Monthly Archives: January 2013

Health of a Muslim

Posted on by

The information below has been taken from a khutbah delivered by our elder brother and Ustaadh (Teacher) Abu Khadeejah during December 2012. He quotes the works of Ibn al-Qayyim, Imaam adh-Dhahabee and Imaam as-Sa’dee and makes references to hadeeths from the Prophet Muhammad salallaahu ‘alaihi wassallam and quotes some of Allaah’s beautiful verses and having Tawakkul in Allaah’s cures in their various forms. Abu Khadeejah explains the importance of one of the two bounties which Allaah has blessed us with, that is, good health.

Ibn al-Qayyim  mentions that since health is one of the most precious favours that Allaah has bestowed upon his creation once a person has entered Islaam, then it is fitting that whomoever is granted a portion of this fortune of good health, that he cherishes it and he preserves it against harm.

Imaam Al-Bukhaareee narrated from Abdullaah ibn Abbaas radhiAllaahu anhumma that the Prophet Muhammad salallaahu ‘alaihi wassallam said that there are two bounties regarding which many of the people have become neglectful or that they are unaware and neglectful – that is, having good health and free time.

Ibn al-Qayyim also mentions that the foundations of medicine (medicine of the body) is of three types or of three basic fundamentals:
1. The preservation of health
2. A diet that avoids that which causes harm to the body
3. Removing harmful matter from the body.

Furthermore, Ibn al-Qayyim said if one looks at the medicine of Allaah and that which Allaah has sent to his Messenger salallaahu ‘alaihi wassallam compared to the medicine that is practised by the people and that which they have found and invented. Then there is no doubt for anyone with any intellect and any knowledge of the Creator that there is no comparison between the two. That is, that which Allaah has sent down as a cure then there is no comparison between  that and that which the people have invented.

Imaam adh-Dhahabee said it is compulsory upon every Muslim to seek nearness to Allaah by way of every means that he is able to muster and gather together.
So a person must exert himself in fulfilling the commands and acts of obedience and after this he must keep away from that which Allaah has forbidden. The most beneficial means and the most successful path of nearness to Allaah for a person is to mainitain good health. And to treat sicknesses because the affiair of good health is something that is sought in the legislated supplications and acts of worship.

It is narrated in the Saheehayn that the Messenger of Allaah salallaahu ‘alaihi wassallam said:
“Allaah has not sent down a disease except that He has also sent down its cure.”

Imaam as-Sa’dee says about this hadeeth that in general it encompases all illnesses whether hidden or aparent. There is a medicine that combats those diseases and illnesses either by prevention (preventative measures that bring about immunity), by curing the sickness completely or reducing effect of that sickness. In this there is an encouragment, from Allaah upon the tongue of the Messenger of Allaah salallaahu ‘alaihi wassallam to learn the cures of the body just as you learn the cures of the heart.

The foundations of medicine or good health and well being are as follows:
1. Controlling and managing ones nourishment that one puts in their body (so that a person does not eat unless he has an appetite to eat)
2. That you completely digest the food that you have previously eaten
3. That you research, investigate and seek out the most nutricious foods available (in accordance with the state of particular lands, people and prevailing conditions)
4. That a person should never overeat so he becomes full as that will harm him and place a burden upon his digestion.

Ibn al-Qayyim said, over 700 years ago, that a person may eat and eat and that eating will bring about illness upon his body because he eats beyond his capacity. To the point that he damages his heart. Something that we see happening now, one our Scholars in Islaam spoke about it centuries ago!

Imaam as-Sa’dee says a person should take to limiting the range of food that he eats and the amount he eats. He said watch your diet and avoid harmful amounts of food so you do not eat more than what you need. Avoid food that causes harm or eating food at certain times when it will cause harm. Then if possible he should expel that which is harmful from his body. In this way he attains the desired result and this is all without immediate recourse to drugs.

There is a hadeeth where we have been told if a person is sick or upon a journey then it is written for him, that is his deeds are written as if he was healthy or a resident. This means when a person becomes sick, that blessing of good health that Allaah has given him, it has been withdrawn from him. For example, he may have taken the means that have led to that benefit and that bounty from Allaah being taken away from him.
So, if he was righteous and worshipped Allaah plentifully when he was in good health, then it will be written for him when he is sick as if his deeds were when he was healthy.

