be ungrateful for what we do have. We are so proud of the technology, money and power that allows us to have so many options, but one should ask the questions, “Is this true progress? Are having so many restaurants, grocery stores, fast food joints and packaged products anytime we want really increasing our capacity to love?” Historically, the human body adapted to certain types of foods based on where we lived and what was available. For generations, our families lived and ate in the same region, preparing food that grew there in the ways that were best for that time, place and circumstances. We adapted and flourished. Today, through advances in technology and transportation, people in wealthier countries are able to cram food into their bodies from all over the world. This exotic food is often grown out of season, prepared and handled in an untold number of ways, and due to this, we as a nation are floundering with health issues. So, again, is this true progress? Something is obviously out of balance. To better understand this imbalance requires reviewing what food really is and why we eat. Perhaps this will shed some light on what true progress is in the context of eating and the birthright of food. Food is the first basic birthright for a reason. We cannot exist without it. There are many definitions for food, but the one that seems to encompass the whole is: “Food is any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy and promote growth.” That obviously includes solid nourishment and liquid nourishment, but it goes beyond that. It includes breath. The breath is critical to sustaining life, providing energy and promoting growth. There are entire schools of practice around breathing. In addition, there are many forms of energy all around us, even in things we cannot see but by which we are still affected. As everyone experiences, the most nourishing substance, the greatest food of all is love. Love spans every level of existence. When someone loves you, you can feel it! Since we have defined progress as the “increased capacity to love,” receiving (eating) love certainly makes you a more loving person. It is transformative. It is food. So let it be stated once again, food’s purpose is to nourish. The word “nourishment” is important, because if something does not strengthen us or promote our wellbeing, it is not nourishing. Therefore, food that does not nourish is not food! Ultimately, that which is most nourishing is that which brings us closer to realizing our true purpose. If food brings one closer to Allah, it is halaal (permissible); if it increases separation, it is haraam (forbidden). We are taught about this in the Holy Qur’an: O ye who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided for you, and be grateful to Allah, if it is Allah ye worship. Allah hath only forbidden you dead meat and blood and the flesh of swine and that on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of Allah. But if one is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits, then is he/she guiltless. For Allah is Oft-forgiving Most Merciful. SURAH AL-BAQARAH, 2:172-173 It is interesting how the Holy Qur’an does not provide a detailed list of every conceivable type of food that we can and cannot eat. It only prohibits a few things, and the rest is left for us to discover what brings us closer to Allah. Forbidden are those things “on which any other name hath been invoked besides that of Allah.” This makes us think of the purpose and intention of the food. Are we eating this food for Allah’s sake? Does it strengthen us to fulfill our purpose? The Qur’an tells us over and over to rehearse the signs for direction. And in the earth are tracts (diverse though) neighboring and gardens of vines and fields sown with corn and palm trees – growing out of single roots or otherwise – watered with the same water. Yet, some of them We make more excellent than others to eat. Behold, verily in these things there are signs for those who understand! SURAH AR-RAD, 13:4 For example, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich may be halaal for one person, because it gives them protein and fiber and the things they need to carry on their work. But for someone with a nut allergy, eating that same sandwich will reveal a strong sign that the food is haraam! There is always balance. Lord knows, there are certainly times when we cannot either eat the best or make the best decisions, but there is mercy even when we are forced by necessity to eat what is otherwise not in our best interests. Understanding that food should be nourishing, and should bring us closer to Allah, forms the basis for understanding how eating is like prayer. While we use the word salaat to mean prayer, Sheikh Din has taught us that salaat really means to consecrate, make holy or to sanctify. In the physical practice of salaat, when we stand, bend or bow, we are actually engaging in a practice that is trying to help us remember Allah and to create a sanctified or sacred space. To make something holy involves our intention, ideation and motion, which causes a transformation to occur. By performing salaat, we are participating in the process of transforming