Allah, in the person of Master Fard Muhammad, to Whom praise is due forever, came to give us a spiritual life which would automatically give us a physical life of Himself (the life of the righteous), which we lost by following other than righteous guides.
We cannot be successful in making the progress of a spiritual life, unless we have the guidance for the physical life. This guidance comes to us through laws, rules and regulations of our physical life.
We must make this teaching of eating once a day binding upon us, as a law, in order to get any good from it, as Allah (God) desires. The purpose of these dietary laws and the time that we should partake of food is to lengthen our lives, by ridding us of the greedy desire to eat three times a day and between meals if we are offered food.
The main purpose of this teaching, “How to Eat to Live,” is to prolong our lives.
Beauty appearance is destroyed in us—not just our facial appearance, but the most beautiful appearance about us, our characteristics (the way we act and practice our way of life). We achieve one of the greatest beauties when we achieve the spiritual beauty and characteristics through practicing them. We achieve the spiritual beauty through practicing or carrying into practice the spiritual laws.
We know that we have been made ugly by our enemies’ rearing of our parents. We know that many of our people throughout the earth have been made ugly by not practicing culture that would beautify them. But we are blessed that God, Himself, has visited us to guide us in His way. What people on the earth has God visited in person today, other than you and me here in America?
The Wisdom that He teaches us is the Wisdom of God and of the Gods. It is Supreme Wisdom, because it is above and far ahead of what we have ever heard and what we see practiced by others today. Should we not obey that which is good for us, when we are members of the nation of good? Why should we not practice that which is good for us?
It has come to us and Allah (God) has said that it is ourselves that He is giving to us. Should we not accept the good for ourselves, instead of accepting evil and disobedience to the law of goodness, when the bible verifies this truth?
Why should you and I not accept such good teaching and practice it? It will do away with sickness and keep death standing outside our doors for a long time—for many years. Think over Methuselah and Noah who kept death standing outside of the door for nearly one thousand years. Now we cannot stay here one century, which is one tenth of that time. We invite death inside the door, instead of obeying a law of God that will keep it outside for a long time.
Eat one meal a day. Stay away from the hog, of which 10 ounces takes away from you. God has said, three one-hundredths percent of the beauty appearance.
This civilization has a thousand and one things for you to eat. It is not necessary for you to go around trying to eat everything people say to eat to have good health. But, what you eat, let it be good and do not eat yourself to death at that one meal a day. This book has described to you good, common food. You do not have to be rich to purchase it.
And I would not like you to follow the Bible in Genesis where Adam is told to go and eat of all the herbs of the earth. There are some poisonous herbs that would have killed Adam. This is a mistake that the theologians put in the Bible. You cannot eat all herbs; some of them will kill you. But, eat the best of herbs that God approves for you and me and do not think He approved of Adam eating all the herbs of the earth.
(Reprinted from “How to Eat to Live,” Book One, 1967.)
