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Fatwa CenterIslamic teachings regarding cooking habits
Question
There is this pressure on women in the Muslim world today to be able to cook really well. There is this stereotype that a good Muslim woman makes lots of stews. Ramadan has become some sort of food holiday in which these ladies cook very intensely. It is delicious food, and it is easy to overeat. It is rather frowned upon to not follow this stereotype, to focus on nutrition, to cut down on all the salt and all the oil, and to teach the family to be healthy. It is as if a woman's job in this world is to to try to overfeed her family (and iron). What does Islam teach us about cooking habits?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
You have based your question on an assumption that we do not find in reality in the way you described. If it exists, then it might be individual cases, not a standard custom to the extent of calling it a stereotype in the Islamic world. The cooking shows concerned with culinary arts and that are broadcast in media and other modern platforms do not exist in the Muslim world in particular!
Allah, The Exalted, made it lawful for people to enjoy the worldly pleasures and delights that He created for them in food, drink, clothing, and accommodation. There is no religious impediment to enjoying these blessings provided that excessiveness is avoided. Allah, The Exalted, says (what means): {O children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess. Say, "Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good (lawful) things of provision?" Say, “They are for those who believe during the worldly life (but) exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.” Thus do We detail the verses for a people who know.} [Quran 7:31-32]
The Muslim should adhere to moderation regarding food, following the example of the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, as he used to eat the available good food, and be satisfied with what Allah has blessed him with. For more benefit, please refer to fatwas 88435, 7372, and ">163527.
Islam does not adopt a specific attitude towards cooking except for the obligation of consuming lawful food from lawful sources, avoiding what is harmful to the body, and avoiding excess and the like of the general rules governing this matter. Moreover, the social customs and traditions differ in this regard in the different communities.
There is no pressure on the Muslim woman pertaining to nutrition, nor is she obliged to observe certain guidelines in this regard. Rather, the scholars held different views regarding the woman's role in doing the housework in her husband's home and whether it is obligatory on her or not; please refer to fatwa 86344.
It is part of marital happiness that the spouses build their life on mutual cooperation; each should shoulder his share of the responsibility and fulfill his role. The man works and earns a living to provide for his family, and the wife carries out the housework, and thus each of them serves the other.
Allah knows best.
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