Be Balanced in Your Diet: Quranic Guidance for Healthy Eating and Better Health

Shaykh 'Abdur-Rahman As-Sa'dī

Allāh said:

﴿وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا ۚ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ﴾

“Eat and drink but do not be excessive. Indeed He does not like the excessive.” (Al-A’rāf 7:31)

Al-Allāmah As-Sa’dī said concerning this verse:

He said: “Eat and drink,” Meaning: from what Allāh has provided you with from At-Tayyibāt (good and permissible foods). ”And do not be excessive.” Meaning: In that (eating and drinking). Being excessive is either by way of consuming more than a sufficient amount and gluttony (overeating) which is harmful to the body. Or it is by being finicky and excessively selective regarding foods, drinks, and clothing. Or it is by going beyond the Halal and eating that which is Haram. ”Indeed He does not like the excessive.” Allāh detests excessiveness and it harms the body of the person and his wellbeing. Perhaps it can cause him to be incapable of performing that which is obligatory upon him from spending. So the verse contains a command to eat an drink as well as a prohibition of abandoning that or being excessive in it.

Source: Taysir Al-Karim Ar-Rahman Fi Tafsir Kalam Al-Mannan pg. 264

Translated by Raha Batts