Someone once asked Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal
“How can we soften the heart?”
and to the question Imam Ahmad answered
“Halal Foods, for a body that grew from halal foods will thus have a soft heart”
The fact is Cooking and Eating are not just simply acts that we do every single day of our life. Like other things that Allah creates, they contain purposes and meaning. If that is not the case, then why we are not programmed to just absorb our nutrients through air or perhaps doing the photosynthesis like the plants.
IBADAH AND ULUL ALBAB
Directly it is an ibadah. Things that we do to proclaim that there is Allah. For Allah has blessed us with abundant of treasures around us. We see them, we think and we cook to show that we are thankful for what that has been given. We make it into something edible, into something that can benefits us to show that how Allah is so powerful to made a lot things with different properties even tough all of absorb nutrients from the same earth, breath the same air, swim in the same water and get light from the same sun. Those who observe and think, they are then called ‘Ulul Albab’
THE TECHNIQUE AND THE SUNNATULLAH
From cooking we learn Sunnatullah. The law and order that Allah put in everything. Cooking ingredients are all Allah creatures and they are very loyal to Allah. They act accordingly to Allah’s order. We then cook it accordingly, using the correct techniques to help them fulfill the meaning of their creation. That is why we parboiled the vegetables so they can convey their vitamin, saute’ the onion, the spice so that they can unleash the aroma. Stew the meat, chicken so that they can give us the protein that is not coagulate.
UNDERSTAND THE CELEBRATION OF CULTURE
From cooking also we learn to understand. Every cultural background has their influence to the principle of cooking. Thus, now we got ourselves a lot of cuisine. Each one with their own peculiarities. There is reason why middle eastern cuisine lacks liquid and why South east Asia in the other hand got a lot of liquid. For every dish is a celebration to everything that they have at the time, it is a canvas of what colored their life.
STORIES THAT ARE INHERITED
Through the dish, we tell our diners stories. How plain Russian ‘Shi soup’ or ‘Borsh’ explains how they got through the hazardous winter or perhaps how Sweet potates with salted fish told us actually how our Malaysian grandma and grandpa got through the famine during the war. It is also advices passed from one generation to the other generation, to remind us who we really are, our root and what we stand for.
BE THANKFUL AND APPRECIATE OUR FOODS
Then, we learn to be thankful. A plate of meal come to our plate as results of a lot of hard works. Thus our prayer is always
“Allahumma Bariklana Fima Razzakana, Wakina A’zaBannar”
“Oh Allah, Bless us for what you gave us, and prevent us from the azab of Hell”
It is taught to us to be plural not singular!
We really thankful for our food, we really appreciate our food. We cook so that people can then show how thankful they are to Allah
That is why for muslim, only Halal foods is foods. Other than that is ‘things’, we can’t eat things, it is not edible, we can only eat foods.
“O ye people! Eat of what is on earth, Lawful and good; and do not follow the footsteps of the evil one, for he is to you an avowed enemy.” Al Baqarah 168
