The Importance of Healthiness

It is therefore necessary to ensure that the physical body is kept healthy so that the soul and spirit may also remain healthy thus in turn aiding the believer in the service of both his spiritual and material attainment. Diet therefore, plays an important role for this purpose. For this reason Islam has prohibited certain foods due to their ill effects and permitted all other pure, good and clean food products. Allah Ta’ala says in the Noble Qur’ân:

“O’ Believers! Eat of the good and pure (lawful) that We have provided you with and be grateful to Allah, if you truly worship Him.” (2:172)

Muslims in general are advised to eat good and pure things and not to indulge in impure, bad and harmful things thus following their open enemy Shaitaan:

“O People! Eat of what is lawful and good on the Earth and do not follow the footsteps of Shaitaan, for he is your open enemy.” (2:168)

In the verses previously mentioned the general principle with regard to permissible foods has been stated. The Noble Qur’ân further goes on to specify the types of food prohibited in the following verse:

“He (Allah) has only forbidden you (from eating) dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that (animal) over which the name of other than Allah has been invoked.” (2:173, 16:115)

The four items that have been mentioned in the above verse are absolutely forbidden in Islam for reasons best known to Allah. However, through research, some of them such as carrion, blood and swine flesh have proved to be injurious to human health. Whilst swine flesh is harmful to moral health and food over which the name of any other than Allah has been invoked is harmful to spiritual health.

Other prohibited items have also been mentioned in different chapters of the Holy Qur’ân. In Surah al-Ma’idah the following have also been mentioned along with the four previously mentioned. There are those animals which have been killed by strangling, or a violent blow, a headlong fall, being gored to death and those which have been partially eaten by a wild animal and not slaughtered before death, also those which have been sacrificed on the name of idols