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.