Why are there high rates of diabetes and heart disease amongst the Asians? Why do we think we can eat what we want and not exercise? Our bodies are a trust and a loan upon us and health is a blessing from Allah. If you loaned someone something how would you expect to get it back? In the exact same condition and if it wasn’t we would be very angry. In the same way, Allah has given us our bodies as a loan and we all know we have to return to Him. Our bodies have a right upon us so we have to look after them. However, unfortunately we see the Muslim’s not thinking twice about what they eat and thinking they don’t have to look after themselves. You get the brothers eating out three or four times a day and the sisters eating nothing all day! Both ways are wrong and very unhealthy. Take out food is full of saturated fat and salt, which has harmful effects on the body. On the other hand, our bodies need fuel for energy and this comes from our food so we have to eat something!
Diet and exercise is crucial and this is something we should not ignore for Islamic reasons. Our health is not something we should take as granted just as with our wealth because in the blink of an eye it could all be gone. These are blessings from Allah and we have to take care of them, it is our responsibility.
The prophet (s) said ‘do not cause harm to yourself or others’. Aswell as this being evidence that smoking is haram it also applies to diet for the same reason. There is enough evidence out there to show the harm that a poor diet and a lack of exercise causes. Therefore, we need to watch what we eat in terms of the amount and the ingredients. A balanced diet is the key where you get a bit of everything in small amounts. Too much of anything is bad for you. The main cause of these diseases is too many high sugar and fatty foods. These include biscuits, cakes, chocolate, crisps and ice cream. These foods should not be eaten every day and we should make an effort to cut down on them. No-one is saying don’t eat them just don’t be extreme. And if you think about it, these foods are all recent to our diet, at the time of the prophet (s) these foods were probably unheard of. What we eat in our youth will affect us in the long-run although we may be healthy now that doesn’t guarantee anything for our old age. Just because you can’t see the harm it doesn’t mean it’s not building up inside us. Small lifestyle changes now could affect our health in the future inshallah. And at the end it is all upto Allah, but that doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing. We have to do all we can to prevent something bad or make something good happen and only after we have done all we can we leave it upto the will of Allah. That way we cant be blamed or blame ourselves for what happens after that. The following hadith explains with concept simply
One day Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the Bedouin, "Why don't you tie down your camel?" The Bedouin answered, "I put my trust in Allah." The Prophet then said, "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah" (At-Tirmidhi).
Our lives shouldn’t revolve around food it is just the means of survival and not reason. Most Asian households have the wife in the kitchen all day cooking preparing a large feast for her husband and family. They eat it all in 5 minutes and then who cares? An hour later, they’re routing through the cupboards again. So much time is spent cooking that the salah has to be squeezed in while the rice is boiling and the chicken is roasting! This not how a woman’s lifestyle should be and men should definitely not put these duties on his wife. A woman will be rewarded obviously for cooking for the family but it should not be her priority task every day. It is fine to enjoy food, Allah has given us these amazing foods and we should use them but don’t make your life revolve around eating. Our day should revolve around the prayer and worshipping Allah. Moderation is the key. Cook but cook moderately. There is no need to make four curries a day plus rice and three desserts! ‘Eat to live don’t live to eat.’
Further to diet, exercise is crucial. Physical activity of any type strengthens the muscles and the bones
and so prevent many diseases and illnesses. We have to make some sacrifices for the sake of our health and for our religion. Being thin doesn’t mean you are healthy as doesn’t being overweight. Exercise is necessary for everyone. At the time of the prophet (s) they would do loads of horse riding and military training as part of their daily routine. They were very active, but now all we do is sit around all day. Most jobs don’t even involve any physical labour so where is any activity occurring. There is not only a physical strengthening gained it is a mental discipline where we have to train our bodies and our minds, increase coordination, stamina and flexibility. Physical activity also reduces stress and anxiety. The prophet (s) said ‘Teach your children swimming, horse riding and archery’, but we don’t encourage our children to become physically fit. The rates of obesity are increasing and this is because of our own mistakes. This is something that CAN be prevented. We should undoubtedly get our children and youth to take part in exercise and be concerned for their health. That is both males and females. Sometimes the boys are pushed and girls are held back when it come to sports. Why? Obviously, make sure it is in a female only environment and go for it! This may be slightly harder for girls with hijab, but there is a lot more now and if not there are plenty of exercises you can do in the house and just walking more will improve fitness. Boys, you have no excuse for being overweight or unfit!
