Health - Something to Ponder .......

.Salaams all :-)
(As i go through the challenges of my ami-ji's illnesses - failing health /old age...it seemed an opportune time to repost, as much as a reminder for myself as hopefully support and guidance for others too)

Good Health is actually a gift (ni’ma) from Most High. There is a famous Hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said:

“There are two gifts regarding whom many people are deceived, . One is health, and the other is free time.” When you get really busy, that is when you realise the value of free time. Likeswise, when you are ill, that is when you realise how great the gift of health was. This is why some scholars use to say it (Arabic proverb): “Well-being or good health (a’fiya) is actually a crown that is worn by healthy people. However, this crown is only seen by the ill people.”

Good health is one of the greatest and most amazing gifts Allah can give us. When a man becomes blind, that is when he realises what a true gift sight was. We do not realise the value of the gifts bestowed upon us by Allah Most High.

Health is something that is beloved to Allah Most High and His Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace). We have been ordered and commanded to ask Allah for good health (sihha) and well-being (a’fiya). There is a Hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said:

ما سئل الله شيئا أحب إليه من العافية

“No body asks Allah for anything more beloved to Him than well-being.” (Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

We make dua and we supplicate, we ask Allah for all our needs, but the most beloved thing to Allah is that we ask him for well-being (a’fiya), because Allah wants us to be healthy. But then you might ask the question, why do we become ill? That is another separate topic altogether. Sometimes it is a test, and sometimes it is purification of our sins. When the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) would go to visit the ill and sick people, he use to say:

لا بأس طهور إن شاء الله

“Don’t worry it is okay, it is purification by the Will of Allah.”

There are many reasons and wisdoms for illness. Allah probably wants the ill person to ask and turn to Him, since when he is healthy he forgets Allah Most High. It is the nature of a human being to do this. When you’re healthy, you do not remember Allah. It is only when we become ill and sick, we make a liot of duas. Some people do not even remember Allah when they are ill. If one does not remember Allah when he is ill and sick, then that is dangerous. If we do not remember Allah when we really need Him, then I do not know when we will remember Allah. So, we have been ordered to ask Allah for well-being and good health. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) once saw his uncle Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) and said:

يا عم سل الله العفو والعافية في الدنيا والاخره

“Oh uncle, ask Allah forgiveness and well-being (a’fiya) in this world and the hereafter. A’fiya is a unique word that implies good health, well being and a good state. There is a famous dua which we should include in our regular supplications. It is a dua that our beloved Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace) prescribed for us:

“Allahumma inni as-aluka, as-sihhata, wal iffata, wa’ l-amanata wa husunul khuluqi wa’ l-ridhaa bi ’l-qadr”

“Oh Allah, I ask of you good health, chastity, trustworthiness, good manners and to be content with destiny.”

Asking Allah for good manners is also part of this dua. Some Ulema, such as Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya, mention in their books that good manners and health are related to one another. When a person is healthy, he is good and well mannered; he is always smiling, he is nice and kind, and is able to exercise patience. But when a person is stressed or depressed or when a person is ill and sick, then automatically he becomes sour in his treatment of others and becomes grumpy.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) used to make this supplication. This means he has encouraged us to also make this dua, since we are ordered to follow in his footsteps. In the Qur’an Allah says:

لَّقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ۬

“There is indeed a good model for you in the Messenger of Allah” (Qur’an 33:21)

The last part of this du’aa is to be content with destiny (qadar). Being content with the destiny of Allah is again related, because if you are ill or sick and you supplicate to Allah with the following: Oh Allah, I am asking you for health, I am asking you for well-being, I am asking you for good character, and good manners, but if I am ill and sick I am still content with your destiny. You are content with whatever Allah Most High has predestined for you and you do not complain.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) says in a Hadith:

من اصبح معافا في بدنه، امنا في سربه عنده قوت يومه فكأنما حيزت له الدنيا

“Whoever wakes up in the morning having health in his body, is safe and secure in his house, and has one day’s provision of food; it is as though the whole world has been given to him. (Sunan at-Tirmidhi)

