The Sins and Dangers of Overeating and the Virtues of Moderation
- Do not become too accustomed to eating sumptuous (splendid and expensive-looking) meals.
- Safeguard yourself from haraam (forbidden) sustenance.
- Do not fill your stomach beyond its limit. Instead, set aside a bit of hunger which equals a few morsels. There are many benefits in this:
- One of them is that the person's heart remains pure whereby he recognizes the bounties of Allah. This results in his developing a love for Allah.
- Tenderness and softness remains in his heart whereby he perceives pleasure in his du'as and dhikr.
- His soul is not allowed to consider itself to be great.
- When the soul is harmed even slightly, the person immediately remembers the punishment of Allah. In this way, the soul safeguards him from sinning.
- He is not inclined towards sinning.
- He remains light-headed, he is able to sleep less, and does not feel lazy in offering tahajjud and other forms of 'ibadah'.
- He has mercy for those who are weak and starving. In fact, he develops kind-heartedness towards everyone.
