Survival and Food in the Quran
The Quran is a complete source of guidance for all Muslims not only in the matters of the how we live our lives but also about what we eat and drink. Allah has mentioned in the Quran specific things that we as Muslims should eat and other things that we should stay away from. The Quran hence gives us a comprehensive set of rules to do so.
Allah says in the Quran about food: “And a sign for them is the dead earth. We have brought it to life and brought forth from it grain, and from it they eat. And We placed therein gardens of palm trees and grapevines and caused to burst forth there from some springs -That they may eat of His fruit. And their hands have not produced it, so will they not be grateful?” [36: 33–35] In the above verse Allah is clearly telling all Muslims that He has enabled dead earth to produce food for them so that they may eat and stay healthy and he’s produced fruit for them so that they can eat and get energy. And this is something that human’s cannot produce, only Allah can. Allah has hence mentioned it in the Quran that we should look at his signs and be grateful. Allah has said in the Quran that Muslims can eat meat from cow, goats and sheep but has forbidden us to eat the meat of pigs. This is because Allah says that the animal’s meat is unclean and can give us diseases. He has mentioned specific foods and fruits in the Quran that he has sent upon us as a blessing. These fruits include bananas, dates, pomegranates, grapes and figs as being those that are repeated again and again in the Quran.
Allah says in the Quran:“By means of it We produce gardens of dates and grapes for you, in which there are many fruits for you and from which you eat.” (23:19)
Eating the foods as prescribed by Allah in the Quran is just one way to go towards the path of Allah but it is a very important one. The Quran tells us what to put in our bodies so that we can train ourselves and discipline ourselves according to the other commandments mentioned by Allah in the Quran. That is why Allah says that the food are signs for people to understand after every verse.
Another verse about food mentioned in the Quran is as follows which intricately describes the process that takes place for us to get our food: “He sends down water from the sky from which We bring forth growth of every kind, and from that We bring forth the green shoots and from them We bring forth close packed seeds, and, from that spathes of the date-palm, date clusters hanging down, and gardens of grapes and olives and pomegranates, both similar and dissimilar. Look at their fruits as they bear fruit and ripen. There are signs in that for people who believe.” (6:99)
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