In this Hadith, it has been stated that the person only has provision for one day. This is what Islam teaches us and this is how the Sahaba (May Allah be pleased with them all) lived. Anyone with the provision for one day was not considered to be a poor person. They would not think about tomorrow. We should live each day as it comes. I am not saying that we should not think about tomorrow at all, but we need to realise that this life is very temporary. Don’t plan for four-hundred years! The way we deal with this world, sometimes, is as if we will be living here for eternity. Do not live here as if you will be here for eternity, it is just a matter of 40/50/60 years, and then we have to go to the eternal life in the hereafter. A person who has one day’s provision, it is as though the whole world has been given to him.
If you have health, one day’s food and you have a nice secure place and you are safe in your house, regardless of whether you have rented the property or bought the property, it is as though you have been given everything in the world. The word ‘hizat’ in the Hadith means: the whole world is gathered and given to you in your lap.

So, health and well being is something very important in Islam. It is beloved to Allah, Our Lord and Creator. He has ordered us to ask for this and make dua all the time. It is beloved to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) as well. Health is a ni’ma (gift) given to us by Allah Most High. Therefore those studying this science, do not do it merely for the sake of money or having a career.
There are also many Hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) that talk about actual medication and resorting to treatment. There is a Hadith, for example, in the Sahih of Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, related by Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said:

ما أنزل الله داء الاّ أنزل له شفاء

“Allah has not revealed any illness (meaning Allah has not created any illness), except that He has created a remedy/cure for it.”

Some of the villagers once came to the Messenger (Allah bless him & give him peace) and said: Oh Messenger of Allah, shall we just rely on Allah (tawakkul) or shall we use and resort to medication?” The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said:

: نعم يا عباد الله تداووا فان الله عز وجل لم يضع داء إلا وضع له شفاء غير داء واحد ، قالوا : ما هو ؟؟ قال : الهرم

“Yes! O servants of Allah, use medication/resort to medication. . Allah Most High has not created any illness, except that He has created a cure for it, except for one illness .

They asked, “O Messenger of Allah (Allah have mercy on him) what is that? He said, “Old age.”

There is no cure for old age. External beauty is just temporary beauty. Islam talks about the real internal beauty of the heart. The outer beauty is just brief, and it goes away. You might look at a girl and think wow! You might be eying her up because she has make up all over her. Go and look at her in the morning when she wakes up, how she looks? That is not what beauty is, beauty is of the character and manner and of the heart.

So, there is no cure for ageing. Real beauty is , Nur and light will be visible. This is real beauty. . That is what Allah says in the Qur’an:

سِيمَاهُمۡ فِى وُجُوهِهِم مِّنۡ أَثَرِ ٱلسُّجُودِۚ

“Their distinguishing feature is on their faces from the effect of prostration” (Qur’an 48:29)

Meaning, those that worship and obey Allah, the sign of their obedience to Allah is in their faces. It is not a physical light, not a colour; rather Nor Created by Allah. This is real beauty Allah has given us.

In order for a scholar to be a scholar in the sight of Allah Most High, he must be a God-fearing scholar. Allah Most High says in the Qur’an:

إِنَّمَا يَخۡشَى ٱللَّهَ مِنۡ عِبَادِهِ ٱلۡعُلَمَـٰٓؤُاْۗ “

“Only those of His slaves fear Allah who are knowledgeable” (Quran 35:28)

Those who fear Allah are the real scholars. If you have a scholar that has knowledge but does not fear Allah, he is not a true scholar. You can have a Christian professor of Islamic studies; his knowledge of “al-asma’ wa‘l-rijal (science of critically analysing the reporters of Hadith)” can be immense, but he is not even a Muslim. Knowledge of Islam (ilm) is not just information; it is much more than that. What benefit is the knowledge of Islam if that knowledge does not even make you a Muslim? If you want to be a scholar, you have to also fear Allah, act upon what you preach, and act upon what you know. Likewise, your intention should be correct. Your intention is for Allah.

The above is an extract from transcript of a lecture Delivered by Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam Al-Kawthari) - which i received a while back..
I have shared this hoping that you find this useful and informative and some aspects that enlighten / inform /help in some way.