Al-Hasan al-Khashanī said, “Whoever wishes his tears to flow plentifully and his heart to soften should eat and drink only half a stomach-full.”

The Prophet ﷺ encouraged limiting one’s food intake, saying, “It is enough for the son of Adam to take a few mouthfuls (luqaymāt) that keep his back upright.” [Reported by al-Tirmidhī (2380)].

4 – This ḥadith censures overindulgence in food, and many other reports do the same, for it leads to both religious and physical harm. Excess food invites illness and makes one sluggish in carrying out the prescribed duties.

Luqmān said to his son, “My son! When the stomach is full, thought falls asleep, wisdom is silenced, and the limbs become too heavy for worship.”

Abstinence from excess has benefits, while filling oneself has harms: hunger brings clarity of heart, kindles intelligence, and sharpens insight; satiety breeds dullness, blinds the heart, increases the vapors of the stomach and brain, and weighs the heart down.

Among the advantages of eating lightly is that it breaks every sinful desire and brings the nafs ammārah bi-s-sūʾ (the soul that urges toward evil) under control. The root of every sin is appetite; all happiness lies in a person’s mastery over his soul, and all misery lies in the soul’s mastery over him. Allah is the One whose help is sought.