■ Why Does Fasting Purify the Soul, but Overeating Corrupts It?
Bismillah. Let’s open about something we all struggle with—eating.
Sufis say:
❝If you want to control your heart, first control your stomach.❞
Ever noticed how overeating makes you feel lazy, heavy, and distracted?
And how hunger makes you feel lighter, sharper, and more spiritual?
There’s a secret in this.
The less you feed your body, the more your soul awakens.
The more you indulge in food, the more your spiritual senses dull.
Food is a weakness for most of us.
But did you know overeating isn’t just bad for your body—it’s bad for your soul?
It makes you lazy in worship.
It feeds your desires, making sins easier.
It creates arrogance, greed, and impatience.
It dulls your ability to cry before Allah.
And the worst part?
It increases heedlessness (Ghaflah)—making your heart forget Allah.
Ok now compare how Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ate vs. how we eat today.
He ate little.
He never filled his stomach completely.
He taught that ⅓ of the stomach should be for food, ⅓ for water, and ⅓ for air.
But today?
We eat until we can’t move.
We eat snacks before we even feel hunger.
We eat out of boredom, not necessity.
And then we wonder why our hearts feel heavy and disconnected from Allah.
Islamic scholars like Imam Ghazali (ر) and Imam Ibn Abi Dunya (ر) warned about the dangers of excessive eating.
Here’s what they say happens when you overeat:
📌 It causes physical problems
❌ Indigestion
❌ Fatigue
❌ Increased blood sugar
❌ Obesity
❌ Bad breath after death (yes, even the body suffers later!)
📌 It causes spiritual problems
❌ Increases greed
❌ Hardens the heart
❌ Weakens faith
❌ Makes a person lazy in worship
❌ Increases lust and bad desires
Sufis say:
❝The more you feed the body, the weaker the soul becomes.❞
And let’s be honest—when do sins feel most tempting?
When the stomach is full!
Ever noticed how fasting makes you feel purer, calmer, and less interested in sins?
That’s because hunger humbles the ego, but overeating feeds arrogance.
Now You might think, “Okay, but how serious is this really?”
Did you know over 50 verses in the Qur’an warn about the dangers of chasing worldly pleasures, including excessive food?
And the Prophet ﷺ warned:
❝The worst container a man can fill is his stomach.❞
(Tirmidhi)
Sufis intentionally reduce food to keep their hearts soft.
Why?
Because hunger creates:
✔️ Clarity of mind
✔️ Lightness of soul
✔️ More sincerity in Dua
✔️ More gratitude for little things
✔️ More reliance on Allah, less reliance on the Dunya
This is why many Aulia Allah would fast regularly and eat just enough to survive.
Ok Now Why Do People Still Overeat If They Know This?
Here’s the most shocking part.
People KNOW that food is temporary.
They KNOW that the Dunya is an illusion.
They KNOW that excessive comfort leads to heedlessness.
Yet, they ignore all the warnings and continue indulging.
It’s strange, isn’t it?
Imagine a person saying:
🗣️ “I know fire burns, but let me touch it anyway.”
That’s exactly what we do.
We read warnings in the Qur’an and Hadith, but still choose to indulge.
Sufis say:
❝It’s not that people don’t know. It’s that they don’t care enough to act.❞
So, how do we fix this?
1. Stop eating before you feel full.
2. Eat with the consciousness that Allah is watching.
3. Fast more, even outside Ramadan.
4. Make Dua for control over your desires.
5. Follow the Sunnah of simple eating.
Sufis say:
🌿 “Eat to survive, don’t survive to eat.”
The greatest people lived simply—not because they couldn’t afford more, but because they valued their souls more than their stomachs.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 