Islamy

*COOKING WHILE GLORIFYING ALLAH* 🥘🍲🍜🍝🍛🥗

*COOKING WHILE GLORIFYING ALLAH* _( a true story)_
18 January 2010

*_Glory to You Allah !!! how Great and Magnificent You are !!!_*

*"And remember Allah much, that you may be successful.''*
(Al Quran surah/chapter 62:10).

I will not keep it a secret that I am not a fan of cooking as I used to consider it a waste of time and effort.

When I got engaged, I discovered that my mother in law is one of those who spend most of their life time at the kitchen, moreover she loves to give variety to new kinds of food from time to time using different kinds of Arabic and western cooking books.

This matter – of course – used to make me worry because I thought that my fiancé, after marriage, would compare between my cooking and his mother's.

So when we have finished with all marriage arrangements and the marriage date was determined, my fiancé noticed that I was delaying the wedding and every time I used to invent a different excuse so finally he came and asked me _"you are delaying the marriage for a reason I do not know, what is it?"_ then I felt the matter is being discovered and I do not have anything to do but say the truth, so I said _" frankly, I hate the kitchen!"_  he laughed in astonishment and told me _"anyway I like simple kinds of food and also I do not mind if I eat the same kind of each two days"_these words calmed me down and I did not delay the marriage any more, on the contrary after I got married I started feeling responsible for the house and all its matters which include the kitchen. So I told myself _"you have to do your best in the kitchen even if your husband likes simple kinds of food"._

At the first day I entered my kitchen for cooking I asked Allah for help and trust on Him then I  pleaded with Him that my food would not come to be much less that of my mother in law.
Then I started to cook and during that time I remembered-with God's help-- some words of one of our sisters who was giving us lessons at the masjid _(mosque)_ during Ramadan and she said, _(may Allah reward her with good)_ — _"the Muslim wife spends most of her life time in the kitchen, especially in Ramadan, which wastes much of this great blessed month. Ramadan is like a scent flying away easily. So do not miss it in the kitchen and such kind of works, and why do you not mention God's name while in the kitchen?_
_Has anyone of you tried to cook while you are Glorifying Allah?"_

I felt I need to do that, not to take the opportunity of Ramadan— because we were in other month which I do not remember now— but for the hope that Allah will make my food tastes good.

And I decided to start with saying God's name *before* each step; _(Bismillaah)_ starting with turning the heat on , adding butter, then onion and garlic, then tomato and ending with turning the heat off.

The second time I asked myself why not I recite Surat Al-Ikhlas _(Qul huwallaahu Ahad),_ after mentioning God's name, _(Bismillaah)_ during each step? I love this Surat very much, it is short and there are a lot of rewards with saying it too.

So I have started doing that with Allah's help and then, subsequently, Allah led me to glorify Him _(recite ThikruAllah or Praises to Allah)_ while the food is being cooked and during washing the dishes or cleaning the kitchen.

My husband's reaction was to praise my food to the extent that he said my food is better than his mother's! — And of course, I did not believe him then— because I am not the one who would pay much attention for the taste of food as long as it is fit for eating and the salt is not too much, and I thought him saying that as a compliment, after all I was still a new bride and such compliments are very normal.
_But I have noticed that he is repeating such words very often and this made me so happy but I never believed him and thought it is just encouragement from him especially when I discovered that he is one of the greatest fans when it comes to well cooked food ,moreover, he pays much attention to the way each kind of food is cooked, and thus what he told me before marriage turned out to be encouragement, nothing more!_

When I used to invite my mother in law to spend few days with us she used also to praise my food and I thought she was making a compliment as well.

I have noticed that she used to spend her time with me at the kitchen while I was pleading her to have rest at the living room however she used to refuse.
Because we were chatting with each other—I did not notice that she was watching my cooking till she asked me once about the method of cooking a certain kind of food and when I mentioned it she was surprised but I did not understand why till she called me one day, after months from my marriage, to tell me _"I plead with you to tell me the secret of your food taste"_ so I asked her if she is joking but she swore that she was not.

This was a surprise for me and I started thinking deeply to find out the reason but I could not find any but mentioning God's name and surat Al-Ikhlas and sometimes glorifying God so I told her: _"do you want the truth?"_ she said _"sure"_ then I told her the aforementioned, she was surprised but she seemed as if she did not believe me.
I noticed the next time she visited us that she was watching me while I was cooking to make sure of what I had told her.
And when she believed she told me that she _"is doing the same thing now"_ and that she started noticing a progress in her food taste too.

The funny thing about this matter is that I do not hate cooking or spending time at the kitchen anymore, especially when I play a cassette there; in the kitchen, to listen to Quran and different kinds of religious lessons.

Subsequently the time I am spending at the kitchen has become amusement and I do not feel the passing of time except after finishing with everything.

Not only that but also,—with God's help— _I am not confined to cooking just the ordinary dishes but also baking foods like cake, pizza, and sometimes making jars of pickles to the extent that my friends and relatives did not believe that when they saw !!!_

Glory to Allah that mentioning Him has secrets we do not know, but such ignorance does not prevent us the amazement of such secrets.
*_So Glory to you Allah how Great You are_* !!!!

*"And remember Allah much, that you may be successful.''*
(Al Quran 62:10).

_salamu Alaykom, i would like to inform you that non of the latest chapters are written by me. I am simply sharing what friends and relatives are sharing with me. So prasing me won't do me any good. Jazakom Allah khairain for seeking knowledge. And Alhamdullilah for being able to share it with you.
Have a good day/night and a blessed Ramadan in shaa Allah ♥️_