crudity into subtlety, transforming ignorance into enlightenment, or transforming something that is static into something that is sentient. This “making holy” process creates transformation. Sheikh Din (Murshid) has also referred to the Islamic practice of salaat as a “type of meditation.” Meditation provides a structure for the position of the body and its orientation. It brings the mind to a single point of focus or stillness. Salaat brings us through a specific series of movements and utterances, whether aloud or silent, in repetition. Salaat is a style of meditation. Murshid has likened each style of worship to a recipe that Masters have used to cook a certain kind of dish. Salaat is a special recipe in the Sufi tradition, handed down from generation to generation, to cook the special dish of remembrance. When we are in congregation, we make this dish together. We hear the adhan (call to prayer), we stand together, shoulder to shoulder and we make our intentions to perform these movements for Allah’s sake. We experience the camaraderie of prostrating together as one body. We pray to remember that we are not separate. We think we are separate because we forget. The process of remembrance is the process of self-effacing or relinquishing of the layers of the false self in order to remember the essential or true self. We do this by starting with what we have, our bodies. Through these physical exercises, this process of remembrance starts the transformation within us. Murshid has said that, “. . . through prayer and meditation we are making the effort to have God fulfill God’s purpose for us by fulfilling God’s Self within us.” When we think about prayer like this, it is easier to see how eating is like prayer. We know it is time to eat, because we hear the call, “As-salaamu `Alaykum. Dinner is served!” Even when there is no audible call, we can think of the aroma of the meal as a form of the adhan. It is “calling” us to eat. Smelling food actually starts the digestion process. If we are eating in congregation, we sit together, shoulder to shoulder, and we make our intention to eat for Allah’s sake. Just as the command, “Allah Hu Akbar,” causes the congregation to bow in salaat, so does the Sheikh offering “Bismillah” over the food cause us to eat as one. As our minds are brought to a single point of focus, we undergo a series of movements in repetition, and we feed our bodies, which causes transformation through digestion. We can sometimes mistakenly think that our bodies are solid and constant, but they are actually continuously transforming. Scientific studies have shown that 98% of our body is replaced every year. Our stomach lining recreates itself about every five days, our skin is made anew every month and our liver cells turn over every six weeks. Although our bodies appear to be fixed and stable, they are continually changing. The vast majority of the cells in the body are derived from the food we eat. In the Yogic tradition, the physical body is called the “annamaya kosa” in Sanskrit, which means “the covering made of food.” To create and maintain a healthy body, yogis pay attention to the food they consume, minimizing the toxicity they ingest while maximizing the nourishment they receive. In the Yogic tradition as well as other spiritual traditions, it is believed that people take on the qualities and attributes of the food they eat. As the saying goes, “You are what you eat,” which is another good reason not to eat a pig! Why do we eat? To nourish and transform ourselves. Digestion, like prayer, is a process of transforming crudity into subtlety, or transforming something that is static into something that is sentient. Food is not an end in itself, but a means of activating the subtlest layers of the mind in order to directly experience divinity, spirituality and consciousness — God/Allah. The process begins with the first and crudest layer, the body, and then becomes more subtle as it goes along. “You are what you eat” transcends beyond our body into all layers of our consciousness. The saying, “That’s food for thought” is more of a reality than we may know. Food is part of God’s creation from God’s own Self, which can sanctify this space. Is eating then not also a holy-making process? The process of remembrance in salaat begins with the body but encompasses our whole being. Eating is just the physical beginning of a process of God fulfilling God’s purpose for us by fulfilling God’s self within us. It may seem like a silly question to ask, but why is an optimal environment for eating important? As Sheikh Din has taught us, “Aadaab is the willingness to be impeccable.” If our purpose in life is to realize God, this must be approached with a serious commitment to practice with the highest impeccability. We must choose to take on the manner and approach of an impeccable person. The Prophet Muhammad (saws) believed every human being becomes what they intend. If our intention is to be only pretty good or not so bad, then that is all we will be, and a mediocre environment will suffice. This is high work we are doing. We know, in our hearts, that Allah has instilled a higher purpose within us. Our