Young Muslim Life StylesHealth is a gift from Allah
Islam considers health as a basic human right. “Your body has a right over you”, mentioned in one of the hadith (saying) of Prophet Muhammad. Health is a state of total physical, mental and social well-being in order to maintain the quality of life that we can enjoy at our best performance. A Muslim’s quest for good health is in conformity with his salvation in the life hereafter, as much as for the enjoyment of life in this world. For a Muslim, health consciousness is God consciousness. Quran is explicit in this matter and states:
O you who believe, be God conscious and let every soul look toward it send for the life hereafter, and observe your duty to God, so God is informed of what you do. Be not like those who forgot God and therefore He caused them to forget themselves. Such are the wrongdoers. (Chapter 63, verses 18-19). O you who believe, be God conscious and let every soul look toward it send for the life hereafter, and observe your duty to God, so God is informed of what you do. Be not like those who forgot God and therefore He caused them to forget themselves. Such are the wrongdoers. (Chapter 63, verses 18-19). We forget ourselves not only by forgetting the reality of the life hereafter, but also by forgetting our duties here, including responsibilities regarding our own bodies which have been given to us as a trust. We will be questioned if we do not keep the trust. Knowledge of health and disease is not just for physicians and those involved in health care, but for every one of us since we live in our own bodies and feel the pain when the body suffers. Thus, we will be directly affected if we are not able to maintain the machine that we live in. If we clog up our arteries with excessive salt, sugar, fat and lack of exercise and develop diabetes and coronary artery disease or high blood pressure as a result, we cannot call this the will of God as it is not the will of God for us to do so. Good health is a gift from God, and illness sometimes is from our own actions. Quran says, “Everything good that happens to you is from God. Everything bad that happens to you is from your own actions.” (Chapter 4, verse 79). Quran is not a textbook of medicine but in it, there are guidelines that if practiced correctly will give the healing that it calls itself. God says in Quran, “We have sent down in the Quran that which is healing and a mercy to those who believe.” (Chapter 17, verse 82). In addition, Allah says, “O mankind! There has come unto to you a direction from your Lord and healing for the diseases in your hearts, -- and for those who believe, a Guidance and a Mercy.” (Chapter 10, verse 57). Quran causes the healing not by kissing it or keeping it on a high shelf, but by following the guidance from it and avoiding what is prohibited and do what is good. |
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