The Prophetic Guidance on Not Forcing the Sick to Eat or Drink

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The Wisdom of Not Forcing the Sick to Consume Food or Drink

The Wisdom of Not Forcing the Sick to Consume Food or Drink

At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah (may ALLĀH have mercy upon them) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Do not force your patients to consume food or drink, for ALLĀH, the Exalted and Most High, feeds them and gives them drink.” {At-Tirmidhi #2040, Sahih according Al-Albani}

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (may ALLĀH have mercy on him) said:

Some doctors commented, “How beneficial and true is this statement by the Prophet that contains divine wisdom, especially for the doctors who treat patients! When the patient does not feel like eating or drinking, it is because the body is busy fighting the illness, or because the instinctive heat (or the appetite) becomes weaker. Either way, it is not allowed to give the patients food in this case.”

“The feeling of hunger results from the body’s appetite for food so that it refuels itself with the requisite energy replacing that which the body has spent. The various organs of the body will spend the available energy until it runs low on supply, the stomach will alert the person, who would then feel hungry. Food will then be distributed from the stomach to the rest of the organs of the body starting with the closest ones. When one is ill, the body will be busy maturing and getting rid of the alien, septic substances (toxins) and does not require food or drink.

When the sick person is forced to eat some food, the body’s energy will be divided between digesting the food and concentrating on fending off the invading septic substances (pathogens) that caused the ailment. The patient will be harmed in this case, especially when one is suffering from acute ailments or lessening in the instinctive heat, as these conditions will only add strength to the ailment and bring about harm.

The patient should only eat what is required to sustain his strength and should avoid what can aggravate his condition. The patient should consume light food and juices like nenuphar (water lily), apples and tender rosewater drinks, etc.”