Islamic and Medical Views on Physical Health: Exercise, Diet, and Sleep

Islamic and Medical Views on Physical Health: Exercise, Diet, and Sleep

As a comprehensive religion, Islam provides guidelines regarding the health of its adherents. In the Hadith of Muslim History, Rasulullah SAW said, "Strong believers are better and more loved by Allah than weak believers. However, both of them still have goodness”. Strength here can mean "faith" or "physical" strength. Healthy physique allows us to carry out our daily religious duties. Physical strength can be maintained and built with a variety of things including: exercise, diet, and sleep.

Sports

From the Hadith of Ahmad's history, it is stated that Umar once said, "Teach your children to swim and shoot, and order them to jump on horseback.” Although these sports are not all that accessible today, the main message is the affirmation that sport is part of the Muslim lifestyle. Exercise is an effective way to maintain physical and mental health. Medically recommended cardio exercise for adults is moderate intensity activity for 150 minutes a week. These activities can be spread to existing days, for example, to 1 minutes per day in 30 days. If the activities carried out are of high intensity, then 5 minutes a week is enough. In addition to cardio exercise, you also need to pay attention to exercise with weights (resistance training)1. This is necessary to maintain muscle mass. As we get older, strength and muscle mass will always decrease. After the age of 50, muscle mass will decrease by 1-2% each year2. It is recommended that you lift weights at least 2 times a week1.

Dietary habit

"Eat and drink ye and do not exaggerate. Verily, Allah does not like those who are excessive,” is the meaning of Allah's word in Surah Al-A'raf Verse 31, where Allah commands not to overeat and drink. In the medical world, the term "calories" is known as the energy the body needs for metabolism and activity. These calories are obtained from food and drink. If the calories from food and drink exceed the calories your body needs to function, the remaining calories will be stored as fat.4 If excess, can occur overweight (Overweight) or even obesity. This condition can be a risk factor for various diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.5 Medical advice to limit food intake is in line with Allah's commands in Surah Al-A'raf Verse 31.

Sleep

Allah says in Surah Al Qashas Verse 73, which means, "And it is because of His mercy that He has made for you the night and the day, so that you may rest at night and that you may seek some of His bounty (during the day) and that you may give thanks to Him..” God emphasizes that the night should be used for rest. Getting enough sleep is important. This is to prevent us from experiencing sleep deprivation which reduces body function. In the medical world, the optimal duration of sleep has not been agreed upon with certainty. Some experts argue that the ideal sleep duration for adults is 7-9 hours per day, but that is more a suggestion than an exact number6. Sleep duration should be adjusted for each individual. Besides duration, sleep hygiene or "cleanliness" of sleep is also important, we should avoid electronic equipment from the bed, exercise enough during the day, and keep bedtime consistent. These things can improve the quality of our sleep.6

If examined more deeply, the attention of Islamic law in the health sector is not limited to the three things above. Even so, these three things deserve to be used as a first step to maintain and improve the health of Muslims so that they can always worship properly.

Reference:

  1. Piercy, KL, Troiano, RP, Ballard, RM, Carlson, SA, Fulton, JE, Galuska, DA, George, SM and Olson, RD, 2018. The physical activity guidelines for Americans. Jama, 320(19), pp. 2020-2028.
  2. von Haehling, S., Morley, JE and Anker, SD, 2010. An overview of sarcopenia: facts and numbers on prevalence and clinical impact. Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscles, 1, pp. 129-133.
  3. Campbell, AP, 2017. DASH eating plan: an eating pattern for diabetes management. Diabetes Spectra, 30(2), pp. 76-81.
  4. Hall, KD, Farooqi, IS, Friedman, JM, Klein, S., Loos, RJ, Mangelsdorf, DJ, O'Rahilly, S., Ravussin, E., Redman, LM, Ryan, DH and Speakman, JR, 2022 The energy balance model of obesity: beyond calories in, calories out. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 115(5), pp. 1243-1254.
  5. Barnes, USA, 2011. The epidemic of obesity and diabetes: trends and treatments. Texas Heart Institute Journal, 38(2), p.142.
  6. Chaput, JP, Dutil, C. and Sampasa-Kanyinga, H., 2018. Sleeping hours: what is the ideal number and how does age impact this?. Nature and science of sleep, pp. 421-430.