Try not to be wasteful
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Imam and Inter Faith Practitioner from Leicester.
Good morning!
Iβm convinced that if my family and every household in the UK tried not to waste food for just one day, we could help feed a small country for a day!
As the numbers grow of people in our own country relying on food banks, Iβve taken to volunteering with Mitzvah itβs a day when Jews and Muslims come together to cook chicken soup.
The Qurβan recognises the harms of wastefulness and reminds readers, βEat and drink but donβt waste.β Iβve noticed when some people have plenty, they take things for granted. They appreciate less and value less. Iβve seen poor villagers in Africa having to ration their food stocks to last their family for a full year until the next harvest. They never throw away any leftovers. Here Iβve seen so much food is wasted in restaurants and hotels every day and thrown into bins.
Iβm encouraged by some schemes that food businesses are running where instead of binning perfectly good food at the end of the business day, they offer it at much reduced prices or distribute it to homeless shelters.
At home we always freeze our leftovers for another day. And itβs great because we can have a day off from having to cook. We also keenly pay attention to the advice given by the Prophet Muhammad that the stomach be divided into three parts; one third for food, one third for water and the final third for air, that is, to keep it empty.
As we count Godβs blessings, I pray we appreciate them and not be wasteful, amin.