purpose is to realize God, to know the Truth, to experience the Divine. This is huge! At the 2006 Spiritual Intensive, Sheikh Din challenged us to “own the purpose of our existence.” Whatever is preventing us from fulfilling our purpose is not our friend and must be removed. This means that an optimal environment is also one which wholly supports the removal of these obstacles; it supports the process of remembrance. It supports us in fulfilling our purpose. The optimal food environment can be broken down into three parts: the growing of food; the preparation of food; and the eating of food. Creating the optimal environment for eating as a form of prayer begins with a seed. By Allah’s grace, seeds simply tossed onto the ground may sprout and grow, but creating an optimal environment for those seeds (a well cultivated garden) intentionally increases the chance for Allah’s grace to manifest itself. It is the best chance for the seeds to sprout, grow and provide food. The purpose of food is to provide nourishment, to participate in the transformative process of the body and mind. If food does not do this, it is not fulfilling its purpose. Sheikh Din teaches us that all things have a purpose. Water has a right to flow, air has a right to be clean, and plants have a right to grow. Likewise, food has a right to be beautiful, tasty and nutritious! However, the majority of today’s agricultural activity in this country produces food that is lacking in the taste, texture and nutrition needed to help us be complete human beings. If commercially produced food does not fulfill its purpose, why would we want to eat it? These are signs that we have forgotten the importance of the environment for the preparation of food. Allah, to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: no son has Allah begotten, nor has Allah a partner in Allah’s dominion: it is Allah who created all things, and ordered them in due proportions. SURAH AL-FURQAN, 25:2 God has designed all kinds of renewable provisions for us and other creatures, a perfect design. For example, we have a symbiotic relationship with the plants; we use the oxygen they produce in photosynthesis, while they use the carbon dioxide we produce in respiration. The better we can understand and align to God’s perfect design, the better we are able to create the optimal environment for the creation of nutritious food. Let us not forget that our definition has expanded to include water, air, soil and love. The more pure these substances are, the more nourishment we receive from them. In Qur’an we are taught about the perfection of Allah’s design. Performing our spiritual practice, striving for impeccability, teaches us how to create an optimal environment for growth, whether we are growing food or human beings. When we enter a masjid to perform salaat, we don’t just run in from the field, the street or office and jump into line and start mindless recitations. We prepare for prayer by cleaning ourselves physically and mentally. We purify ourselves in preparation to meet our Lord. Our minds must be clear and focused. We enter the space and make sure it is clean and available for the salaat. Then we make our niyyat (intention) to perform the prayer and give our attention to the practice of remembrance. The Qur’an offers explicit instruction on this subject. O ye who believe! Approach not prayers with a mind befogged, until ye can understand all that ye say,- nor in a state of ceremonial impurity (Except when traveling on the road), until after washing your whole body. If ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and hands. For Allah doth blot out sins and forgive again and again. SURAH AN-NISAA, 4:43 Why shouldn’t the same care be taken in food preparation? We should be clean in mind and body. The work space and the food itself should be clean. This is our intention for Community meals at satsang and other gatherings. We begin with a prayer and make our intention to put love into the food process. There is a reason why food tastes so good at satsang, and it is not just because we use high quality ingredients. There is also the energy that the food receives through conscious attention and attunement – love. This is a part of true halaal preparations, putting the love for our Sheikh, for our Community and for Allah directly into every thought, word and action. Just as Sufis follow a special style of meditation or salaat, we also have a special style for how we eat. There is an aadaab (protocol) for eating, just as there is an aadaab for the making of prayer. The primary meaning of the Arabic word “aadaab” is “to invite,” or “to gather together for a banquet.” Aadaab, as a concept, means manners, customs, protocol and respect. It means all this and so much more. Sheikh Ibn 'Arabi stated that Sufism is “to assume God's character traits as one's own,” and it has been said that all of Sufism is, in fact, aadaab. Aadaab is the method of assuming God’s characteristics. Hospitality is regarded as a sacred duty in Islam. Accordingly, early treatises on aadaab address these duties in great detail, as do the customs of many contemporary Sufi orders. The book, Serving the Guest: A Sufi