Since there is relationship between body and soul, when we nourish our body we also feed our soul and vice-versa (2:201). The primary objective of feeding our body is to maintain physical and mental health while the primary objective of feeding soul is to strengthen our soul to confirm eternal happiness avoiding any punishment in the Hereafter. It is obvious that if we nourish our body as much we can without nourishing our soul, it will not be adequate for soul, on the other hand, if we nourish our soul as much as we can without nourishing our body, it will not be adequate for our body. Therefore, we must nourish our body with the primary food as given by God to avoid starvation in this dimension while we must nourish soul with primary food as given by Him too to avoid starvation in the other dimension as well. However, the practice of nourishing our body is the biological nourishment while the practice of nourishing our soul is the spiritual nourishment:
Biological Nourishment
The nutrients in optimal foods have the power to heal and balance physical health. There are different ways we feed our body including sleeping, exercise, nice thinking, sporting, recreation and special intimacy. Some are conscious while others are subconscious.
Breathing
The most basic thing we do is breathing. It is subconscious and is an automatic process. God has designed it for our body to do this without the least effort on it. The study indicates that most people can hold their breath for 30 seconds before grasping but the real danger of not breathing is the build of carbon-di-oxide which acidifies our blood, i.e., our blood is polluted for lack of oxygen.
[32:9] He shaped him and blew into him from His spirit, and He made for gave you the hearing, and the eyesight, and the understanding; little is what you appreciate.
Sensation (Intelligence)
Sensation is a state of consciousness and is a mental process through seeing, hearing, or smelling or touching due to immediate bodily stimulation. Our perception, awareness, intention, thinking and logic to make decision are parts of sensation to continue our life. This process helps us to feel heat, cold, pain, thirst and hunger. Our mood or mental condition is required to proper nourish our soul. Our belief or faith largely rely on without physically seeing, touching or hearing. The nerve impulses typically travel along neurons at a speed of anywhere from 1 to 120 meters per second.
[16:78] God brought you out of your mothers’ bellies knowing nothing, and He gave you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brains, that you may be appreciative.
[2:18] Deaf, dumb, and blind; they fail to return.
[2:171] The example of such disbelievers is that of parrots who repeat what they hear of sounds and calls, without understanding. Deaf, dumb, and blind; they cannot understand.
[17:36] You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.
Drinking
Our body is composed of about 60% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature. Our brain communicates with our kidneys through the posterior pituitary gland, and tells it how much water to excrete as urine or hold onto for reserves. When we’re low on fluids, the brain triggers the body’s thirst mechanism. When our water intake does not equal your output, we become dehydrated. you should listen to those cues and get yourself a drink of water, juice, milk, coffee etc.
[15:26] We created the human being from aged mud, like the potter’s clay.
Eating
The best way to eat depends on our personal health and nutritional goals. But optimal health depends not only on what we eat, but also on how we eat that affects our health and well-being. One healing secret tells us what to eat for optimal health but the other healing secrets show us how to eat for health and well-being. The healing secrets that tell us about how to eat include: feelings, mindfulness, appreciation, connection (love), and socializing. Let us reflect on the verses of Quran what it teaches us what to eat for optimal health and how to eat for health and well-being along with spiritual nourishment:
[2:173] He has only forbidden for you the dead animal, and the blood, and the meat of pig, and what has been dedicated to other than God. But whoever is forced out of necessity without being disobedient or transgressor, then there is no sin for him. Indeed, God is Forgiving, Merciful.
[6:145] Say, “I do not find in the revelations given to me any food that is prohibited for any eater except: (1) carrion, (2) running blood, (3) the meat* of pigs, for it is contaminated, and(4) the meat of animals blasphemously dedicated to other than God.” If one is forced (to eat these), without being deliberate or malicious, then your Lord is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
[16:115] He only prohibits for you dead animals, blood, the meat of pigs,* and food which is dedicated to other than God. If one is forced (to eat these), without being deliberate or malicious, then God is Forgiving, Most Merciful.
[6:118] You shall eat from that upon which God’s name has been pronounced, if you truly believe in His revelations.
[6:119] Why should you not eat from that upon which God’s name has been mentioned? He has detailed for you what is prohibited for you, unless you are forced. Indeed, many people mislead others with their personal opinions, without knowledge. Your Lord is fully aware of the transgressors.
