Islam for Non-Muslims

• RELIGIOUS FAITHS VS IRRELIGIOUS IDEAS
• 1 The Present State of the World Religions
• 2 Religious System as a Historical Reality
• 3 The Evidences of God across the Universe
• 4 The Absolute Oneness of God
• 5 The Reality of the Afterlife
• 6 The Growth of Irreligious Ideas
• 7 Worshipping Natural Elements
• 8 Worshipping Imaginary Idols
• 9 Worshipping Human Beings
• 10 Inventing Relationship to God
• 11 Inventing the Idea of Reincarnation
• 12 Inventing the Theory of Evolution (Darwinism)
• 13 Inventing ‘Nature’ as the Creator of the Universe
• 14 Importance of Religion in this Secular World
• ISLAM AS A RELIGION
• 15 Addressing the Criticisms of Islam
• 16 Islam as a Magnet for the Non-Muslims
• 17 The Quran as the Original Divine Book
• 18 The Quranic Reality in Archeological Findings
• 19 Muhammad (pbuh) as the Great Prophet
• 20 Islam as the True Religion
• 21 Islam as the Universal Religion
• 22 Islam as the Eternal Religion
• 23 Islam as a Practicable Religion
• 24 Islam as an Enjoyable Religion
• 25 Islam as the Peaceful & Savior Religion
• 26 Islam as the Progressive & Rational Religion
• 27 Islam in Health & Hygiene
• 28 Islam in Promotion of Science
• 29 Muslims in Practices of Science
• 30 Islam & Other Monotheisms: Similarities & Differences
• 31 Islamic Tolerance for Other Religions
• 32 Islamic Rights for Non-Muslim Citizens
• ISLAM AS A WAY OF LIFE
• 33 Islamic System vs. Human Ideologies
• 34 Moral & Social Impacts of Islamic Rituals
• 35 Moral Discipline in Islam
• 36 Sinning of 3 W’s: Women, Wine and Wealth
• 37 Dignity & Equality of Man in Islam
• 38 Human Rights in Islam
• 39 Social Duties in Islam
• 40 Dignity & Rights of Labor in Islam
• 41 Dignity of Women in Islam
• 42 Rights of Women in Islam
• 43 Marriage & Family Life in Islam
• 44 Political Philosophy in Islam
• 45 Economic Principles in Islam
• 46 Islamic Economy vs. Capitalism & Communism
• 47 Patriotism & Internationalism in Islam
• 48 Understanding Controversial Issues in Islam
• 49 Conversion to Islam: Problems & Prospects
• 50 Conclusive Message to the Non-Muslims

27: ISLAM IN HEALTH & HYGIENE
 
Introduction: Islam cares about human wellbeing that extends in all directions. Accordingly, it makes provisions that contribute to the growth and upkeep of your mental and physical health and wellness. Islam views health or “physical fitness” (2:247) as a gift from God and also an asset that could be spent for godly purposes.  For examples, you can use your healthy body and mind to (i) make honest income that you can spend for family and charity (ii) defend yourself and your family from external sources of violence, (iii) beneficial lifting of heavy load (e.g. for distribution of Islamic books or moving furnitures) (iv) prevent oppression of the weak and (v) meet the spiritual and physical challenges of worship and so on. We now detail below, mostly based on the Prophet’s tradition, about how Islam can contribute to your physical and mental health.

(1) Marriage & Family: Islam “does not prescribe (monasticism)” (57:27). Such saintly lifestyle tends to do injustice to your health and life by ignoring your basic needs like healthy food, clean clothes, protective shelter etc. and thereby you miss your chance to be grateful for divine blessings. Also, such secluded life means an irresponsible and cowardly escape from your sacred obligations in the family and society. Islam, therefore, stands behind an ideal life in the family comprising of legally married wife and legitimate children born of her. By putting a full stop sign to extra-marital sex, it protects good people from terrible pains of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) like gonorrhea, syphilis etc. Likewise, by ruling out same gender sexual relationships, it buries the leading cause of deadly epidemic like AIDS and HIV. Within the framework of an ideal family, you can enjoy multiple benefits like safer sex, love, trust, respect, loyalty, peace, discipline in conjugal relationship, eye-soothing children and old age security etc. that can directly or indirectly contribute to your physical and mental health and wellness.

