Activities

Islam And Health

“Islam is a complete religion (way of life) and a complete package for healthy life”, says Dr. Anwarulhaq Jabarkhail, president of Ibne Sina a reputed organisation based in Afghanistan. He was in Jaipur recently to deliver a lecture on “ISLAM AND HEALTH”, organised by Rajasthan National Forum.

Health, according to the World Health Organisation, is a state of wellbeing physically, mentally and socially. He was of the opinion that in order to be healthy, one has to believe in One God. According to him, this belief leads to a stress free life, which is the key to health.

He said that everything that is harmful to health is haram in Islam, whatever is beneficial for health is halal, and in fact, everything that Allah has created on this earth is exactly for health. Before creating us, Allah made all the preparations suitable for our life, he said. He created the sun the moon, the earth and so on to make life possible for us, he added. He was surprised that we eat and drink every time and every day but no educational curriculum includes nutrition as a subject. He insisted on teaching nutrition as a subject in all schools so as we could nurture a healthy generation.

Dr. Jabarkhail stressed on reading Quraan for becoming a good doctor as, every verse of the holy Quraan is for health. He said that Allah made 5 times Namaz (Islamic way of praying) obligatory on us exactly for our health, as we wash our hands, face and feet every time we prepare for Namaz, this makes us healthy. When we recite the verses of Quran we feel ourselves near to Allah, it makes us stress free and fearless, that leads to mental health, Allah doesn’t need us to pray, it is only for our health. Similarly, he said, zakat purifies our economy and again, it ensures peace of mind.

He said that there are some basic questions that arise in the mind of every human being as, who am I? who has created me and for what purpose? what is the meaning of life? what kind of strategy I have to pursue in my life so that I can be a very successful and very healthy human being? what is going to happen to this world? and what happens to me when I go from this world? and many other questions as well, one can find answers to all these queries in the holy Quran. A doctor studies for a long time in an institution, than how come he smokes and consumes alcohol? he asked. It is Islam that prohibits smoking and orders a Muslim to abandon alcohol, he said. He was sure that if you are unable to maintain your health in this world, it is not possible for you to be healthy in the hereafter.

“Only the Creator can give a complete manual about His creation, as He only knows how it works well and what harms it”, said Engineer Muhammad Saleem, Rajasthan state president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind. Islam teaches a very clear concept of health, hence it is impossible for a person to be a Muslim an go around dirty at the same time, he said. He said that Islam promotes healthy living, the traditions of the holy prophet Muhammad (pbuh) teach us that we should eat only when we really need to and never eat more than the requirement of the body. He quoted the Hadith “eat in one third of your stomach and leave one third for water and another for air.”

He said that alcohol is strictly prohibited in Islam as it destroys our physical, mental, social and economic health. Blood and dead are also prohibited, as consumption of blood is injurious to health and we all know that when an animal dies it soon begins to decompose and no longer remains safe for a human being. Mr. Saleem said that the sense of being responsible and accountable before the Creator is assurance to good health as it induces a state of happiness and fearlessness. He said that when we know where to go and the path is clear before us, there is no blurring of vision; we can proceed without any fear. On the other hand, if we don’t know where to go and the way is not clear before us, we will hesitate on every turn, as which direction to go; similarly if we know that we are destined to go to the other world after we die, appear before our creator and be accounted for our deeds, we become sure about what to do and what not to. This makes us brave and a person of vision.

He said that suicide is haram in Islam that is why committing suicide is rare among the Muslims. One can ponder over the fact, that if Islam prohibits taking one’s own life, how it can allow killing innocent people.  One of the basic concepts of Islam is ‘Taqdeer’-destiny- therefor a true believer, after doing whatever efforts he can, leaves the outcome on Allah, this keeps him or her free from tensions. Belief in one God can revert even biggest of the shocks in life, he said.