Germany is a highly industrialized country. It produces top brands like Benz, BMW, and Siemens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this country. In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life. At least that was my impression before my study trip.
When I arrived at Hamburg, my colleagues who work in Hamburg arranged a welcome party for me in a restaurant. As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a Young couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy. There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates. We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the dishes we ordered. As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us. As the restaurant was quiet, the food came quite fast. Since there were other activities arranged for us, we did not spend much time dining. When we left, there was still about one third of unconsumed food on the table.
When we were leaving the restaurant, we heard someone calling us. We noticed the old ladies in the restaurant were talking about us to the restaurant owner. When they spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food. We immediately felt that they were really being too busybody. "We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind," my colleague Guy told the old ladies. The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her hand phone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform claimed to be an officer from the Social Security organization arrived.
Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Mark fine. We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 Mark note and repeatedly apologized to the officer. The officer told us in a stern voice, "ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, "MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY". THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES.�"
Our face turned red. We all agreed with him in our hearts. The mindset of people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO REFLECT ON THIS. We are from country which is not very rich in resources. To save face, we order large quantity and also waste food when we give others a treat. THIS LESSON TAUGHT US A LESSON TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS. My colleague photostatted the fine ticket and gave a copy to each of us as a souvenir. All of us kept it and pasted on our wall to remind us that we shall never be wasteful.
Wasting Food, in Holy Quran
God promises to provide for our needs! So we should not waste it.
Food and drink are great bounties of Allah Ta`ala. Every grain of food and every drop of water or any halaal drink must be greatly appreciated. Wasting is the way of shaitaan. Allah Ta`ala says: "Indeed those who waste are the brothers of shaitaan. Verily shaitaan was most ungrateful to his Rabb" (S:17,V: 27). We have been especially warned against wasting food and drink. The Quraan-ul- Kareem proclaims: "Eat and drink and do not waste, verily Allah does not love those who waste." (S:7, V:31)
Gross Ingratitude
Delibrately wasting even a little food is an act of gross ingratitude. Ingratitude draws down the wrath of Allah Ta`ala, as is clearly mentioned in the Quran: "If you are grateful I will grant you increase (in your bounties) and if your are ungrateful then verily my punishment is very severe." (S: 14, V: 7)
The message of Islam is what it is referred here. Spreading a word about the only religion which shows the way of living, how to eat, what to eat, how to talk and each and every aspect of life is covered through Quran and Hadith.
Eat what Allah permits us and always keep a good relationship with our family members and our neighbours. May Allah will give us understanding to follow the Islam completely and properly.
Please don't waste water and food in your daily life, save for next Generation. Let's make a
prayer for the suffering in anywhere around the globe.
Allah has given us many blessings for which we must continuously thank Him. Allah has given some people more and some people less. If Allah has given us something, like an abundance of wealth or food, we must be careful to use it in a way which will please Him. If we waste our wealth or food then Allah will not be pleased.
On the day of Judgement, we will need to account for all these blessings and how we used them. If we wasted food whilst so many people are starving in the world then what will we say to Allah?
Do you know that some people in the world are so poor and hungry that they are forced to eat leaves and grass. They are forced to drink water from puddles. Never waste any food and always thank Allah for whatever he has given you.
The Prophet (Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wa Sallam) said, "When your servant brings your food to you, if you do not ask him to join you, then at least ask him to take one or two handfuls, for he has suffered from its heat (while cooking it) and has taken pains to cook it nicely."
Each time I go with my family or guests to any restaurant to have lunch or dinner, we invariably end up with surplus food on the table because we ordered more than we could eat. In such circumstances we have three choices: try to finish the food thereby risking your health or take it home to allow it rot in the fridge or leave it on the table for the server to throw into the waste bin. In all these cases, it is a waste of money and detrimental to health. Each time I leave the restaurant, I make a resolution not to repeat the same mistake but invariably I do it again. I am sure same is the case with everybody. In short we always pay for what we did not eat. -J.S.A. Bukhari
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