So don’t take your health for granted, remember our bodies are a trust upon us so look after them properly and encourage others to do so aswell. Just by doing something so simple can make a big difference of you having a healthy old age or an immobile one. We all want to be able to move around and look after ourselves as we get older and what we do now will affect that. Any worldly act can become an act of worship! Subhanallah just by changing our intentions. Purify your reasons for making a change and you will be rewarded inshallah.
Your Sister in Islam x
Diet and exercise is crucial and this is something we should not ignore for Islamic reasons. Our health is not something we should take as granted just as with our wealth because in the blink of an eye it could all be gone. These are blessings from Allah and we have to take care of them, it is our responsibility.
The prophet (s) said ‘do not cause harm to yourself or others’. Aswell as this being evidence that smoking is haram it also applies to diet for the same reason. There is enough evidence out there to show the harm that a poor diet and a lack of exercise causes. Therefore, we need to watch what we eat in terms of the amount and the ingredients. A balanced diet is the key where you get a bit of everything in small amounts. Too much of anything is bad for you. The main cause of these diseases is too many high sugar and fatty foods. These include biscuits, cakes, chocolate, crisps and ice cream. These foods should not be eaten every day and we should make an effort to cut down on them. No-one is saying don’t eat them just don’t be extreme. And if you think about it, these foods are all recent to our diet, at the time of the prophet (s) these foods were probably unheard of. What we eat in our youth will affect us in the long-run although we may be healthy now that doesn’t guarantee anything for our old age. Just because you can’t see the harm it doesn’t mean it’s not building up inside us. Small lifestyle changes now could affect our health in the future inshallah. And at the end it is all upto Allah, but that doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing. We have to do all we can to prevent something bad or make something good happen and only after we have done all we can we leave it upto the will of Allah. That way we cant be blamed or blame ourselves for what happens after that. The following hadith explains with concept simply
One day Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the Bedouin, "Why don't you tie down your camel?" The Bedouin answered, "I put my trust in Allah." The Prophet then said, "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah" (At-Tirmidhi).
Our lives shouldn’t revolve around food it is just the means of survival and not reason. Most Asian households have the wife in the kitchen all day cooking preparing a large feast for her husband and family. They eat it all in 5 minutes and then who cares? An hour later, they’re routing through the cupboards again. So much time is spent cooking that the salah has to be squeezed in while the rice is boiling and the chicken is roasting! This not how a woman’s lifestyle should be and men should definitely not put these duties on his wife. A woman will be rewarded obviously for cooking for the family but it should not be her priority task every day. It is fine to enjoy food, Allah has given us these amazing foods and we should use them but don’t make your life revolve around eating. Our day should revolve around the prayer and worshipping Allah. Moderation is the key. Cook but cook moderately. There is no need to make four curries a day plus rice and three desserts! ‘Eat to live don’t live to eat.’
Further to diet, exercise is crucial. Physical activity of any type strengthens the muscles and the bones
and so prevent many diseases and illnesses. We have to make some sacrifices for the sake of our health and for our religion. Being thin doesn’t mean you are healthy as doesn’t being overweight. Exercise is necessary for everyone. At the time of the prophet (s) they would do loads of horse riding and military training as part of their daily routine. They were very active, but now all we do is sit around all day. Most jobs don’t even involve any physical labour so where is any activity occurring. There is not only a physical strengthening gained it is a mental discipline where we have to train our bodies and our minds, increase coordination, stamina and flexibility. Physical activity also reduces stress and anxiety. The prophet (s) said ‘Teach your children swimming, horse riding and archery’, but we don’t encourage our children to become physically fit. The rates of obesity are increasing and this is because of our own mistakes. This is something that CAN be prevented. We should undoubtedly get our children and youth to take part in exercise and be concerned for their health. That is both males and females. Sometimes the boys are pushed and girls are held back when it come to sports. Why? Obviously, make sure it is in a female only environment and go for it! This may be slightly harder for girls with hijab, but there is a lot more now and if not there are plenty of exercises you can do in the house and just walking more will improve fitness. Boys, you have no excuse for being overweight or unfit!So don’t take your health for granted, remember our bodies are a trust upon us so look after them properly and encourage others to do so aswell. Just by doing something so simple can make a big difference of you having a healthy old age or an immobile one. We all want to be able to move around and look after ourselves as we get older and what we do now will affect that. Any worldly act can become an act of worship! Subhanallah just by changing our intentions. Purify your reasons for making a change and you will be rewarded inshallah.
Your Sister in Islam x
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