Health Is Real Wealth

Benefits of a healthy believer

This life is our only chance we have to build our hereafter, which is the permanent destination and if we lose this then we have no other chances, there is no second life on earth. In order to take advantage of this temporal life as much as we can we have to achieve in it whatever is required to succeed in the hereafter. The things that help us succeed are the righteous actions based on pure intention and belief in Allah ﷻ. Actions require efforts and the best actions are those done with utmost effort and that is possible through a good health. Therefore, in this sense health is no doubt the best wealth for a believer. If we do not have good health then we will be constricted from putting in efforts and hard work when struggling in the path of Allah ﷻ. A prophetic hadith teaches us the benefit of having health and faith: “A believer who is strong (and healthy) is better and dearer to Allah than the weak believer, but there is goodness in both of them.” [1]

The strong and healthy believer does not only achieve what is beneficial for him but also supports and helps others as opposed to the weaker one who may not be able to do as much due to the limitations of health. Therefore, health is truly a wealth if understood from the Islamic perspective. However if we focus on achieving good health but do not utilize it for the purpose of our existence then we are also warned in another hadith that: “There are two blessings in which many people incur loss. (They are) health and free time (for doing good)”[2]. This teaches us that we may have a good health and free time to utilize them in doing good works but we may slack and that defeats the purpose of having health in Islam. Just as Prophet ﷺ said, that ‘knowledge without actions is a burden’, similarly, health without utilizing it for good causes would also be a burden and in fact if abused may become unbearable burden in the hereafter.

References:
[1] Sahih Muslim 2664
[2] Riyad as-saliheen - Book 1, Hadith 97