As a muhajirah, I find I need to work hard in keeping myself fit and strong as much as I need to work on keeping my iman fit and strong. If one goes down, so does the other and that spells trouble when you are alone and far from the vestages and comforts of "home".
Allah swt gave us our body as a vehicle for our soul and if we don’t take good care of it He swt may take it from us. One of the blessings from Allah that is most overlooked is the blessing of free time and good health, as mentioned in the hadith narrated by Ibn Abbas:
The Prophet said, "There are two blessings which many people lose: health and free time for doing good." (Sahih Bukhari)
As our body is an amana from Allah, we need to take care of it. You wouldn’t go filling your car with lemonade because it is bad for your car and it won’t work properly. So, same thing for your body. If you fill it with poor quality fuel, it won’t work properly either. A balanced diet will keep your body working properly and supply you with the energy you need to get through your days and maintain good levels of ibada.
Exercise when done in moderate amounts (we don’t want to be extreme in anything, and extremes in exercise also have negative effects – keep to the middle road), in combination with healthy eating will increase your energy levels. This is a great thing for fighting shaytan when he whispers to you not to worry about Sunnah prayers and witr after isha, or whispers telling you not to worry about qiyamat ul-lail.
Maintaining good health is not merely a case of eating a balanced diet and exercising. We must also look after our mental and spiritual health. As Muslims we have lots of excellent exercises for this. For a start we have the five daily prayers which are a time to stop what we are doing and remember Allah with our body by completing the actions of the prayer perfectly. We have dhikr to protect us from evil and depression and we have actions which cleanse us such as giving zakat and sadaqa.
Some of us may agree that physical health and fitness is inextricably linked to iman. The more we keep fit and healthy, the better we feel, the better our mental state, and the higher our iman and ability to cope with trials. When exercise stops, iman slowly weakens along with the body.
People who are doing anything purely for the sake of Allah will be tested harder and shaytan will work overtime to take you away from that path or to corrupt your niya (intention).
I recommend anyone planning on hijrah fi sabilillah to keep to a health and fitness regime. If you do anything for Allah swt, He will not let your efforts go to waste.
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7 comments:
Yeah I have that happen too. I find when I am doing regular exercise my ibada is better and also strangely I feel more motivated to clean the house. Get rid of shaytan and everything falls into place, cos Shaytan likes dirt.
I also find that regular exercise helps with iman. It is easier to make salat. I wonder how do you perform exercise dear? Do you have videos to watch? Or do you walk a lot? Love this post.
Jizakallah kheir for the reminder
good post maashaa'allaah. and a good reminder to stay healthy and NOT OVEREAT in ramadan so that we're not too tired for tarawih
Yes indeed Anna! So true! And ontop of over-eating in Ramadan is the WASTE!!! So much food going into the bin. Defeats the purpose really.
JazakAllah khair for the reminder, it is just what I needed. I have a usual habit of jogging 2-3 times a week for about 20 mins, but lately I've been lazy. InshAllah I can make a schedule and stick to it. My hijrah plans cannot be in effect til about April or May inshAllah, unless I marry (which is a big possibility). I have Hajj plans though which are much sooner(Nov.)! Keep me in your du'as, I admire you and your efforts immensely.
@ Lisa,
I train at home mostly. I used to be a fitness instructor so I have that advantage. Internet is a good place to find some vids if you need guidance and motivation.
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