Want Some? asks Nigella - Chefs in the Kitchen of God

That looks yummy! And so does the spaghetti. 

Nigella and Me

Faith is like food,

What is the point of reading

Cooking books and watching

Cooking shows if we are never

Going to be able to taste it?

..............................

FOOD IS GOOD. "Ooh... what am I gonna eat during the breaking of fast?" I am asking myself every day. I am fat, you see. And it is because I like food. Nice delicious food. If God had wanted, He could have created us without the need to eat. And even if we did need to eat, He could have NOT left this Earth with so much delicious things for us. Delectable, savoury and sublime... fruits and vegetables, minerals and animals. In a manner of speaking, food is a great barakah and rahmat (blessing and grace) for humanity.

THE EGO ALSO AGREES! But our body (as one rainbow Shaykh said) is also the perfect host for our ego. Because God has also provided for our ego and has perfected a magnificent vessel and mechanism to sustain our ego - the human body. So when we eat, we are also giving food to our ego. But this catch-22 scenario covers not just our physicality, but the physicality and materialism of the world we exist in. This world too has been designed as a place to feed the needs of our ego.

A rainbow shaykh. 

MODERATION. With such odds stacked against us, what chance do we have to subdue our ego? Fat chance if left to our own devices. And that is why God has sent His prophets and messengers to humanity. To warn, to assure and to guide. To bring humanity to the path of moderation and simplicity. For mankind cannot run away from this world, after all, we bally have to live in it, like it or not. So we must take what we need to sustain our mind and body, but we are taught to do so in moderation, and not to overfeed the ego that we carry in our very bodies.

FAT MAN. As a fat man, I have failed to find the balance. Though in truth, food has become to me, at the age of 42, less hypnotic. It comes with the years, I guess. And the lessons I am learning from abusing my body as my limbs start to ache where they never used to, my sugar level is spiking, stairs-climbing becomes a daily jihad, and simply the mere act of walking must be measured and planned to avoid exhausting myself. Nothing beats pain and suffering as teachers of mankind.

FAITH AND FOOD. Another fine shaykh, one whom the rainbow shaykh likes to call a grandshaykh, a serious-and-right-proper shaykh also had something to say about food. Well, not actually food but in fact faith. Essentially, he said that the problem with this epoch is that some religious scholars and preachers often write books and give sermon about God and religion. But faith, just like food, is in the tasting and eating. It is no fun simply reading and listening. And as a avid foodie, I get what he means. What is the point of reading Nigella Lawson's book or watching her cooking show. I want Nigella to come over to my house and cook her Sunday roast beef.

A serious-right-and-proper shaykh, here with Charlie, HRH The Prince of Wales.
I am sure you have heard of him... 

KITCHEN OF GOD So look for the Chefs of Faith who can not only speak well and write books about God and the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh), but who can actually come over into your heart and bring God and the Prophet into the very essence of your being. For it is in your heart that you can taste the Divine Presence. Don't you see... The heart is the Kitchen of God. 

You do that, sunshine. While I address my health problems. Together we can make it. Together, we BETTER make it. Alhamdulillah and thank you for sharing a bit of your consciousness with me this morning.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way