[6:121] Do not eat from that upon which the name of God has not been mentioned, for it is an abomination. The devils inspire their allies to argue with you; if you obey them, you will be idol worshipers.
Recreation
Along with the feeding of the physical body we also need to nourish our mind. The sources of our mental food are music, songs, sports, shows (public entertainment), exercise and socialization that refresh our mind to stay healthy and promote our good thinking, that also provide favorable environment to nourish our soul. All these are the beautiful creations of God, that now constitute an important part of our daily life, can be lawfully used. We do not find any verse in the Quran prohibiting any one of them. However, anything what is prohibited in the Quran is very clear and specific.
[5:90] O you who believe, intoxicants, and gambling, and the altars of idols, and the games of chance are abominations of the devil; you shall avoid them, that you may succeed.
[5:91] The devil wants to provoke animosity and hatred among you through intoxicants and gambling, and to distract you from remembering God, and from observing the Contact Prayers (Salat). Will you then refrain?
Spiritual Nourishment
Spiritual nourishment is required to feed our soul to grow to prevent it from starvation in the other dimension. We can select our food from a wide variety of food stuff and may start spiritual nourishment to eat with an awareness of the mystery of life in food and connecting with it via mindfulness, appreciation, and a loving consciousness that may enhance our health as well.
[2:173] He only prohibits for you the eating of animals that die of themselves (without human interference), blood, the meat of pigs, and animals dedicated to other than God. If one is forced (to eat these), without being malicious or deliberate, he incurs no sin. God is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
[6:145] Say, “I do not find in the revelations given to me any food that is prohibited for any eater except: (1) carrion, (2) running blood, (3) the meat* of pigs, for it is contaminated, and(4) the meat of animals blasphemously dedicated to other than God.” If one is forced (to eat these), without being deliberate or malicious, then your Lord is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
[16:115] He has only forbidden for you the dead animal, and the blood, and the meat of pig, and what has been dedicated to other than God. But whoever is forced out of necessity without being disobedient or transgressor, then indeed, God is Forgiving, Merciful.
[6:118] You shall eat from that upon which God’s name has been pronounced, if you truly believe in His revelations.
[6:119] Why should you not eat from that upon which God’s name has been mentioned? He has detailed for you what is prohibited for you, unless you are forced. Indeed, many people mislead others with their personal opinions, without knowledge. Your Lord is fully aware of the transgressors.
[6:121] Do not eat from that upon which the name of God has not been mentioned, for it is an abomination. The devils inspire their allies to argue with you; if you obey them, you will be idol worshipers.
Guidance (Quran)
[2:120] Neither the Jews, nor the Christians, will accept you, unless you follow their religion. Say, “God’s guidance is the true guidance.” If you acquiesce to their wishes, despite the knowledge you have received, you will find no ally or supporter to help you against God (also found in 6:71).
[28:56] You cannot guide the ones you love. God is the only One who guides in accordance with His will, and in accordance with His knowledge of those who deserve the guidance.
[16:93] Had God willed, He could have made you one congregation. But He misguides whoever He wills and He guides whoever He wills. You will surely be asked about everything you have done. [1+6+9+3 = 19]
God has sent down guidance for every community as promised during our transition from Heaven to earth and has also confirmed that His guidance is the true guidance detailing out what we can do or what we cannot do, what we are supposed to believe or what we are not supposed to believe and what, when and how we will feed our soul. Thus, the first priority for every one of us is to know the guidance of God to nourish our soul i.e., to know the Quran revealed as guidance for the community until the end of the world is required to lead a righteous life as well as to perfect the practices of religious rites as given by Him establishing appropriate and firm faith in our hearts. In other words, Quran is stated in the Quran to be the straight path to our Lord (6:126) to make it more straightforward to understand that we must know it if we really believe in God and the Hereafter. God has not only told us to read it but to learn it such a way that we can use His teachings and laws as needed in our everyday life. He is the Most Merciful and has given us enough time, i.e., the first forty years of our life to know His guidance to get ready to start nourishing our soul in an appropriate way and He will overlook his sin if anyone of us dies before the age of forty (46:15-16).
[2:38] We said, “Go down therefrom, all of you. When guidance comes to you from Me, those who follow My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve (also found in 20:123).
