Living a Healthy Life in Islam

The religion of Islam has always emphasized the importance of health and wellness. For centuries, Muslims have recognized the value of living a well-rounded, clean and healthy life. For
these reasons alone, the Islamic religion and culture has instilled great values of taking care of the mind, body, and spirit in order for the Muslim to fulfill the obligations placed on them by Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

We will take a closer look at how the Muslims attempt to stay healthy and purified, the forbidden aspects of the religion, and medicinal practices within the religious culture.

Health is considered a great blessing of Allah and also a trust from the Almighty God (A'dab-e-Zindagi, 2007:15). Muslims strongly believe that health is important, for if one was unhealthy, then they would not have the ability to continue to do good deeds. Muslims have strong faith in the Almighty Allah. They believe that they must do good deeds in this life, by doing charitable works, taking care of their family, building a strong Islamic community, and most importantly worshiping Allah, so that they may abide in the eternal abode of Paradise.

Testifying there is only One God and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the servant of God, the continuous prayers 5 times daily, the paying of charity, the fasting during the month of Ramadan, and the rigorous visit to perform Hajj at Mecca, all constitute a healthy lifestyle if these 5 pillars are going to be fulfilled. If the Muslim is unable to fulfill these obligations due to an illness, these pieces of the faith may be hard or impossible to accomplish.
Since morality, reason, knowledge, and faith are basic elements of the human life, Muslims must take care of their health in order to maintain a healthy growth within these departments. They are encouraged to be
cheerful, glad, alert and active. (A'dab-e-Zindagi, 2007:15). Ways to attain this inner and outer happiness is through worship of the one true God, Allah and doing what He has ordained on mankind. Man is encouraged to live a simple and moderate lifestyle. Over excess has the tendency to cause men to become stressed and overworked. Even during worship a person should not push themselves to the limit where they are unable to perform and carryout their religious act. According to a hadith, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once saw an old man who was dragging and supported on either side by two of his sons. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) inquired: "What has happened to this old man?" The people told him: "The man had vowed to travel to the House of Allah (Masjid) on foot." The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) observed: "It is not the will of Allah that this old man should torment himself" and then urged the old man to ride towards his destination. (A'dab-e-Zindagi, 2007:16). From this hadith, Muslims must take into consideration that tormenting oneself is not favored and that one should take the easy route if they are in a weak state in order to avoid hurting the body.

Cheerfulness, happiness, and modesty are characteristics of a healthy and righteous Muslim. Smiling is an outward expression, which shows one's happiness to others. That is why smiling is strongly recommended by people in Islam and is also looked upon a being a charitable act. Hazrat 'Abdullah bin Harith (may Allah have mercy on him) reported: "I never met a man who smiled more often than the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him)."(A'dab-e-Zindagi, 2007:16). Since Muslims are expected to follow the ways of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), they must do their best to smile as much as possible in order to reap the rewards and benefits of Allah on the Day of Judgment.