The Prophet of Allaah, salallaahu ‘alaihi wassallam said Your health before your illness. Which means take account of your health before your illness. How? When Allaah gives you good health, try to maintain it, don’t abuse it and in that time when you have good health, worship Allaah and performs acts of worship that would be difficult for you if you were sick.

Ibn al-Qayyim also mentions that illnesses are caused by consuming more food before the previous meal has been digested. And this is one of the diseases of our era, an example being obesity. In a hadeeth, the Prophet salallaahu ‘alaihi wassallam said (paraphrased) That the best of mankind is my generation, the those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then he mentioned that there will become people who will become fat upon the land. Eat and indulge beyond what they need and harm themselves and unable to worship Allaah because they have brought illness upon themselves.

This is something that we see today. Scientists are discovering that people can be obese and malnourished at the same time. How can someone be big, overwight, eat so much food yet be malnourished in this day and age when we have so much food available?? It’s simple, they’re not eating good quality food or food with good nutritional value
Ibn al-Qayyim even talks about excessive foods which are slow to digest and complex in their composition. That is, that they contain many ingredients and I’m sure you’ll agree! Even the most basic of foods contain added preservatives that cause us problems yet have nothing good to add to our bodies.

In this day and age, filling ones belly with these foods has become a habit. Some of the illnesses that result from this come to an end slowly and others, more swiftly. We need to be moderate and only take what we need. We need to maintain a balance of quantity and quality and then the body will benefit instead of consuming large amounts of foods. Attention should be given to quality, not quantity.

We’re told in a hadeeth that a person eats to maintain the uprightness of his spine. We shouldn’t be the sort of person who eats and finds it difficult to worship Allaah as a result of overeating as it brings harm to the body, heart, limbs and internal organs.

We know from authentic hadeeths that our body has a right over us. We need to preserve our body so you can preserve our ibaadah, read the Qur’aan and not fall asleep. So we can make Hajj and Umrah without illnesses and harm which we have brought upon ourselves. Our body is a means for us to worship Allaah.

No matter how difficult it may seem now, a person of eemaan does not give up hope. Trust in Allaah, do not despair. Do not become inattentive or unaware of two affiairs: good health and free time.

You can download this audio lecture for just 75p by following this link inshaaAllaah. In case you’re not familiar with Salafiaudio.com it’s probably worth you buying audio credits, that way you can just download one item at a time. If you pay by debit card there’s a minimum purchase requirement. It’s worth browsing the site inshaaAllaah as there are so many beneficial lectures there.

A_dgwPqCIAAtQQE.jpg large

Eat fat, lose weight, stay slim

Posted on by

Remember that post, “You are what you eat…“? I eat fat. Therefore I’m fa… oh wait, I’m not. Well, like everyone I have some fat for insulation but it’s a good amount which has a purpose and it is not excessive so it causes harm to the body or health problems, alhamdulillaah, all praise is to Allaah. We all need some fat on us, don’t forget that, it’s just a case of not being obese and unhealthy so when losing weight, dont be the sort of person who obsesses about a little extra weight. This is one serious misconception (that fat is bad) that people need to get out of their heads. In fact, since turning paleo I’ve been eating more fat and losing weight. No, I’m not on the Atkins diet, I don’t believe in such nonsense and the paleo diet is not like that at all. Atkins is all about deep fried food, processed oils and so on. Whereas paleo is about consuming the fat that naturally occurs and can be made without processing it excessively or adding chemicals and so on.

These days I cook separately for myself at home now seeing as everyone eats a gluten and grain filled diet. I cook with ghee (clarified butter – not the kind you buy from an Asian shop or the from the ‘World foods aisle’ in a supermarket) and butter mostly which only comes from grass fed cows and occasionally I use a very light spray of extra virgin olive oil and even I cook with coconut oil (coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, not a liquid and it’s not any old cheap brand, I buy Pukka organic coconut oil – so expensive hence why I still only own one jar, plus it’s an acquired taste). If I’m cooking meat I simply reduce the amount of fat I add to the meal or omit it completely, depending on how fatty the meat is.