(2) Food & Nutrition: Honest Income & Halal Food: Islam is conscious about the value of right quality and quantity of food toward development of your body and mind. You are advised to “eat and drink and cool (your) eye” (19:26).  It lays stress upon honest way of making money and spending that money for purchasing halal food. Otherwise, if you apply dishonesty (e.g. cheating, robbery etc.) in your earning, your spiritual health will get sick apparently due to bites of your conscience. Similarly, if you eat from the prohibited list of food items like “dead meat, blood, flesh of swine” “alcohol”, urine, feces etc. (5:3; 5:90), not only your spiritual but also physical health will run into danger.

Food Items: After feeding yourself properly for the upkeep of your health, you need to respond to the call of the Quran by “feeding the poor” (107:3) The Prophet questions your faith if you eat your fill without caring for a hungry neighbor.  He, basing on his dietary habit, passed on to the Muslims a wide ranging list of recommended foods that are both tasty and healthy.  This includes milk, meat, egg, honey, sweet, fruit, squash, vegetables, watermelon, olive oil, black seed etc. among many others. The Quran also identified some quality foods, as it talked highly about honey as a “healing for men” (16:69), praised milk as “pure and agreeable” (16:66), appreciated fruit as a source of “wholesome drink and food” (16:67) and also cited meat in different contexts. The Prophet saw an importance in drinking water to control dehydration and also eating needed amount of salt (sodium chloride) for benefiting your body. Noticeably, the makeup of these permissible food items ensured fairly balanced need for human body, by combining both plant and livestock sources of food.

Food Habits: When it comes to quantity of food intake, the Prophet was aware of the negative health consequences from overeating. Fasting in Ramadan is an answer to this problem. He also recommended that you eat only after getting hungry and when you eat, you fill one-third of your stomach with food, one-third with fluid, leaving the rest empty.  He argued against eating hot food to prevent damage of tissue and forbade eating in lying position to avert choking. He also gave importance to properly washing hands before and after eating, chewing food properly for better digestion and cleaning the teeth after meals by using available type of brush, toothpick (or floss) and gargling etc. He left healthy advice like keeping your water jar covered and stop breathing out air into water cup when you drink, apparently seeking protection from air borne germs.

(3) Purity & Cleanliness: Islam emphasizes on cleanliness as an essential means to better health.  God expressed love for those who “keep themselves pure and clean” and “wear decent clothes” (2:222; 7:31) while His Prophet declared cleanliness as a “part of faith” (Hadith). The cleaning and purification rituals surrounding five times of daily prayers have undeniable health benefits. To be specific, you have to go through the following steps to cleaning (bath and/or ablution) as applicable before your prayers.

Bath & Ablution: Bathing becomes compulsory due to menstruation and sexual activity related impurity. For that, you must (i) cleanse away any impurities like urine, stool, semen etc. planted on your body parts, and then (ii) take a complete bath (reaching water to every body part) to become formally clean and ready for prayers. Besides obligatory bathing, you are also encouraged to take regular showers particularly for Friday prayer. When bathing is not mandated, you must do ablution before prayers by washing (preferably 3 times) selected body parts that include (but are not limited to) legs up to ankle, hands up to elbow and entire face in addition to wiping over head.  Besides your clean body, you need to use your clean clothes and prayer mat for valid prayer.

(4) Healthy Habits: Islam promotes habits and cultures that contribute to your healthy life. ‘Early to bed and early to rise’ for morning prayers will have long-term positive impacts on health. Prayer itself is a source of unintended exercise (with circulatory, respiratory, digestive and other benefits) as it involves repeated acts of standing, bowing and prostrating, sitting etc. The Prophet set example of brushing teeth before almost every prayer. He also lent his hand in house cleaning activities and favored caring his hair through combing. He gave you a weekly plan (preferably on the eve of Friday) for paring nails to prevent growth of germs underneath. He also favored cleaning of private hair before they become too long. Allowing beard to grow and trimming it up nicely have some health values (like protection from harmful solar radiation) that are off-limits to clean shaving.

