How You Should Eat While Gaza Starves | Jumu'ah Khutbah | Dr. Omar Suleiman

The Companions and Their Relationship with Food

And he was... أُكْرِهَ عَلَى طَعَامٍ يَأْكُلُ could be translated, and it would be translated in the English that he was being forced to eat some food. And of course, the compulsion here is not that Salman al-Farisi radiyallahu ta'ala was actually being forced to eat food, but that he didn't have an appetite, that he was eating despite not wanting to eat. He didn't feel like eating because of what he knew, and because of what he felt in terms of the position that he was in.

So as he was eating without an appetite, قَالَ حَسْبِي إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَمَ يَقُولُ It is enough for me to have heard the Prophet ﷺ say:

that the hungriest people on the Day of Judgment will be the fullest people in this dunya. The hungriest people on the Day of Judgment will be those who were fullest in this dunya. And so it was a realization of the hereafter and the recognition that on the Day of Judgment much of what is familiar to us is flipped. Those that are privileged are often those who are impoverished, those who are wealthy are those who are poor, those who are pushed to the back are those who are at the front lines of entering into Jannah. Those who have are those who don't have. Everything is flipped on the Day of Judgment, إِلَّا مَنْ رَحِمَ رَبِّي except for those who have the mercy of Allah and who transcend their circumstances like the companions that are being mentioned over here.

And in another narration which is the opposite of Salman al-Farisi radiyallahu ta'ala anhu who is eating his food begrudgingly, Abi Juhayfa radiyallahu ta'ala anhu says in a narration from al-Hakim, أَكَلْتُ ثَرِيدًا مِنْ خُبْزٍ وَلَحْمٍ that I had a full meal of bread and meat. ثُمَّ أَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَ صلى الله عليه وسلم and then I came to the Prophet ﷺ فَتَجَشَأْتُ I burped or I belched out of the fullness, the amount of food that I had eaten. And the Prophet ﷺ said:

That lighten what caused you to belch, what caused you to burp. For verily those who are fullest in this world will be hungriest on the Day of Judgment. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst those who are provided for and who receive their reward in the Akhirah. Allahumma ameen.

Seeing Our Circumstances Through the Lens of Others

And so there is this idea of projecting your current circumstances on what you hope to be your circumstance in the hereafter and what you seek refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from being your circumstance in the hereafter. And then there is the dimension of knowing that there are people that are better than you, that have circumstances that are worse than you in this world. And I want you to read every one of these narrations with a Gaza lens.

Sa'id ibn Ibrahim narrates that Abdurrahman ibn Auf radiyallahu ta'ala anhu was brought some food. He was breaking his fast. And he said, قُتِلَ مُصْعَبُ بْنُ عُمَيْرٍ وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنِّي Mus'ab ibn Umayr radiyallahu ta'ala anhu was martyred and he was better than me. And he said, and I remember that he was shrouded in a single sheet so that if his head was covered, his feet would show. And if his feet were covered, then his head would show.

And then he continued, and he said, وَقُتِلَ حَمْزَةُ وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنِّي And Hamza radiyallahu ta'ala anhu was martyred and Hamza is better than I am. And he started to say that, I fear that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us from this world and we will end up amongst those who have nothing to show for ourselves in the hereafter. ثُمَّ جَعَلَ يَبْكِي حَتَّى تَرَكَ الطَّعَامَ And then he started to weep radiyallahu ta'ala anhu until he left that food.

This is Abdur Rahman ibn Auf radiyallahu ta'ala anhu who is the epitome of gratitude in circumstances of privilege. A man who is praised for his sadaqah. Yet still that did not make him arrogant which means that at no point do you say that I have reached the pinnacle of gratitude, therefore I can look at myself and say, Alhamdulillah, none of these narrations about those who are privileged and those who suffer have to do with me because I have seen through my circumstances.

