Importance of Health in Islam

One of the countless blessings of Allāh Ta‘ālā that are upon us is the BLESSING OF HEALTH. It is necessary for us to grasp the value of this blessing and to give shukr.

Since the religion of Islam gives maximum importance to both the material and spiritual health of people, it has given priority to protecting health before becoming sick, that is, it has given importance to preventive medicine.

In all of the things that are harām in our religion, there is harm to material and spiritual health, and there is benefit in the things that are halāl. It is for this reason that the following is stated in Sūrah Ā‘raf, āyah 157:

“(The prophet) makes lawful for them what is good and forbids them from what is evil.”

The importance of protecting the health is mentioned in this hadīth al-sharīf:

“There are two blessings that most people are deceived in this regard. These are health and spare time.”

Hadrat Abul Fārūq Silistrawī said:

“To protect the body, to make sure it is heathy and to safeguard it, is aqdam al-farāiḍ, meaning one of the upmost of farḍs.”

The first condition of health is hygiene. When we look at Islamic sources, cleanliness constitutes the first subject of fiqh books. A person without wuḍū is ordered to wash the parts of the body that come into contact with the outside, five times a day, by making wuḍū at every prayer time. It is a sunnah of Islam to wash hands after going to the toilet, as well as at the beginning and end of meals.

Cleaning the teeth with miswak in every wuḍū, trimming the nails, cleaning and combing the hair, keeping clothes, houses, streets, cities, rivers and water sources clean are encouraged by āyahs and hadīths and have taken their place in fiqh books.

A Muslim does not enter his house with the shoes he uses outside, thus he does not carry the germs from the street to his house; he pays attention to both bodily and environmental cleanliness.

Secondly: there are also some principles in our religion, such as quarantining to protect from infectious diseases and paying attention to the cleanliness of the patient.

Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

“When you hear that there is a plague (a contagious disease) in a place, do not enter it, if it happened while you were there, do not leave the place where you are.”

Third: to prevent diseases that may occur via food, the meat of dead animals, flowing blood, pork, drugs and alcohol was made harām, and foods beneficial to health were encouraged. Despite this, not to eat while not hungry and to stop eating without being full is sunnah, to eat until full and overeat is makrūh, i.e. disliked.

Fourth: While illegitimate acts such as zinā and sodomy were prohibited to prevent diseases transmitted through sexual contact, it was ordered not to be sexually close to women on their special days. It is obligatory for women to be cleansed by making ghusl at the end of their special condition and for spouses after sexual intimacy.

Fifth: To protect both individuals and society from psychological diseases, belief in Allāh Ta‘ālā and qadar(predestiny) has been commanded, the great reward of being patient with illnesses, troubles and calamities has been explained, despairing in Allāh and suicide, that is, taking one’s own life, have been made harām. For this reason, bad habits such as making decisions with anger, grudge, envy, and hatred are also prohibited.

Despite all of these, people can become ill. Then it is a commandment of our religion to resort to treatment.

Rasūlullāh (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:“O servants of Allāh, seek treatment! For certain Allāhhas not created any disease that does not have a cure. Except for old age.”