Cookbook, provides many stories and information from the Sufi tradition around the practice of eating food. The 10th century traveler, Ibn al-Husayn al-Sulami, set forth many details of the aadaab of table manners and hospitality in his futuwwah (instructions or rulings). He advised, “Give elaborate feasts, be gracious when entertaining, and be generous to your guests.” A host is instructed to serve all the food he has to his brother, even if this means only a drop of water. Sulami also suggests that one “must be extremely careful of your manners,” and cites the Prophet Muhammad's advice, “Do not count your friend's mouthfuls.” Around 1050 AD, Ali ibn Uthman al-Hujwiri summarized the prevailing wisdom on aadaab in his Kashf-al-Mahjub, the first Persian treatise on Sufism. Dervishes residing in community were exhorted to greet travelers with joy and respect, treat them as honored guests and freely set before them whatever food they had. Hujwiri wrote, “They must not inquire whence he has come or whither he is going or what is his name, but must deem that he has come from God and is going to God, and that his name is ‘servant of God.’ . . . They should not eat alone, but should unselfishly share their food with one another; and when seated at the table they should not be silent, and should begin by saying ‘Bismillah’; and they should not put anything down or lift anything up in such a way as to offend their comrades, and they should dip the first mouthful in salt, and should deal fairly by their friend.” Sahl ibn Abdallah al-Tustari was asked about the meaning of the Qur’anic verse 16:92, “Verily God enjoins justice and beneficence.” He replied, “Justice consists in dealing fairly with one's friend in regard to a morsel of food, and beneficence consists in deeming him to have a better claim to that morsel than you. “Furthermore, the Sufi should eat with his right hand and should look only at his own morsel, and while eating he should not drink unless he is extremely thirsty, and if he drinks he should drink only as much as will moisten his liver. He should not eat large mouthfuls, and should chew his food well and not make haste; otherwise he will be acting contrary to the custom of Allah’s Apostle (peace and blessings upon him), and will probably suffer from indigestion. When he has finished eating, he should give praise to God and wash his hands.” The 12th century scholar, Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi, also wrote a treatise on aadaab which included instructions for conduct at meals and with guests, many of which echo those of Hujwiri. According to Sheikh Suhrawardi, one should eat in company whenever possible, whether informally with companions, graciously with guests, or generously with the poor, and always with impeccable courtesy. One should eat only when hungry, and stop before becoming full. He instructed that only the Sheikh should invite those at the table to begin the meal, and no one, especially the leader of the group, should leave the table as long as anyone else is eating. This recalls the custom of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) who was always the last person at the table to finish lest any companion be embarrassed to eat more than him. No fault should be found with the food, nor should it be praised; in fact, too much discussion of food is considered equal to gluttony. In eating, one should only satisfy one's hunger, and better with a small amount of pure food than a feast of impure food. Following the sunnah, only three fingers of the right hand should be used for eating; small bites should be taken and the food chewed well. When sharing a common dish one should eat from the nearest side, not only out of courtesy and cleanliness, but because according to the counsel of Muhammad, baraka or the blessing power of God, descends first into the center of the dish. Although Hujwiri counseled dervishes to carry on pleasant conversations with guests, the taking of meals in some Sufi communities traditionally have been in silence. Abu'l Qasim Nawrabadi said, “Food is consumed to have the power to obey God. Hence that person who is engaged in eating with such an intention in mind is performing the essential act of obedience. And if someone is performing an act of obedience, for instance, saying prayers, how can he respond to the greeting of peace?” Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki said, “When a Dervish is eating his food, it is his worship, and during the worship neither should he be saluted nor should he salute.” In many tariqats, including our own, the table is the setting for spiritual discourse: the Sheikh is the first to eat or speak, and participants pay close attention to exchanges with the Sheikh. Extraneous conversation is kept restrained and at low volume. Without attention there can be no attunement, and without attunement there is no way to receive spiritual Teachings and nourishment. Given the right circumstances, both food and exchange with one's spiritual Teacher and companions, in words and in silence, may be transformed into energy and conscious service. Sufi Teachings point to the potential nourishment in a meal beyond the