And as Abdur Rahman ibn Auf radiyallahu ta'ala anhu says, that Mus'ab was killed and Mus'ab is better than me. And how many of us could say, قُتِلَ أَنَسٌ وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنِّي Anas al-Sharif, the voice of Gaza was martyred and he's better than me. And he is not tasting what I tasted. And you start to go down the list of those shuhada that we came to love and before we could meet them in this world, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to be with them in the hereafter. They departed with their stomachs empty but their hearts full of iman and somehow maintaining that clarity.

And we bring it to our practical circumstances with these companions. Abdur Rahman ibn Auf radiyallahu ta'ala anhu when the food was brought to him, he saw Uhud in front of him. And for each and every single one of us, when the food is brought to us, we should see Gaza in front of us every single time no matter how uncomfortable it gets. This is part of what it means to be a believer. This is part of what it means to empathize. And this is part of what it means to be connected.

The Boycott of Banu Hashim: Historical Parallels

And let's not forget that if it's been two years of a genocide, that the boycott and the siege of Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib where the Prophet ﷺ and his companions went hungry and starved. Where they could find nothing to eat except for what they found on the ground, as Sa'd radiyallahu ta'ala anhu said and took that out and cleaned it and they used that to fill themselves. That there were Muslims that were on the outside of that valley that had to live with themselves knowing that not just any Muslims were inside that valley being starved, but the Prophet ﷺ and his companions were in that valley being starved.

Some of them had tribal privileges. They had a passport that belonged to another tribe that excluded them from falling into that valley and being starved for three years. Others of them were secretly Muslim and were told to conceal their faith until the time was right for them to come out and to show their Islam. But imagine being a Muslim in Mecca knowing that the Prophet ﷺ and his companions with their women and their children were being starved to death and you can hear their cries and you can't do anything about it.

And subhanAllah another connection that exists is that it took a group of non-Muslims that came together that felt like this boycott was unacceptable. The siege was unacceptable. And before you had the flotillas of Gaza that have people that don't say la ilaha illallah on there, but that felt in their human conscience that something is wrong with this and that put themselves in harm's way onto these flotillas. You had people like Hisham ibn Amr, you had Abu al-Bukhari and others that were smuggling camels and horses, whatever they could do to get into the valley of Abu Talib so that they could feed the hungry Muslims that were there.

And you had that moral righteous indignation where a non-Muslim man says, وَاللَّهِ لَا أَقْعُدُ حَتَّى تُشَقَّ هَذِهِ السَّحِيفَةُ الْقَاطِعَةُ الظَّالِمَةُ that I will not rest until this pact of boycott, the siege that's been placed on our brethren is torn to pieces and removed. Imagine being a Muslim and that's your messenger ﷺ in there and it's the non-Muslims or a few non-Muslims that are talking about how they break the siege because they're in a position of privilege that you don't necessarily have.

The point is dear brothers and sisters that each one of us can find in every one of these episodes that the sahaba have been there, the companions have been there and we have to put ourselves there and not pretend like our world is so dramatically different from theirs that we get to treat our circumstances of privilege differently than theirs and ignore the plight of our brothers and sisters. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala see them through this plight. Allahumma ameen.

The Prophetic Etiquettes of Eating

And so what do I want to do with this khutbah in the few minutes that I have, biddenillahi ta'ala. A lot of times when things like this happen, they put into perspective perspectives about food and blessing and practices that we should have already had in our lives. But they're merely magnified and highlighted through something that is so difficult for us to ignore. And so I actually want us to come to our adab, our mannerisms as it relates to food and then connect that to the moment where sometimes a particular practice or a hadith is pronounced because of what's happening in Gaza but the adab of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam with his food and the companions with their food is something that we can practice on a daily basis even after this genocide is over biddenillahi ta'ala and the people of Palestine realize their victory.

And let's also make it very clear that before the genocide there were hungry people that maybe weren't in front of us as much as they should have been. And during the genocide there are hungry people in Sudan there are hungry people in Yemen there are hungry people all around that maybe we just haven't seen confront us as blatantly as the people of Gaza have confronted us. So I want us to sit with these ahadith of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam and his practices and again see every single one of them through the lens of Gaza.

The Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam said in an authentic hadith:

That no child of Adam, no human being has filled a vessel worse than the vessel of the stomach. And he said salallahu alaihi wa sallam that it is enough for you to eat a few mouthfuls to keep your spine straight to keep your back straight. Meaning what? You eat to function. Learn to eat to function. Learn to eat enough to keep yourself going, to keep yourself moving. Have a niyyah for when you eat that your niyyah is actually to be able to function and to be capable when you eat. And he said salallahu alaihi wa sallam and if he must fill his stomach then one-third for food and one-third for drink and one-third for air.

The Wisdom of Fasting and Gratitude

Now I want to stop with this hadith and frame the rest of the ahadith through this. There is a reason why when it comes to the fasting of Ramadan that the most obvious hallmark of abstention in Ramadan is your abstaining from food and drink. There is a reason why. And the ulema mentioned that of the wisdoms of it is that the easiest blessing to take for granted is your food and your drink. Especially when you have the means to keep on purchasing it. It's the easiest blessing to consume without thinking. Think about how much more grateful you become in the month of Ramadan.

And so the hallmark of learning the value of ni'mah through abstaining from ni'mah, learning the value of blessing through abstaining purposefully from a blessing comes through your intentional abstaining from food and drink. And you can't tell me subhanAllah that a person that would fast Mondays and Thursdays or a person that would fast three days of the month or a person that would fast even outside of Ramadan would not as a result of that become more grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because there is a regular recognition of a blessing that most people take for granted on a regular basis.

And so this ni'mah of food and drink that you're now seeing people being deprived from is a ni'mah for you to now cast in relation to your relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as well as your relationship to everybody else.

Sharing Food and Including Others

And the largest body of ahadith about food and the etiquettes of food have to do with other people not leaving other people out. And the narration of Umar radiyallahu ta'ala in an authentic narration that the Prophet ﷺ said:

That the Prophet ﷺ said that the food that is enough for one person is enough for two people. And the food that is enough for two is enough for three or for four.

And the food that is enough for four is actually enough for five and six. That limiting the consumption of your food is directly tied to including other people in that consumption. That when a person makes sure that they eat in proper proportion and they're grateful for that proportion, that they're intentionally thinking about the other people that are either around them at the table or those that aren't at the table in the first place. And so you include people in your thoughts, in your perspectives, and even in your practices.

And this is where some of the ahadith start to condemn our most regular practices in this regard. As Abu Hurairah r.a narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5177)

That the worst food is the food of the weddings, the food of the feasts, the food of the celebrations. And you think about it, it's summertime now, how many weddings pass by, how many celebrations pass by. And the Prophet ﷺ is saying the worst of food is that food because only the rich are called to the table while the poor are left out. The rich are called to the table while the poor are left out.

It's very humbling when you actually start to recognize yourself in these ahadith. How do we carry ourselves in our moments of joy and celebration? How do we carry ourselves in our societal functions? When you're leaving out those who might be the most beloved people to Allah.

And you look at the practice of the Prophet ﷺ and this idea of being exclusionary was something that the Prophet ﷺ repelled and found repulsive in all of the affairs, especially when it comes to that food and that drink. You have someone that might not be poor but that might live amongst the Muslims for years and years and years and years. And because they don't know certain people or because they don't fall into a certain category or because they don't belong to this clique or that clique. They've never once been invited to anybody's wedding. They've never once been invited to anybody's feast.

You go to Salatul Eid and as the people break off, who's left out of those Eid celebrations? Who's being left off of the table? The Prophet ﷺ is telling you to think about this even on the days when you're supposed to be thinking about yourself most. It's my wedding day. It's my celebration. It's my graduation. These are days where we're told by society to be self-centered, where it's your name on the card, where it's your name that's on the plaque, where everybody's paying attention to you. And the Prophet ﷺ is saying, be careful, be careful that you exclude other people from your joy, that you exclude them even in those moments that are meant to be most private, that are meant to be most for you, that you think about those people.

And of course we find numerous narrations from the companions in this regard as was narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma that he would not eat his food except that there was an orphan that was at the table with him. Imagine the spiritual preparation and that idea when you have someone with you at the table physically.

