Eating Disorders are destructive, merciless and contrary to Allah’s way; they spare no one and have a profound impact on one’s lifestyle. As a Muslim you are forbidden to live a lifestyle of anorexic, bulimic or with any illness, addiction, behaviour that is injurious to your health. You have to seek treatment. God says explicitly in the Qur’an: “And do not throw yourselves in destruction”. (2:195)

وَلاَ تُلْقُواْ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ

Put a Stop to ED thoughts- If the first inward thought is not warded off, it will generate a desire, then the desire will generate a wish, and the wish will generate an intention, and the intention will generate the action, and the action will result in ruin and divine wrath. So evil must be cut off at its root, which is when it is simply a thought that crosses the mind, from which all the other things follow on– Imam Ghazali

In eating disorders, it is the chemicals in the brain serotonin and noepinephne that are most frequently out of balance and causes strong mood swings, anxiety, depressive episodes and an unhealthy attitude to life. You don’t develop these mood swings and depressive episodes over night but with time. Both Anorexia and bulimia nervosa are highly associated with the risk for suicide. The necessity for early intervention in Eating Disorders is becoming increasingly clear.  The longer you live with an eating disorder, the more complex and severe it becomes. Eating disorders lead to suicide. When someone is this deeply depressed, it seems impossible to rise up out of the darkness. Plus, it’s very difficult to find the energy to fight when one is feeling sick and weak from inadequate nutrition in addition to feeling emotionally drained. Hope melts away. Without hope, there is plenty of room for suicidal thoughts to creep in, to stay and even to take control. And then comes a point in life when sufferer believes that there is no other alternative but to put an end to this misery by taking their own life. Eating Disorder mantra, ‘you have to lose weight’, ‘you are fat’, ‘you are crap’ simply impairs one’s cognitive skills, paralyzing their mind to the point of having a single positive, happy thought. In such manic despair, one ends up covering their ear, shutting their eyes, but there is no relief, respite from the voice in their head. In desperation suicide thoughts fester, develop and get stronger and stronger till one plunges to their own death at their own hands.

Humanity has been provided with many lessons to learn from the events at Karbala- One of the lessons from Karbala is on food and water- The Karbala teaches us not to take such blessings for granted. Water, food, health are a great blessings of Allah. Give thanks to Allah for His blessings and seek treatment for your Eating Disorder- whether its anorexia, bulimia or Binge Eating Disorder.

Do you really think that by abusing your body, you will live happily ever after?

No, because our bodies are not designed for abuse and starvation, but for love, nurture and respect. Our body is a miracle and a complexity of different genes and particles. Even, biologists, evolutionists, materialists and scientists are astounded by the complexity of our body. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was once reported to have said, “There are twokinds ofknowledge: knowledgeof religion andknowledgeof thebody.” Our interference with our body’s natural cycle does not work. We have to remember that our body is cleverer than us. Our body has an innate ability to adapt to certain changes, though it may retaliate in beginning but after a while it accepts. For example after a period of time; our body will develop tolerance for compulsive exercise, diet pills, laxatives and diuretics. As the body becomes used to these changes, more and more is needed in order to get the body to respond to achieve the result that first dose of laxatives or exercise did. The body will develop a tendency to depend on these methods, and this will in return cause bad effects of the health overall.  Similarly, if we go without food, under eat, or trick our body into thinking that food is coming by feeding onto dense caloric foods and drinks, our body will know. The euphoria of tricking our body may last for few hours, or perhaps few days, but then comes the doom of our disordered and deceptive thinking, as in utter confusion and desperation we will do anything to make our body understand that it’s not in starvation mode or being misused.  We become stuck in a horrible cycle, where anorexia will turn into anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa or any other eating disordered pattern that you can think of. If left untreated, we will keep on spinning in this vicious cycle, where we competitively outwit ourselves to harm our body. Over eat, under eat, restrict or purge, it doesn’t matter, because the label of our disorder may change and evolve with time, but it still falls under the same fraternity of eating disorder society, where repercussions on health and life are greater.

On average, we think about our bodies 8 times a day and on any given day, 45% of women are on a diet and what’s worse, 40% would trade 3 to 5 years of their lives to achieve weight loss goals. “…a man should say to his soul every morning, “God has given thee twenty-four treasures; take heed lest thou lose anyone of them, for thou wilt not be able to endure the regret that will follow such loss.” Al-Ghazali, The Alchemy Of Happiness

So how do you know whether you or someone you know has an eating disorder?

Become familiar with the symptoms, and if symptoms are present, see a medical doctor and a therapist immediately. Do not delay. Eating Disorders are highly treatable, so get help.

A person living with an Eating Disorder such as anorexia/bulimia nervosa does not always have the same thoughts as a healthy person. This chemical imbalance can lead to the person not understanding the options available to help them relieve their suffering. Many people who suffer from eating disorder report feeling as though they’ve lost the ability to imagine a happy future, or remember a happy past. Often they don’t realize they’re suffering from a treatable illness, and seeking help may not even enter their mind. Emotions and even physical pain can become unbearable. If the person is sick too long with an eating disorder, it can lead a person to taking their lives. This isn’t always the case, as many live with their eating disorder and never attempt or die by suicide, but with awareness, education, and treatment, people can be helped so that suicide does not become an option.

Living with an eating disorder and not seeking treatment is a truly irrational choice. Just remember that Eating Disorders are not God’s will, Suffering from eating disorder is involuntary, just like cancer or diabetes, but it is a treatable illness that can be managed and cured.

If you are struggling to choose recovery, finding your “key to life” can help you stay firm in your resolve to recover no matter what obstacles seem to stand in your way. If your aim in life is seeking nearness to Allah Almighty then don’t forget this cannot be achieved through Eating Disorder behaviours. You need to free yourself from the slavery of your Eating Disorder.

Now looking back into past, I still struggle to understand what went wrong? Did I develop an eating disorder because my eating was irrational or did I develop this disorder because I was an overachiever and wanted perfectionism in life? What I did learn over the course of years is that there is no set reason for developing an eating disorder; it can be anything from biological, genetical, environmental to social.

Eating Disorder is one disease that can only be beaten through effort, hard work and treatment- Don’t sit around with your disorder and expect a miracle, you are just leading yourself towards destruction- Tawakkul in reality does not deny actually working and striving for provision, for Allah Almighty has decreed that we should work and it is from His ways that he gives people when they strive. In fact, Allah Almighty ordered us to both depend upon Him and to work, to take the necessary steps needed to achieve our goals, and so the act of striving for our sustenance is an act of physical worship while trusting and depending upon Allah is faith in Him.

Source: http://aaila.org/issue/september-october-2013/article/why-are-eating-disorders-contrary-to-allahs-way