Sisters: Islamic Health and Well Being

The information below has been taken from a khutbah delivered by our elder brother and Ustaadh (Teacher) Abu Khadeejah and it is from the first of his series of lessons for sisters held on Saturday mornings. 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.

Some of this was mentioned in the previous audio from which notes were written in this post and I’ve repeat those points below and include further information from the titled audio.

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.

In the past, when a person became sick, we would look at what he ate in order to find out what caused him this harm. We also know that as Muslims, Allaah has 99 names that have been revealed to us and from those names is Ash-Shaafee, The One Who Heals. So we should call upon Allaah by this name when we seek to be cured from some illness.

From Aaishah radhiyallaahu anhaa, the Prophet salallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam used to visit a sick person he used to say: Remove the harm, O Lord of the people. Heal for you are the healer. There is no healing that avails except for your healing. A healing that leaves behind no ailment. (Bukhaaree and Muslim).

So this hadeeth contains a seeking of a cure from any illness such as terminal cancer, diabetes, obesity, paralysis and so on. Allaah is the One who cures the diseases of the hearts such as rancour, hatred and forbidden desires.
Ibn al-Qayyim mentions that diseases are of two types, diseases of the heart and the body. The diseases of the heart are cured by acts of obedience and worship. There are two types of diseases of the heart: shahawaat (desires, those to commit sin such as fornication, stealing, lying, gambling etc) and shubahaat (doubts brought by the disbelivers and innovators by putting doubts in your mind about Allaah and the Sunnah and these are cured by seeking knowledge). And of course the sickness of the body is cured by eating good and refraining from eating harmful things.

Allaah says in the Qur’aan:

وَإِن يَمۡسَسۡكَ ٱللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ۬ فَلَا ڪَاشِفَ لَهُ ۥۤ إِلَّا هُوَ‌ۖ وَإِن يَمۡسَسۡكَ بِخَيۡرٍ۬ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ قَدِيرٌ۬

And if Allaah touches you with harm, none can remove it but Him, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things. (Al-An’am, 6:17)

*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.”

*Abu Hurairah: Allaah’s Apostle said, “If a fly falls in the vessel of any of you, let him dip all of it (into the vessel) and then throw it away, for in one of its wings there is a disease and in the other there is healing (antidote for it) ie. the treatment for that disease.”(Bukhaaree).

Hadeeth in Abu Daawood from Abdullaah Ibn Abbaas: That whomsoever visits the sick person and his time of death has not come yet and he says in his presence the following seven times: “I ask Allaah the Magnificent, the Lord of the Magnificent throne to cure you” Allaah will cure him from that illness.

The power of du’aa should not be underestimated.

Allaah says in the Qur’aan:

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ‌ۖ أُجِيبُ دَعۡوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ‌ۖ

And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor) (Al-Baqarah, 2:186)

Allaah also says:

وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانِ مَا هُوَ شِفَآءٌ۬ وَرَحۡمَةٌ۬ لِّلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ‌ۙ وَلَا يَزِيدُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارً۬ا

And We send down from the Qur’aan that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe, and it increases the Zaalimun nothing but loss. (Al-Isra 17:82)

Abu Khadeejah states that that from the means that bring about cure is the Qur’aan itself. That is, reciting it, reading it, pondering over it and understanding it. He then adds that the Qur’aan should not be written down and put around your neck (like a tawees or as an amulet, this is a bid’ah) – when you go to the Doctors and he writes you a prescription you don’t take the prescription home and put it under your pillows! Rather, you take the medicine, similarly, you recite the Qur’aan. Read the translation and tafseer if you do not understand the Arabic language.

Allaah says in the Qur’aan:

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدۡ جَآءَتۡكُم مَّوۡعِظَةٌ۬ مِّن رَّبِّڪُمۡ وَشِفَآءٌ۬ لِّمَا فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ وَهُدً۬ى وَرَحۡمَةٌ۬ لِّلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ

O mankind, indeed there has come to you an admonition from your Lord and the cure for that which is in the chest and a guidance and a mercy for the believers (Yunus 10:57)

Allaah also says:

قُلۡ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ هُدً۬ى وَشِفَآءٌ۬‌ۖ

Say: “It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing.(Fussilat: 41:44)

There are cures mentioned in this audio as well as supporting evidences but for now inshaaAllaah I will conclude this audio here. InshaaAllaah, the cures from this will have their own posts and will have the following titles listed below. The posts will contain information from other sources such as Ibn al-Qayyim’s book on the Prophetic medicine and other benefial sources. Please look out for the posts, links will be added below once they have been created inshaaAllaah.
Sisters: Raw honey is a cure
Sisters: Raw milk is a cure
Sisters: Zam Zam is a cure
Sisters: Ruqyah is a cure best done on yourself

You can download this audio lecture for just 75p by following this link inshaaAllaah

*These quotations are mentioned in the audio but contain different sources and were either taken from the previous audio or as referenced.

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Forgive me, I think I sinned…

We all know in Islaam the first glance is allowed if it wasn’t intentional but what if after the first glance you took a second look? And after the second look you just started staring? And staring turned into thoughts and so on?

I know we shouldn’t reveal our sins but it happened to me the other day, I saw a beauty and the smell was so delightful I was being led into temptation! So many thoughts and memories went through my head. I could imagine myself running away with this beauty and giving out an abundance of hugs… I’m talking about bread!