And again, dear brothers and sisters, a lot of times we think about if the people of Gaza were here, if they were all here. First of all, there are some of the people of Gaza here. Secondly, there are multiple refugees that are here. Thirdly, there are multiple people that are poor and that can't afford their meals on their own that are here. How do we start to break that mold and start to include people in these celebrations?

The Prophet's Etiquette with Food

We also find from the etiquette of the Prophet ﷺ and it seems so basic, but how easy is it to violate this?

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3563)

The Prophet ﷺ never once criticized his food. He never once criticized his food. You know, there's this whole dichotomy that exists right now in the world of social media. While some people plead to the world to recognize their hunger, others boast about what they had for lunch and dinner. Some post pictures of their food, others post pictures of their rib cages and their starving children. And somehow they end up on the same feed.

All right, well, bring it out of the world of social media. There is a certain level of privilege that you have to be in, whereas Ibn Hajar rahimahullah said, you start to criticize your food, it's too salty, it's too sour. He literally uses these terms in his sharh. That there is a level in society that you belong to, where you start to become more critical of your food. And then think about a king or think about someone that is elite in terms of position and the entitlement that can be there.

Who is more entitled than the Prophet ﷺ to good food? Who's more entitled to say, it could have been a little more of this, it could have been a little more of that. Teach your children, teach your family that we never criticize our food. That it is not from the etiquette of a Muslim. That even the Prophet ﷺ never criticized his food. If he didn't like something, he simply didn't eat it. But there is something that comes of an attitude when you start to criticize this and criticize that.

And as the sharh of the hadith says, فِي تَعْيِيبِ الطَّعَامِ كَسْرٌ لِقَلْبِ صَاحِبِهِ وَفِي مَدْحِهِ الثَّنَاءُ عَلَى اللهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى That it involves you and Allah, and it involves you and the person who prepared the food. That when you criticize food, you might be breaking the heart of the one who prepared it for you. Or when you praise food, even if it's something small, then you're actually praising the bestower of all blessings, Allah.

And so that's something small. But it also gives you perspective. And it's something that can transform your regular consumption that anytime you eat something, first and foremost, you think about how you include those that aren't there. Secondly, you praise Allah by if not having anything good to say about the food, not criticizing it. Because by criticizing it, you're criticizing the bestower of all blessings.

So we should spit that out of our culture, remove it from ourselves and teach our families that if it feels like this, this is a five-star luxurious meal to a significant percentage of your ummah right now. What you consider to be unbefitting, what you consider to not be edible, would be the most luxurious meal in the world to your brothers and sisters that are in Gaza right now. May Allah feed them and may Allah provide for them. Allahumma ameen.

Gratitude and Reflection

And of course through that also the idea of reflecting together, praising Allah for that food. And increasing that hamd:

Every time you eat your food and you say all praises be to Allah who provided this for me, who facilitated it for me without any doing of my own or any capacity of my own. So when you don't criticize food, the ulema mentioned that you're recognizing the bestower in the sense of you accept what he's provided for you. And then when you praise Allah and you admit your own incapacity in collecting this food, you're also showing Allah as the ultimate bestower and the ultimate provider and that humbles you and that puts you in your place. That we did not earn this ourselves, we did not deserve this ourselves. Whatever Allah gave to us is good and we praise Allah for it.

The Prophet's Simple Life

And we see from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that our mother Aisha radiAllahu ta'ala anha says, إِنَّا كُنَّا لَنَنْظُرُ إِلَى الْهِلَالِ That we used to see the Hilal three times, three times, meaning two or three months would pass and a fire would not be lit in the house of the Prophet ﷺ.

But if you saw him ﷺ, even when his pots were empty, his heart was still full of praise. He was still always saying Alhamdulillah. You would think he was full ﷺ because of what was coming out of his mouth ﷺ even though you couldn't see the stomach or feel the hunger of the Prophet ﷺ though he knew hunger ﷺ.

Seeking Refuge from Hunger

And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to seek refuge in Allah from hunger. The most comprehensive du'a in this regard is when he would say:

Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you from disbelief and from poverty and I seek refuge in you from the punishment of the grave.