bulk and chemical composition of the food. The senses are nourished by impressions arising from attention to the appearance, texture, flavor and aroma of food. Even more subtle is the nourishment activated when food is prepared and eaten in a state of presence and love. Our hearts are nourished in the loving exchange with the Teacher and companions. According to the Mevlevi Order, if a dervish wanted a drink of water during a meal, he would motion to the water server, the “saki.” All those present would stop eating, so that none would eat more than another. The saki would pour the water, kiss the glass, and offer it to the thirsty diner. In silence, the dervish would kiss the glass and drink. When the glass was empty, the Sheikh would say “Ashk olsun,” then everyone would continue to eat. This phrase, which means “may it become love,” is a declaration of a dervish's best wish of any sustenance: that it is transformed within the human heart into conscious awareness of the Divine Love that provided it in the first place. Without Love, how could there be existence? By what power could bread have entered you and become you? Without your love and appetite, how could the bread have encountered the spirit of life? Love transforms dead bread into spirit: it makes mortal spirit everlasting. JELALUDDIN RUMI Food is our first basic birthright, yet so many starve to death or struggle each and every day for a mouthful of food or a drop of water. Allah has provided enough for everyone, and yet, everyone does not have enough. Fear and greed cause some to hoard more and more for themselves, while others are set to die. To thee have We granted the Fount (of Abundance). Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice. For he who hateth thee, he will be cut off (from Future Hope). SURAH AL-KAUTHER, 108 Too many live without this verse in their hearts. They fear they may lose what they have. Even the children in our Community understand that there is enough for everyone, but wonder why so many live without. Murshid has explained the many reasons, including the whole of environmental conditions, but it still boils down to this: human beings need to take on the responsibility of creating an optimal environment for everyone to be nurtured, to have enough food. This forces us to confront our fears and our greed. Again, Holy Qur’an addresses this issue directly. O Children of Adam! wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer: eat and drink: But waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters. SURAH AL-ARAF, 7:31 Overeating in the United States is in epidemic proportions. The portions served in restaurants and convenience stores are appalling. There are several ayat (lines) in the Qur’an that teach us, “Waste not by excess, for Allah loveth not the wasters.” This does not mean to eat everything in sight with the rationale to “not waste it.” It means to not carelessly or excessively engage in more than your just due, and that to do so would cause harm. The Prophet Muhammad (saws) gave his ummah (community) the following guidance to protect them from diseases caused by eating and drinking. He said, “The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that (fill his stomach), then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink and one third with air.” Allah’s “wrath” for excess shows up in many different forms, including disease. Allah has provided all that we need, but we must take care of what has been provided for us. We are in a symbiotic relationship with the whole system of life. Our desire to reap more than what is just and fair is not only creating hunger in others but also creating a deficit in ourselves. Our greed has caused us to short-cut the natural system and to attempt to produce more food faster. The result is more food that no longer nourishes us. Our work, our sadhana, is to create an optimal environment so the transformation of consciousness can take place. The optimal environment for growth is the same optimal environment for the preparation and eating of food. We are trying to create one optimal environment for all of that which sustains us. This environment that we speak of is not solely external, but internal as well. The materials we use to transform the layers of our mind begin with the food we eat. Our practice of growing, preparing and eating must reflect our highest commitment to fulfilling our purpose in life. Just as salaat and worship is an effort to transform ourselves into something holy, eating and all the practices around it are also part of this transformational process. Our love and aadaab toward our path, practice and Teacher demand impeccability and through the grace of Allah will ensure the creation of an optimal environment for our personal and collective realization. May
our next meal consist of fresh food grown with loving intentions and
impeccable aadaab. May it be prepared with loving intentions and
impeccable aadaab, and may we eat with loving intentions and impeccable
aadaab. May we experience the taking of our food as a form of prayer,
and may we be in Remembrance of the One – La Ilaha Illa Llah.
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