I’ve been dreaming of bread and cakey things with custard. I really have no desire for it but it’s stalking me. You know you have a problem when you look at bread and have an urge to run away with it and give it a hug! And you know you have issues if you dream of desserts (and that’s not because I’m a cake baker and decorator either, let me tell you!). The other day when my sister was making this “healthy” baguette all I had to do was think about the effects that consuming bread would have on me. I’d become a moody, reckless mess and it wasn’t worth it. Alhamdulillaah I just knew I was better off without. I thought about how I’d feel even I ‘cheated’ even with just one crumb and it wasn’t worth it.
That dream last night though… I woke up so confused this morning at Fajr (morning prayer) time thinking ‘Did that really happen??!’ – It didn’t! Phew! I can tell you I’ve woken up hungry and I need to be out the house at 8am (that’s currently 21 minutes away)

On both ‘sinful thoughts’ occasions I also thought about this image I’d seen, it’s actually quite motivating so here you go:

Also known as stuff half the population can't pronounce yet we consume it everyday... well, at least I don't... anymore...

Also known as stuff half the population can’t pronounce yet we consume it everyday… well, at least I don’t… anymore…

No matter how much you’re tempted, just remember your intentions. Why are you eating healthily? What are the benefits to your body, mind and even eemaan (faith)?
Before you feel like quitting, think about why you started to begin with!

And I’d  like to leave you with this:

diet

That’s a pretty good point. So if you do fall into temptation and you have that one crumb or bite, don’t think it’s all over. Accept that you’re a human being, you make errors and move on. Trust me, I know from experience, there’s no point in dwelling over the past, mistakes and moments of weakness. Accept it, forgive yourself and move on. Sometimes in order to get better we need to get worse… I know I did.

I also received a message from a sister telling me sugary foods were a fitnah (trial…ish) for her. Who can relate?!

You are what you eat…

Based on that I’m nuts..! An apple and herbal tea.

I’ve been doing some thinking over the last month or so, bear with me as my thoughts are a little mixed as I had a lot to contemplate. Food really affects me, particularly gluten and in more ways than you could imagine! I don’t have coeliac disease but there are other symptoms I have not related to the gut. That said, I recently noticed that I no longer wake up with stomach aches. It wasn’t a major concern because the stomach aches were minor but it was significant enough for me to notice… which makes me think that perhaps gluten was having some kind of effect on my guts, Allaahu a’alam, but I’m glad it’s over.

For any women out there (or men!) who have tried dieting in the past, and I mean with the intention to lose weight, you may have noticed that when you cut out fried and greasy foods, sugary drinks and so on, that your body starts to look a little rough. I’m talking about things like an outbreak of spots for example. It’s usual for this to happen because your body is finally being given the opportunity to cleanse itself so it’s forcing all the muck and dirt out the pores. You’ll realise than in order to get better you start looking a little worse. Stick it out, it’s worth it… after a couple of weeks or so.

You may have seen similiar quotes to this, I don’t know the specific time period for various organs but you get the gist… “Every 28ish days your skin replaces itself and various other organs do the same. Your body makes these new cells from the food you eat. What you eat literally becomes you. You have a choice in what you’re made of. You are what you eat. ”

In short: Whatever food we put into our bodies, become our cells and becomes our body. Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it. Fact.

Speaking of bad foods, I Loved crisps. Note the past tense. I saw a documentary about food ont he BBC a good couple of years ago I think and someone was investigating what made crisps so addictive. Turns out it was the ‘crunch factor’. I’m not surprised, I love crispy and crunchy things, there really is something pleasurable about the sound. I can’t remember specificis as it was too long ago but it triggers something in our brain that makes us a little addicted. They even had a machine which measure the level of crunchiness of a crisp and that determined if a batch passed the test or not! Actually, considering I loved crisps, I didn’t eat them that often and I didn’t really eat much bad food pre-GF and Paleo… just the bread and stuff(!)
I quite like this advert by the British Heart Foundation. It’s gross and for those of you who still munch on packets of crisps you know there’s always an extra greasy packet… oh, the things I don’t miss!

A change in diet can change everything about your life in a positive way. I recently saw the following on a bumper sticker: “My day starts backwards…. I wake up tired and go to bed wide awake.” – That used to be me and it’s pretty much everyone I know unfortunately. It’s never too late to change your habits, ditch the comfort foods and all things unhealthy.
I used to be a fairly busy person, always multi-tasking and doing things to distract me in attempt to focus my attention on something semi-worthwhile. Looking back on those times, although I enjoyed the adrenaline rush and the craziness, it wasn’t good for my body and did nothing to help stress levels back then.
As soon as I started feeding my body well and eliminated everything that was harmful to me my thoughts became a lot clearer and organised. I suddenly wasn’t stressed despite the fact that I was writing my dissertation and had a few bits of bad news. Alhamdulillaah alaa kulli haal (All praise is to due to Allaah in all circumstances) …. things worked out well, my dissertation was done on time, problems were solved and the normal effects of stress on my body weren’t present… all of this was of course due to the Will of Allaah and His guidance but also because I tied my camel and did everything I could in order to make my life better and placed my trust in Allaah. Which reminds me, I need to share a book with everyone, it was one of the first I read on my recent ‘journey’ and I focused on it for a few weeks… with some guidance.

It’s now 10:35pm and in my world, that’s late. A part of my new lifestyle is sleeping no later than 10:30pm and not focusing on any screens (other than my phone) so I’m gonna lazily finish this post in a hurry, apologies!
Everyone’s different, we all have a different story and we have different things motivating us. Giving up the things you love is difficult but it is replaced with something much better… I know my motivation and intentions and I wouldn’t swap it for all the treasures on this planet.
Remember this: whatever changes you make, don’t expect everyone to understand the journey you’ve embarked on, especially if they have never walked your path.

And lastly, some good quality advice:

You’ll need this skill if you want to find alternatives for the bad foods and you don’t have to be a chef!

Hayakumullaah!