Beauty & Health


Go Healthy, Go happy



Assalaamu alaikum [peace be to you],


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[God], the Lord of the Worlds.

Health is considered a great blessing of Allah and also a trust from the Almighty God. 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. 

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. 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 carry out their religious act. According to a hadith, the Holy Prophet Mohammed -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 (mosque) on foot." The Holy Prophet -peace be upon him- then said: "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. 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. 'Abdullah bin Harith reported: "I never met a man who smiled more often than the Prophet of Allah -peace be upon him-." 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. 


peace be to you...

Mobeen Tariq
mobeentrq@yahoo.com


A Good Night's Sleep 
Posted by administrator
Contributed by administrator

Sheikh Salman al-Oadah

It might seem funny to devote an article to sleeping. But think about it. The average person spends around eight hours of a 24-hour day asleep. That is a third of a person’s lifetime.

Allah describes sleep as a blessing from Him. He says in the Qur’an:

“And We made your sleep a rest for you.” [Surah al-Naba’: 9]

“And remember when He made slumber fall upon you as a reassurance from Him.” [Surah al-Anfal: 11]

“It is Allah who has made the night for you, that you may rest therein, and the days as that which helps you to see. Verily Allah is full of grace and bounty to humanity, yet most people give no thanks.” [Surah Ghafir: 61]

Sleep is not only described as a blessing bestowed upon the people, but also as a testament to Allah’s creative ability. Consider where Allah says:

“He it is who gathers up your souls at night and knows all that you do by day. Then He raises you up again, so that the term appointed for you (on Earth) may be accomplished. And afterward unto Him is your return. Then He will proclaim to you what you used to do.” [Surah al-An`am: 60]

Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, as well as (the souls of) those who die not, during their sleep. Then He withholds those on whom He has passed the decree of death and sends the others back until an appointed term. Most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.”[Surah al-Zumar: 42]

Yes, sleep is His creation, and it has its marvels. A sleeping person drifts away from his consciousness and reason, only to be fully restored to his rational faculties upon waking, refreshed and revitalized.

A sleeping person can see the strangest and most amazing things, things that a waking person could never possibly see. Our ability to dream is another of Allah’s blessings, and another sign of His greatness.

We can appreciate the importance of sleep if we consider that Allah guided His Messenger (peace be upon him) regarding the etiquettes of sleeping, like being in a state of purity and lying on his right side. (As for facing the qiblah, this is actually not established by the Sunnah.)

Likewise, a number of remembrances and supplications are prescribed for sleeping. The Prophet (peace be upon him) instructed `Ali b. Abi Talib and Fatimah to say “Subhan Allah” 33 times, “al-Hamdu Lillah” 33 times, and “Allah Akbar” 33 times. He informed them that doing so will remove their fatigue and revitalize them, and said: “It is better than having a servant.” [Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim]

Our generation is sometimes accused of being “the sleeping generation”. Most of us certainly do not need to sleep more than we already do. Nevertheless, we must respect our need to sleep by observing the etiquettes and approaches to sleep that will maximise the benefit that we get from it. This, in turn, helps us manage stress and makes our waking hours more productive.

It is a mistake to dismiss the importance of sleep. We all need it, and we all get our daily quota of sleep. Therefore, it is wrong that we make light of the subject of sleep and disdain reading or speaking about it, as if it were something superfluous.

In order to sleep better, we should first relax a bit. We need to unwind from the pressures, worries, and distresses of the day. We need to end the day on a note of forgiveness and with a few moments of tenderness with our families. We need to recite our remembrances of Allah and rid our hearts of all our animosities. We should not lay our heads down on our pillows with resentfulness in our hearts and angry thoughts in our minds. We should make our last thoughts of the day positive ones.

Source: Islamtoday