I usually have someone watch me cook if we’re standing about and chatting and even though I cook with these fats regular folk label as being “bad”, everyone tells me I look healthier and happier (and I feel it too!) So what’s going on? Why aren’t I a morbidly obese person, rolling about, feeling lazy, tired with achy joints, muscles and so on? How am I eating more fat and getting slimmer and healthier?

I have done no exercise since August, I kid you not. I wasn’t very active for the entire year before that in fact yet I have lost all that excess weight I gained and am now back down to my dress size and weight when I was in college. There is a wide range of non-gut problems I had and I’ve not mentioned them on the blog but it’s amazing how all these problems had no real or known cause and then suddenly they all vanished when I cut out gluten! Well, I say no gut problems but I guess if gluten was affecting my weight then I guess maybe there were some… coeliac is such a weird disease because the symptoms vary so much.

Going back to my original point of why I’m not unhealthy yet I’m eating fat, it’s simple. I’m eating real food, fats which are good for us, fats which the body can use properly and they don’t just get stored as fat in all those troublesome areas such as the tummy. Yes, I’m eating more saturated fats and everything out there tells us it’s bad for us, it causes high cholesterol and so on but for so many people it’s cause the opposite effect and it’s made them much healthier – only when they change their diet permanently and start eating real food.

Weight gain and weight loss isn’t (entirely) about how much we move and how much we eat. It’s more to do with what we eat. I know because I’m an example. I didn’t exercise on purpose when I went GF and paleo, firstly because it was Ramadhaan and it was Summer and secondly because if my problems were diet related then a change in diet should fix it, right? I was also eating more food by the time I went GF so it showed me that portion sizes were not an issue either. That said, I wasn’t eating massive portions of food, just a little more spread out across the day. I would wake up and eat breakfast earlier and aim for an earlier dinner so my body could rest and digest my food for at least 2-3 hours before going to bed.

If anything, the food that makes us fat is all these nasty complex foods made with dozens of ingredients, most of which we wouldn’t be able to recognise if they were put in front of us and others which we can’t even pronounce! We’re living in an age where people are obsessed with fad diets, nobody understands or even attempts to educate themselves about why they’re getting fat, why they have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart and lung diseases. All we know is this: we’re getting fat and we we want to lose weight so we select the “quick fix”. This “fix” isn’t even a fix, in fact, it’s probably doing you more harm than good.

When people want to lose weight they think they need to eat less fat or less sugar so they choose “low fat” and “no added sugar” alternatives. Have you even read the labels to low fat and low sugar foods?? No? Well I suggest you do. Processed foods have to taste good somehow and whether you’ll admit to it or not, we all know fat tastes good. Taste a bit of grass-fed butter (Anchor or KerryGold) and try telling me it doesn’t taste nice. So, when food claims to be “low fat” it just means they’ve added a whole bunch of other nasties in it to make up for the lack of taste and these nasties are in the form of chemicals. Same goes for “no added sugar” foods.

Anyway, back in September when I went to visit the Doctors about my GF and new diet plans I was told to consume gluten for all three meals for ten days running and then they’d test me for coeliac and gluten sensitivity. I’ve heard since then that gluten remains in your body for at least a further six months or so. Hence me eating more gluten to be diagnosed is a big fat lie plus in my case it would be considered as self-harm which Islaam is totally against.
So I thought, why don’t I get this blood test done now and at the same time have my cholesterol checked seeing as I eat more fat on this paleo diet. My cholesterol levels were okay the last time I checked which was probably around two years ago, can’t remember the specific number but it was fine.

I genuinely believe a paleo diet is the way to go (I’ll post proof during the upcoming days, Islamic and otherwise) but so many people frown upon this eating fat thing. I’d like to (nervously) prove those skeptics wrong by using my own blood results. That means tomorrow I’m off to have a blood test! I’m not sure how long I’ll have to wait for the results as I dunno if coeliac/gluten-sensitivity testing takes longer than other tests. Honestly, I’d be gutted if I had high cholesterol levels or something because then that’d mean I was wrong even though I am better in every other aspect, it’s making me a lot more nervous now! But I do have faith in this because I know I eat right so there’s generally nothing for me to be concerned about really.

Plus it’d be a good time to have cholesterol checked seeing as I’m going to start having dairy/milk daily from Tuesday inshaaAllaah, God Willing. – I went a little over the top and ordered a whole bunch of raw milk, butter and cream. All will be explained and I know it’s very un-paleo but my religion comes first. Please keep an eye out for posts regarding Raw milk and the prophetic medicine etc.