[38:29] This is a scripture that we sent down to you, that is sacred – perhaps they reflect on its verses. Those who possess intelligence will take heed.
[4:82] Why do they not study the Quran carefully? If it were from other than God, they would have found in it numerous contradictions.
[16:98] When you read the Quran, you shall seek refuge in God from Satan the rejected.
The Quran is full of mathematical evidences that every element of Quran is from God including a 2-fold mathematical confirmation about the priority of knowing the Quran being the guidance of God. Quran is referred to be our guidance 19 times in the Quran which is a multiple of 19 => 19 (19x1). In addition, the word “Quran” (قرٔان) is mentioned in the Quran 58 times but one instance refers to “another Quran” (10:15). Thus, the “Quran” which refers to the revealed Quran is mentioned in the Quran 57 times which is a multiple of 19 => 57(19x3).
Imaan (Faith)
We completely rely on our faith, the innermost part that resides in our mind. If we employ it rationally, it will bring us closer to God. If we forsake it then we will go astray. Thus, the most basic thing we do is faith without polluting it with idol worship, and only Quran can help us to do that as it shares this knowledge with us in different ways:
[6:82] Those who believe, and do not pollute their belief with idol worship, have deserved the perfect security, and they are truly guided.
Our belief is not as simple as we think. But our core belief is straightforward, which is “laa ilaaha illaa allah” لا إِلٰهَ إِلّا اللَّهُ, popularly known as Shahadah found in (37:35, 47:19) being confirmed in I3:18) by God Himself and also supported by many other verses of the Quran. The literal meaning of this phrase is “There is no god besides God” which confirms that God is the One and Only God, that God alone is worthy of worship, and that God alone is the sovereign Lord who does whatever He wills, which need to be established in our hearts through our works (49:14-15).
Besides the literal testimony, we have also mathematical confirmation of Shahadah and God alone “wahdahu” to eliminate any trace of doubt from the hearts of the true believers. The Shahadah, لا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ (laa ilaaha illaa allah) consists of 12 letters. If these Arabic letters are replaced with gematrical values as read from right to left in Arabic, we get a 17-digit number which is a multiple of 19 =>30113051301130305 (19 x 1584897436901595). There are 5 instances of “wahdahu” (Alone) which refer to God are found in 4 suras of the Quran. The sum of digits of sura numbers and verse numbers is a multiple of 19 =>7 + 70 + 39 + 45 + 40 + 12 + 84 + 60 + 4 = 361 (19x19). This mathematical analysis also confirms that 19 is not only the common denominator of the Quran’s code but it is also another name of God in numeric form in addition to One (waheed). It is noted that the gematrical value of waheed is 19 in pronunciation.
Salat Prayer
Salat is the prime source of nourishment of our soul and the importance of Salat has reflected in the following verses of Quran:
[29:45] You (Muhammad) shall recite what has been revealed to you of the scripture and shall establish the salat prayer. Indeed, the salat prayer prevents from the evil behavior and the evil deeds, while surely, remembrance of God is the greatest. And God knows what you all do.
[20:14] “Indeed Me, I am God; there is no god except I. So, you shall worship Me and shall establish the salat prayer for My remembrance.”
[23:1-2] Certainly, has succeeded the believers; those who are humbles during their salat prayer.
We find 79 occurrences of the word ‘Salat’ in 75 verses among 34 suras of the Quran. There are 67 occurrences of it distributed over 63 verses among 28 surahs that are precisely commandments from God for the believers to observe Salat to nourish their soul. If we add the numbers of suras and verses of these occurrences, the total is 4674 which is divisible by the code 19 of the Quran (19x246). We also find additional 12 occurrences of the word ‘Salat’ in other 12 verses among 9 surahs of the Quran, which are crucial advices from God for us about Salat to give proper attention to it and to establish it being reverent to God.