But listen to this du'a. Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, كَانَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ The Prophet ﷺ used to say and I'll say this du'a slowly so it can be memorized:

Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you from hunger for verily hunger is the worst companion. Yes, even the Prophet ﷺ used to praise Allah for everything that he had would seek refuge in Allah from this bad companion of hunger.

(Abu Dawood, Hadith 1547)

And I seek refuge in you from betrayal for verily it is the worst thing to hide in one's heart. How this hadith applies to the people of Gaza who have been made hungry and who have been betrayed and let down by their brothers and sisters. May Allah not count us amongst those who let them down and who betrayed them.

Adapting Our Du'as for Gaza

And so dear brothers and sisters adapt this du'a to the people of Gaza as well. As the ulema mentioned that of the etiquettes of du'a that the best du'a is for you are the best du'as that you make for your brothers and sisters as well. So you say:

And so adapt this du'a and say:

Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You for myself and for the people of Gaza from hunger for verily it is the worst companion. And I seek refuge in You, Oh Allah, for myself and for the people of Gaza from treachery and betrayal for verily it is the worst of things to be concealed. Adapt your du'as to them.

And so you're taking perspective and you're converting it to a prayer. You're converting it to a practice. And you're teaching everyone that's consuming food around you to think about how much they're consuming, who should be consuming with them, and making du'a for those that are not able to consume like them.

The Crime of Hunger

And in conclusion, I want to say this. One of the things that you see right now is that hunger can make someone who is otherwise resolute and firm start to say things that are out of character. And that's actually from the crime of hunger. And we remember from Abu Huraira r.a that he remembered about himself and that others remembered about him a time when he was so hungry لَا يَدْرِي مَا يَقُولُ that he wouldn't even know what he was saying. This is Abu Huraira r.a who narrates the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ remembering a time where he was so hungry that he didn't know what he was saying.

And so we forgive people. We forgive people for what they say out of the pain of hunger. And we don't forgive ourselves for letting them get to that point where they had to say those things. And we come back to ourselves and we magnify ourselves.

And I say that, with incredible admiration for people who could be so hungry yet still maintain so much clarity. How many of those journalists that were killed had not had anything to eat for weeks. We have our brothers that just came back, the doctors that went to Gaza. May Allah reward them for their sacrifice and just came back. And there were two of these brothers, journalists, that they were excited to meet one of our brothers from here.

And he FaceTimed me to show me that he was with him. And والله, you would see from his smile and you'd see from his clarity and you think that this is a man that's been eating every day. And I asked him, when's the last time that you ate? He said, 14 days is the last time that I had a morsel of food in my stomach. 14 days. How do we act after 4 hours? How do we act after 10 hours? 14 days. And he still had a smile on his face. And he was still saying الحمد لله and everything is good.

We bring this perspective to ourselves with every single time that we eat our food. Because if you forget that blessing and you forget the people that are barred from that blessing, then you only increase yourself in destruction and you only increase yourself in arrogance.

And so what can we do for Gaza? Number one, keep deepening your perspective. Because the more that you include them in your perspective in your daily things, the more sincere your advocacy and your awareness will be. Then translate that perspective into advocacy and into awareness against the entire genocide that is causing this hunger in the first place.

Make du'a for them. Donate in any way that you can. And by the way, if you don't trust a single organization, and yes, there are multiple conversations that have to happen about transparency and accountability, then go to their GoFundMe accounts, the journalists and these people that we can see online. And donate as whatever you can. And that's your excuse before Allah that I'm still giving. And I'm taking something from my portion. And I'm including them. And we ask Allah to include them in our du'as for ourselves and for our entire ummah.

May Allah feed them in their hunger and may Allah protect them and give them safety and security in their moments of fear. May Allah be with our brothers and sisters in Palestine, be with our brothers and sisters in Sudan, be with our brothers and sisters in Yemen, be with our brothers and sisters all over the ummah. Those that we see and those that we don't see. اللهم آمين. صدق الله العظيم.