GOOD HEALTH IS A BLESSING TO MAN
Good health, is a great blessing of Almighty Allah to man. The only
time that a person realises the importance of his health is when he
becomes ill even temporarily, and his good health is taken away from
him by Allah. There is no doubt that good health is something that
every individual wishes and prays for, yet we take no heed in caring
for our selves and our health. We tend to neglect the importance of
living healthy lives, and only decide to rectify our way of life after
illness strikes, bringing us down.
Those of us who have been blessed with good health seldom thank
Almighty Allah for this blessing which he has bestowed upon us. We
should appreciate our good health and continuously thank the
Almighty for this gift that he has blessed us with. The Prophet of
Islam reminded us concerning the importance of taking care of our
health. He said, “There are two such blessings of the Almighty which
people do not really value (realise its value) one is good health and
the other is abundance of wealth.”
We should make it a habit that when praying for good health, we
should also pray for protection from deadly illnesses. The Prophet of
Islam would often say the following prayer, “O Almighty Allah! I
ask of You to protect me from leprosy, leucoderma, insanity and all
other deadly illnesses.”
We should always value the good things that Allah has given us
before they are taken away from us. The wise have said that only a
blind man knows the feeling of not being able to see, a man with no
legs knows the true value of not having legs to walk on and only a
person with severe breathing problems knows the true value of every
breath he inhales and exhales. The Prophet of Islam said, Value
five things before five:
(1) Your youth before your old age
(2) Your Good health before illness
(3) Your abundance of wealth before your poverty
(4) Your spare time before your occupied time
(5) The value of your life, before your death
One of the ways of protecting your health is to take the necessary
precautions to avoid certain illnesses. We need to adhere to simple
yet important things in our daily lives, like what we eat, our general
hygiene and exercising our bodies. By adhering to simple rules of
hygiene, one can protect- ones self from numerous germs and
bacteria. The Prophet of Islam said, “Always cover your water,
seal the mouths of water bottles, for illness and bad, enters water that
has been left uncovered.”
The great scholars of religion and Islamic medicine have stated that
the stomach is the mother of all illnesses. The stomach is a very huge
vessel which holds everything that we eat and drink. One should
however make sure that one does not over eat, as over eating causes
the stomach to become upset and this, is the root of numerous
illnesses of the body. When eating, one should try and realise that
there should be three portions to the stomach:
1. One portion for food
2. One portion for water
3. One portion for air
If one keeps this in mind, then the problem of over eating can be
eradicated. The other important issue concerning meals and good
health is to avoid going straight to bed after having ones supper. One
should try to walk at least forty brisk paces before going to bed as
this helps with digestion and allows one to have a good night’s sleep,
and as we all know that a good night’s sleep allows one to rise in
morning feeling both healthy in body and mind. Let us all try to take
care of our good health and appreciate it whilst we can.