Prophetic Principles in the Legislated ways of Seeking Good Health

Prophetic Principles in the Legislated ways of Seeking Good Health
Written by Shaykh Muhammad Moosaa Aal Nasr
Translated by Ahmed Abu Saad

Seeking good health is a religious and worldly matter. At-Tirmidhee narrated with a sound chain that the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Whoever wakes up in good health, secure in his home, and has food for the day, it is like the whole world has been directed to him.”


And that is because a healthy religion lies in a healthy body. Whoever has a healthy body can perform his worship in a better manner. And (Muslim) narrated, the prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “A strong believer is better and is more lovable to Allaah than a weak believer, and there is good in both.” So what is the good of a whole bunch of money with many illnesses? Does the ill person enjoy his sleep or his food?


That’s why Daawood said: “Good health is a hidden kingdom, and being upset for an hour is aging a year.” And it has been said: “Good health is a blessing that people often neglect.” And it has been also said: “Good health is like a crown on the heads of healthy people; no one knows it except the ill ones.”


And it is one of the first blessings that Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) will ask about on the Day of Judgment. It has been authentically narrated that the prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “The first thing that you will be asked is: ‘Didn’t I provide you with a healthy body and cold water to drink’.”


So it is a must on the servant, who has been blessed with good health, devotes his time in the worship of Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala), and this will encourage him to do good and stay away from sins. Allah’s preservation of one’s health is a blessing from Allah. It has been authentically narrated that the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Preserve Allah. Allah will preserve you.” Meaning if you act upon what Allah has ordered and forbid what he forbade, then Allah will preserve you.

Sins will cripple your body, since the parts of the body have been used in something other than what it has been created for: from thanking Allah and sticking with his orders. And good deeds push away hardship. It has been authentically narrated that the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Treat your ill ones with charity”, and also: “The good deeds push away hardship.”


Asking for good health is one of the most sufficient du’aa’s that a person can make. It has been authentically narrated that al-‘Abbaas said to the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam): “Teach me something I could ask Allah.” The Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Ask Allah to grant you good health.” A few days later, al-‘Abbaas came to the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and said: “Teach me something I could ask Allah.” The Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “O ‘Abbaas, the uncle of the Prophet, ask Allah to grant you good health in this life and the here after.”


And it is not permissible to make an ill du’aa on himself, since it has been narrated in (Muslim) that the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) visited an ill person and said: “Didn’t you make du’aa for good health.” He replied: “I used to say: ‘O Allah whatever you were to punish me in the hereafter, make it now’.” The Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Subhaanahu Allah, you can not handle it. You should have said: ‘O Allah grant us in this life a good deed and in the here after a good deed and keep us away from the hell fire’.”


We can say that the Prophet’s methodology in preserving health consisted of:


1) The purity in intention to Allah is a reason for Allah’s preservation from shaytaan, trials of life, and shields against the control of shaytaan from humans and jinn.


2) You should face your hardships with patience because ease comes after hardships. Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) said what means: “Verily, along with the hardship is relief. Verily, along with the hardship is relief.” (94:5-6) Meaning one hardship cannot overcome two reliefs.


3) Seek the reward for your patience when facing hardships.


4) What Allah has for the believers cannot be granted unless the believer complies with Allah’s orders.


5) The servant should not forget Allah when his life is easy. Likewise, Allah will not forget his servant when he is in a time of difficulty. Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) said what means: “Had he not been of them who glorify Allah, he would have indeed remained inside its belly till the Day of Resurrection.” (37:143-144)


6) Being good to people and giving to the poor and the needy is a way of pushing away hardships.


7) The person that is ill should resort to Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) before resorting to any of his creatures.


8) The person who needs ‘ruqya’ (meaning a person who is possessed and needs to have Qur’aan read on him) should not seek it from anyone other than Allah. Rather people should help voluntary in order to be one of the seventy thousand that enter paradise without being made accountable and without being punished. The Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) mentioned them in the authentic hadeeth in al-Bukhaaree saying: “…they will neither have any reckoning of their accounts nor will receive any punishment… For they used not to treat themselves with branding (cauterization) nor with Ruqya (get oneself treated by the recitation of some Verses of the Qur’aan) and not to see evil omen in things, and they used to put their trust (only) in their Lord.”


9) The ill person should keep Allah in his heart and always seek Allah’s assistance. Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) says what means: “Is not He Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls on Him, and Who removes the evil.” (27:62)


10) Avoid that which will make you sick for it is better to avoid sickness than having to seek treatment for a sickness.


11) The weapon is powered by whoever is holding it. The power of the weapon will not do any good if the person holding it is paralyzed, or weak, and it is also the way with seeking good health. It is strong and effective if it comes from a heart and a tongue that are truthful and believing in what Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) obligated in his book and on the tongue of his prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam).


12) All of the Qur’aan is treatment though there is no proof that some parts of it are more special for this matter than others, and there is no harm in remembering Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) with some supplications which do not include anything prohibited or anything that has shirk in it. As the prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “Present to me your ‘roqya’ (ways of treating yourself or others with Qur’aanic verses or supplications); there is no harm in ‘roqya’ as long as it doesn’t involve shirk.”

13) It is not allowed to seek help from the jinn to treat a possessed person or to break a spell – even if they’re Muslim jinn – because the prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) did not do it, neither did the pious predecessors do it, and it is opening a great door for evil, and the ‘shayateen’ (devils) fool many of the ones that try to treat people and pull people to their evils. Closing this door is the best, and using the allowable ways to treat is the safe way and in it is salvation.


Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) says what means: “And verily, there were men among mankind who took shelter with the males among the jinn, but they (jinn) increased them (mankind) in sin and transgression.” (72:6), meaning those of the mankind became more conceded, sinful and oppressing to other humans. The monotheist does not seek refuge except from Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) as he also worships him alone with no associate, and he also gets close to Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) in worship by saying the following seventeen times a day in the obligatory prayer, which is the meaning of the saying of Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala): “You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).” (1:5)

Ibn Qayyim said: “Verily the righteousness and purity of the hearts is by knowing its Lord, His actions, His rulings, and to be wanting His pleasure and love, and to avoid His prohibitions and His wrath, and there is no good health or life – at all – without this. There is no way to acquire this except from the Messengers, and whatever is thought to acquire the righteousness of the hearts without following their ways is a mistake from whoever thinks that.” (Zad al-Ma’ad: 4 / 7)


May Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) protect us and all of the Muslims from the diseases of the body and the heart, and may Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) cover us with the wellness of this life and the hereafter.