Aslam

The second stage of meal consists of half 'mud' which is the general practice. Half 'mud' is equivalent to 25 tolas of food or ten morsels. This fills up nearly one-third of belly. The Prophet said: A few morsels are sufficient for a man. He recommended this quantity of food to be eaten. Hazrat Omar used to eat not more then seven to nine morsels. The third stage of meal consists of one 'Mud' or fifty tolas a day. It may fill up two thirds of belly.
The fourth stage consists of meal of a little more than one 'Mud' per day. If a man eats in excess of this quantity, he commits the sin of extravagance of which God says: Eat and drink but do not squander 7:31. The fifth stage of meal is the general rule and majority partake of this quantity of food. They take much more than half a seer. They are often cheated by false hunger.

SIGNS OF TRUE HUNGER

(1) The first sign of hunger is the will to eat only rice or bread even though there is no curry. If there is no will to take rice or bread without curry, there is no real hunger. (2) The second sign of real hunger is that such a man licks the plate or dish of meal. It means that he does not allow any greasy or oily things in the dish to remain.

QUANTITY OF FOOD COMPANIONS AND SAINTS: It is

true that the meal of a companion out of a party per week did not exceed one sa'a equiv alent to 2 li seers. When he ate dates or grapes, it rose up to one sa'a. According to this calculation, the quantity of their daily meal was half a mud or five sixteenth seers which filled up one third of the belly of each one of them. The companion Abu Zarr said: During the time of the Prophet, my food every weak was barley of one sa'a. Now you are eating fine

Vol-HI Greed and suxual passion 81

■j| I bread. You are now enjoying two curries in place of one at the time of the prophet. You have now got one at the time of the Prophet. You have now gotten dress for the day time and another dress for the night time. The daily meal of the inhabitants of Suffa was one Mud or five eighth seers for two.

TIME OF MEAL: There are four stages regarding the time of nieal. The people of the highest stage take meal once in every three days or more. Some of them took no food even for forty days at a stretch. A party of saints reached that limit and they are the following: Muhammad-b-Omar, Abdur Rahmman-b- Ibrahim, ibrahim Taisi, Hajaz-b-Faresah. Hafsal Aref, Mushab-b-Sayeed, Solaiman Khawas, Sohal-b-Abdullah Tastrari, Ibrahim-b-Ahmed khawas. Hazrat Abu Bakr used to take meal once is six days, Abdullah-b-Jaber once in seven days and Abdul Zaoja once in seven days, Sufyan-b- Saori and Ibrahim-b-Adham once in three days.

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