their culinary practices. According to the hadith,
he exemplified the ideal of moderation, expressed
in a quranic admonition for all people, “Eat and
drink, but do not be wasteful, for [God] does
not like those who are wasteful” (Q 7:31). In a
similar vein, mUhammad is remembered to have
said, “A believer eats with one intestine, while a
disbeliever eats with seven intestines,” meaning
that Muslims should consume only what is suf-
ficient for their needs and not overeat. He is said
to have recommended that everyone sitting at a
meal eat small amounts so that there is food for
all, including unexpected guests. Moreover, he
also advocated giving food to the hungry, even if
it meant that one’s own family had to forgo a meal.
Such practices reflected and upheld Arab hospital-
ity customs.
There is a body of lore in Islam about the
relation between good health and good food.
Greek medical science (with Indian and Persian
elements) was transmitted to Muslims during
the eighth and ninth centuries, but they also
developed their own distinctive body of medi-
cal knowledge known as “the medicine of the
Prophet” (al-tib al-nabawi) in the ninth century.
According to a book on the subject by Ibn Qayyim
al-Jawziyya (1292–1350), Muhammad provided
guidance on how to maintain bodily health, which
was seen as a gift from God. Among the basic
dietary facts Ibn Qayyim wanted his readers to
know was that eating too little, overeating, eating
only one type of food, and nutritional imbalances
were major causes of illness. Muhammad’s eating
and drinking habits as described in the hadithFlatbreads hot from the baker’s oven in Alexandria, Egypt (Magda Campo)
food and drink 247 J