The Prophet weighed health benefits behind ordering a hold on sex relations with wives “until they are clean” from menstruation” (2:222). Similar benefits were also aimed at by his urging for cleaning after every sexual activity. His rulings for relieving yourself of pressure from urine before prayer and against incomplete urination anytime, urinating in pond water etc. were also healthful. He also advised to cover up mouth during sneezing so germs do not spread out. The Muslim culture of male circumcision (not for the females) relieves you from problems like infection etc.

(5) Sleep & Rest: The Prophet favored a balance between work and leisure. Even if he did have a tight work schedule, he took needed time out for sleep and rest, in response to the call of nature. He said “Your eyes have a right on you”.  He was convinced of the Quranic quote that “night was created for rest” and “homes (are made) for rest and quiet for you” (10:67; 16:80). He was aware that sound sleep is an amazing gift from God while continued sleep deprivation (for upward of an week) could cost your life. He, therefore, took out the required amount of time for sleep despite spending most of the second half of night for ‘tahajjud’ prayer. For example, he rushed to the bed for sleep after evening (‘isha’) prayer before rising up for special late night ‘tahajjud’ prayer and again he often took a short nap on prayer mat between ‘tahajjud’ and ‘fazr’ prayer.  At times he took a brief nap after lunch in his busy day.  All these amount to an Islamic support for an amount of sleep (ordinarily 6-8 hours) that the sleep specialists consider necessary for the upkeep of your health. The Prophet encouraged sleep on your right side, keeping spiritual and physical benefits in mind. He left advice for checking your burner to ensure fire is off before going to bed.

(6) Exercise, Games & Sports: The Prophet was not a professional bodybuilder or sportsman. But he discovered huge merits in building the body and keeping it in good fit. This was necessary not only for meeting challenges of rigorous prayer obligations but also for helping other Islamic causes like gaining success in holy warfare. He therefore promoted bodybuilding and sport activities among his followers by his personal engagements in exercise, archery, sprint, horse racing, sword fighting sports and the like.

(7) Medical Treatment: It appears from the above that there are lots of disease preventive measures built in Islamic rituals. Despite that, it is quite realistic that you might get sick, the way the Prophet caught fever leading to his death. If you are a patient, not only you are allowed but also encouraged to seek cure in medicine made from plants and minerals provided by God. It is claimed “It is He Who cures” when you get sick (26:80) but as ground effort you also need to follow the advice of the Prophet by “taking medicine to cure your disease”.  He also stepped into the role of an amateur doctor by treating patients making use of raw materials like olive oil, fig, vinegar, honey, black seed etc. Once upon a time, he also proved his surgical skills in curing a patient (wounded by an arrow) by using scissors.

Guided by the above examples, you could also use any methods of treatment (e.g. allopathic, homeopathic, herbal etc.) that might work well as your treatment.  You can also use Quranic therapy as “healing for the believers” (41:44) which is fairly effective for healing mental health problems like fear, nervousness, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts etc.  Particularly, selected verses of the Quran (particularly the first and last 3 chapters) have near monopoly for treating supernatural type of ailments like Satanic instigation, Jinn (evil spirits) possession, black art, black magic, evil eye (jealousy), witchcraft, sorcery, voodoo, etc. which barely have any solution in conventional treatment. The Quranic treatment is suggestive of recitating verses followed by blowing on your body or food before ingesting but there is no approval for wearing verses in amulet particularly in a state of ceremonial impurity.  However, you should not rigidly stick to Quran-only treatment by avoiding modern medical treatment needed badly for complex physical problems like cancer, heart disease, accident etc.  

Conclusion: It appears from the above that Islam developed a rich body of health science that has potentials to make valuable contributions to your physical and mental health.