Health and Fitness

Nowadays we Muslims don't seem concerned about our health and fitness. We are not as active as our predecessors. Even when the Masjid is about 5-10 minutes walk away, we will still travel to the Masjid by car due to our laziness; it tends to cause us to slack in our Salaah and our Ibaadah.

Good health is not only confined to exercise, but health is also affected by what we eat and how much we sleep. In a Hadith, to the nearest meaning a third of our stomach should be for food, a third for drink and a third to help us breathe. From this, we can learn that it is advised not to eat a lot.

We can also change our cooking techniques. For example, many people of the sub-continent, when cooking use vegetable oil. Oil is fat and is very bad for ones throat and arteries. We can use alternatives such as olive oil or sunseed oil. People are sometimes put off from buying these types of products due to their cost.

The reason why we are advised not to eat a lot is because having a full stomach is burdensome and makes it hard for a person to walk around, therefore making him lazy. We shouldn't eat too less as this will have a diverse effect on your health. In Islam everything should be done in moderation.

Islam is not just practiced by using the tongue. To perform the Hajj and Umrah requires a lot of energy and the use of our limbs. It is unfortunate to see old people coming from different parts of the world carrying out their Hajj journey on foot and seeing middle aged men who are accustomed to travelling by cars carrying out their Hajj by means of coach. It is also sad to see people passing out at Hajj time because they are tired.

The Sahabah used to engage themselves in exercises. For example, horse riding, fencing, wrestling etc. Nowadays, instead of playing football, people tend to watch it on the television. The television is an object that makes a person lazy and is very destructive to our health and is also one of the main causes of the Alzheimer's disease.

At the end of the day, by being more fit, you will have more strength to worship Allah without feeling lazy. We should thank Allah for the good health he has blessed us with. Thanking is not just done by the tongue. We also have to show our gratitude by using this great favour that Allah has bestowed upon us the way Allah wants us to use it.

Think about why we are given strength in our young age and why it is loved by Allah to see a person in his youth worshipping Allah.

May Allah Taa'la give us the ability to fulfil the rights of his bounties and to worship Him until death comes to us. Ameen.