Benefits of Strawberries

Posted on by

Strawberries! Such a beautiful red, sweet tasting jewel! A fruit which is loved by almost everyone and it’s used in so many desserts, shakes and smoothies and makes a fantastic snack.

As a child, I hated strawberries yet I loved strawberry Ribena… thankfully my opinions of both have been completely reversed! Even as an adult, strawberries were really a fruit I would buy or eat even if we had some at home. Whenever I ate strawberries they tasted a bit sour, tangy and never juicy of sweet. I’ve come to the conclusion that since turning gluten-free and paleo that perhaps my taste buds have been cleansed and my ability to taste and appreciate food has improved. That or strawberries until that point just didn’t taste as nice? Either way, I’m glad I’ve developed a love for strawberries. I love topping my chocolate waffles with them (which I’ve not had in ages by the way, go me! Although it’s mostly because I only have one tin of coconut milk left and don’t want to waste it as I can’t be bothered to order more. Plus I order it from Abel & Cole and that and coconut oil are the only things I buy from there and I don’t use either too often).

Anyway, I have strawberries almost every day. I love slicing them up with bananas, drizzling them in honey and topping them with mixed seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, dark chocolate chips and ground almonds. It’s such a simple yet delicious snack. Occassionally, I vary the fruits I use and can include blueberries and grapes but strawberries and bananas are the perfect combination. I have bananas every single day in this way… my day doesn’t feel right anymore unless I’ve eaten a banana… I’m not sure if that’s a good thing though! This snack is uber healthy and it beats regular strawberries and cream!

These ‘postcards’ are from Oasis Advanced Wellness, I follow them on Facebook (I’m not encouraging people to sign up or join as it can be a big waste of time but I use it to save time by having interest lists instead of being a fb junkie and watching my newsfeed all day. I basically have beneficial posts all in one place and it takes minutes to whizz through it all. Kinda like google reader and others like it but I choose to follow specific pages where I can get good info from). OAW are pretty cool and I’ve saved all their ‘postcards’ which I intend to share with you over time so keep our eyes peeled.

420072_10150992564020877_1766314311_n
Random and fun facts about strawberries:

  • Strawberries also prevent constipation and even colon cancer because they wash away harmful toxins in our intestines.
  • Strawberry consumption also increases memory.
  • Strawberry has antioxidants that protect our immune system. So try a strawberry dipped in melted chocolate for a double boost of disease-fighting antioxidants.
  • These red berries also keep our eyes bright. Studies on eyesight reveals that eating at least 5 strawberries a day could keep your vision clear.
  • Pregnant women may also get a good amount of folic acid from eating strawberries.
  • There are about 200 seeds in every strawberry
  • A 100g serving of strawberries will serve you for just 50 calories – that’s a whooping 0g of fat – Another punnet anyone?
  • Strawberries can help whiten your teeth. The acids in the fruit help to remove stains.
  • Strawberries are full of a special substance called ellagic acid which can help fight cancers.
  • They are also full of flavonoids, which form part of the strawberry’s red colour. They are known to help reduce cholesterol from clogging up the heart’s arteries.
  • Eight strawberries have more vitamin C than an orange, that’s 140% of our daily recommended amount
  • Strawberries can also be white or yellow and some can even taste like pineapples
  • The strawberry plant, along with its good mate the raspberry plant, are members of the rose family.

Praise be to Allaah for this calamity

Posted on by

It is reported that Shurayh may Allaah have mercy on him said,

“If I am afflicted with a calamity, I praise Allaah for it four times: I praise Him because it wasn’t worse than it was, I praise Him when He gives me the patience to bear it, I praise Him for enabling me to say al-istirjaa’ (‘To Allaah we belong and to him we will return’; see Al-Baqarah: 154-156 ) in hope of a great reward, and I praise Him for not making it a calamity in my religion.”

Al-Dhahabee, Siyar A’laam Al-Nubalaa`, in his biography of Shurayh Al-Qaadee.

Source: http://www.sayingsofthesalaf.net/index.php/praise-be-to-allah-for-this-calamity/#ixzz2H2BtHaer