sent by Zaahied Sallie

Allah

GLUTTONY AND CONSUMERISM

Paradise is lost to those who activate the principal vices and allow them to reign supreme.

To this end, God repeatedly warns us: ‘Who is further astray than the one who inhabits their desires?’ [20:16].

In his book Purification of the Heart, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf describes wantonness as an unbridled desire to need and want more.

Wantonness is gluttony, and consumerism is its twin.

The glutton and the consumer aren’t interested in hoarding like Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge, the greedy miser. For them, it’s about becoming quickly dissatisfied with what they have and moving on to the next thing and the next thing. Like the gourmand who cannot slake his appetite, the shopper suffers the same malaise. Both are on the hedonic treadmill to a stronger thirst. A loop-the-loop that breeds more hunger and discontent the more they consume. For the glutton and the comfort eater, it’s pseudo-nourishment, and for the excessive shopper, it’s a spiritual disorder cloaked as retail therapy.

The system is built on us heeding our every whim. Shut off the hedonic drive, and the system starts to stutter.

So, how does one become an antagonist of the system? One way is through the spiritual practice of abstinence and asceticism. And Ramadan, soon to arrive on our doorstep, is one of the best engines to fire up and drive these states. To be a zāhid—an ascetic is a fundamental aspect of fasting and a bulwark against consumerism.

“Fasting trains you to moderate your passions, to harness your passions. It opens you up to be truly free in the expansive sense. Free from your passions to be who you were truly meant to be,” says Anna Bonta Moreland.

Fasting should also open us up to speak about the larger economic systems and their meaningless and life-draining occupations and how they force people to seek meaning in food, drink, drugs, alcohol, social media and sex. We should not only be fasting from the symptoms created by root causes but also eradicate and replace the root causes of gluttony and addiction.

The Prophet (s)

THE TABLE SPREAD

Mary and her son were but mere mortals; they ate.

Her consecration to the Temple when a youth set in motion many miracles. One of the wonderments was the provisions that appeared in her temple sanctuary. The food from Heaven evoked her uncle Zachariah’s enquiry. He said, ‘Mary, how is it you have these provisions?’ and she said, ‘They are from God: God provides limitlessly for whoever He will’ [3:37].

Later, Jesus, Mary’s son, although in a different context, would experience a similar Godsend—a table spread directly from Heaven for him and his Disciples [5:112]. Christians refer to this feast as the Last Supper.

Everyone would agree that food from Heaven is indeed a miracle. But for the discerning mind and the awakened heart, it’s no more miraculous than the food that daily makes for our tables.

Just consider any food and its journey to your plate. The biological, ecological, and logistical processes behind your meal are phenomenally complex and time-dense and should elicit wonderment and awe.

Unfortunately, these thoughts aren’t even leagues away, let alone considered, as most absentmindedly scoff down their food.

The Prophet (s) breathed meaning into everything he did and was present in his every breath. He certainly did not grovel his food, but he scoffed absentmindedness. The Prophet (s) taught us to be present with God and praise Him for our sustenance when we eat, and we will receive the blessing and satiety of our meal. Thus, he never overindulged and could stop eating while still having an appetite.

Power is Crack-Cocaine

Global politics is insufferable, with so many leaders believing they are gods. Their lust for power has corrupted them, tainted their hearts, and will all but destroy them and drive them mad in their narcissistic lording, just like it dethroned those tyrants before them.

David Michell has a brilliant dialogue in his book The Bone Clocks that speaks to this: ‘Power is lost or won, never created or destroyed. Power is a visitor to, not a possession of, those it empowers. The mad tend to crave it, many of the sane crave it, but the wise worry about its long-term side-effects. Power is crack-cocaine for your ego and battery-acid for your soul. Power’s comings and goings, from host to host, via war, marriage, ballot box, diktat and accident of birth, are the plot of history. The empowered may serve justice, remodel the Earth, transform lush nations into smoking battlefields and bring down skyscrapers, but power itself is amoral.’ Immaculée Constantin now looks up at me. ‘Power will notice you. Power is watching you now. Carry on as you are, and power will favour you. But power will also laugh at you, mercilessly, as you lie dying in a private clinic, a few fleeting decades from now. Power mocks all its illustrious favourites as they lie dying. “Imperious Caesar, dead and turn’d to clay, might stop a hole to keep the wind away.” … ‘Life has this mortality clause written into it. We all have to die one day…’

Remember, the true lord is God, and our final return is to Him.

Until next week, InshaAllah

Zaahied Sallie

Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme

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