Zakat (Obligatory Charity)
Zakat, an obligatory charity, is one of the major duties required by God from all of His Submitters (Muslimeen in Arabic). Anyone who has any income must pay the Zakat and it has to be paid out during the good times and the bad times. Therefore, our obligations are to be fulfilled at any circumstances irrespective of high or low income. The importance of Zakat is found in the following verse of the Quran, which is a response of God as a mercy upon Moses to his prayer after the recovery from affliction with the earthquake that none should miss it:
[7:156] “And decree for us goodness in this world, and in the Hereafter. Indeed, we have turned to You.” He (God) said, “My punishment – I afflict with it (punishment) whomever I will, while My mercy has encompassed all things. So, I will decree it (mercy) for those who fear Me and give the Obligatory Charity (al-zakata), and those who – they believe in our revelations.”
The references of “Zakat” and “Haqqun” that talk about obligatory giving are found in 31 verses of 19 surahs. If the relevant surah and verse numbers are added, the total is 2394 which is a multiple of 19 => 2394 = 19x126. It is noted that the instance of “Zakat” found in 23:4 and the instance of “Haqqahu” found in 6:141 are not in the mathematical calculation being the traits of a righteous, which are opportunities for the righteous given by God that can be achieved over time. It is also noteworthy that another instance of Zakat found in (18:81) does not talk about Zakat or spending for others is also excluded.
Siyam (Fasting)
Fasting, like all other religious duties, helps us to remember God and appreciate His blessings. Fasting in Arabic is called, “Siyam” or “Saum,” which literally means ‘to be at rest’. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Every year, in the month of Ramadan, the majority of Muslims (Submitters) fast from dawn to sunset, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. If a person is unable to fast for some reason, God gives him or her other options. Therefore, those who are sick, pregnant, elderly, or traveling, can make up an equal number of days later in the year. If they are physically unable to do this, they can feed a needy person for every day missed. However, the details of fasting are found in (2:183, 2:184, 2:185, 2:187).
There are 11 occurrences of Siyam distributed over 10 verses among 5 surahs that are commandments from God for the believers for fasting to nourish their soul. If we add the numbers of suras and verses of these occurrences, the total is 1387, which is a multiple of 19 => 1387 (19x73).
Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca)
This is the pilgrimage to Mecca. It is an obligatory duty for those Muslims who are financially able to meet the cost for the journey to Makkah and are physically able to complete all the rituals involved with it (3:97). Since the Hajj is usually once in a lifetime, a Muslim may consider the spiritual growth of his or her soul as well before intending to fulfill this obligation.
Quran has stated the nine steps of Hajj and its ceremonial acts along with the historical event connected to it while all the ceremonial acts of Hajj are limited to the Sacred House and the locations adjacent to it mentioning an offering of animal sacrifice with livestock to the ancient House (Shrine). Hajj and its ceremonial acts are so detailed in the Quran that we do not see such thorough details in case of the other primary rites prescribed for us such as Salat, Zakat and Siyam. Thus, Hajj is a great opportunity for the Muslims being once in lifetime event to observe it right way to purify themselves through remembrance and repentance to God as well as asking His forgiveness keeping in mind that idol worship nullifies their all works. On the other hand, the extended time period of Hajj every year, i.e., during the four sacred months (Dhul Hijjah, Muharram, Safar and Rabi’I) is also a God-given opportunity for those Muslims who wish to fulfill this obligation but it has been limited to a few days of Dhul Hijjah.
Hajj has been detailed out in 41 verses of the Quran across 8 surahs, even there is a mathematical confirmation from the verses and surahs linked to the Hajj to be certain about its all ceremonial acts. If we add the numbers of surahs and verses of these occurrences, the total is a multiple of 19 =>4047 (19x213).
Conclusion
Health science teaches us the key concept of optimal eating for optimal health and well-being while the scripture, i.e., Quran teaches us the key concept of saving our soul to ensure eternal happiness. We are not just a physical body but we are a spiritual source. We are mortal but our soul is immortal and we get into other dimension leaving our body here. Hence, the ultimate purpose of nourishing our body is to support us physically and mentally to feed our soul. We are very careful not to take any food which is toxic to our body. The body has also a mechanism (liver) to remove toxic parts from our food but there is no such mechanism to remove toxin from food of soul that we provide to our soul. In addition, Satan is our great enemy, who is always active to contaminate our food that we use to nourish our soul. Therefore, we must make our efforts to be very careful to provide pure food without polluting through idol worship when we feed our soul. Thus, the analogy we see between our body and soul would help us prevent from the starvation of our soul on a Day of the Judgment.
Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless.
Tafazzal (5/8/2015)