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New
Year’s Resolutions: Renew Your Ramadan Vows
| By Karima Burns, MH, ND |
24/12/2001
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Every
year, as Muslims, we try our hardest to be patient, eat well, pray regularly and
make positive life changes during Ramadan. However, as the year progresses it
often seems that we forget those promises to ourselves. Although it is not the
Muslim new year, 2002 is a good time for Muslims to renew the resolutions they
made during Ramadan. A list of resolutions should be written down so one can
refer to them throughout the year. They should include spiritual, as well as
physical and mental practices, for Allah encompasses all of our lives and not
just the hours in which we pray. The following is a list of resolutions I
often give consulting clients who ask me what they should do to better their
spiritual, physical and mental lives:
1-Exercise:
“When
My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close [to them]: I respond to
the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will,
Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way,” (Qur’an
2:186)
As
I perform more iridology readings and consultations, I am struck with the
vitality I see in one certain group of people. This group includes smokers,
people who eat junk food, people who have a family history of disease and people
who have stressful lives. So what do they all have in common? Exercise! Their
enthusiasm for joining a health club, swimming and sports teams, or their
dedication to walking once a day, or taking a Tai Chi or Yoga class on a regular
basis, has more than made up for their lack of dedication in other health areas.
I do not recommend eating badly or smoking, for doing so will eventually catch
up to you, but if you could change just ONE thing in your life it should be to
exercise. Keep in mind that exercise can even be as simple as praying five times
a day. Many people have compared the benefits of the Muslim prayer with those of
yoga.
2. Drink Water:
“We made water essential for every life,” (Qur’an 21:30)
Very
few people drink the doctor-recommended eight to ten cups of water a day. Most
people drink only three cups of water a day or less. Even worse, many people
cancel out what they do drink by drinking coffee, green tea or sodas which cause
dehydration in the body. One can solve many health problems simply by drinking
eight to ten glasses a day.
3. Give up Bad Habits:
The
Prophet said, "Allah has forbidden you ( 1 ) to be undutiful to your
mothers (2) to withhold (what you should give) or (3) demand (what you do not
deserve), and (4) to bury your daughters alive. And Allah has disliked that (A)
you talk too much about others (B), ask too many questions (in religion), or (C)
waste your property,” (Bukhari: Volume 8, Book 73, Number 6).
Everyone
seems to have a bad habit that harms his or her health. Drinking, smoking and
overeating are the most popular. However, there are many other bad habits that
are unhealthy as well, such as: drinking excess coffee or colas, eating junk
food, harboring bad feelings for people, yelling, gossiping, stealing, lying,
cheating, watching too much TV, gambling, and many others. Keep in mind that any
activity that is forbidden in Islam is unhealthy. Also keep in mind that any
activity that starts to become and addiction (such as television, coffee, a
friend and even your job) is also unhealthy. Make a pledge to yourself to
identify your addictions and stop them (in the case of alcohol or smoking) or at
least reduce them to a healthier level (in the case of indulgent socializing,
work and television).
4.
Be Positive:
“Give
Glad tidings to those who exercise patience when struck with adversity and say,
’indeed we belong to God and to him is our return’ such ones receive
blessings and Mercy of their lord, and such are the guided ones,” (Qur’an
2:155).
Start
cultivating a positive attitude. There is a mountain of physical and medical
evidence now to support that a positive attitude can work miracles. One reason
could be that a positive attitude influences the thymus gland, which in turn
strengthens the immune system.
5. Start Using Tonic Foods:
“Ye
people, eat of what is on earth, lawful and wholesome,” (Qur’an 2:168).
Even
if the rest of your diet is miserable, the addition of some simple "super
foods" can supercharge it. Add some alfalfa sprouts to your salads often,
use raw honey on your crackers or bread in the morning, eat sesame (found in
Zaa’tar), sunflower and flax seeds regularly and start snacking on sheets of
dried seaweed. All of the foods mentioned above contain a dense concentration of
nutrients and serve the body in the same way vitamins do.
6. Sleep:
“Lo!
your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then
mounted He the Throne. He covereth the night with the day, which is in haste to
follow it, and hath made the sun and the moon and the stars subservient by His
command. His verily is all creation and commandment blessed be Allah, the Lord
of the Worlds!” (Qur’an 7:54).
Allah created nighttime for a reason, but it is amazing how few people use that
time to actually sleep. In fact, many research studies show that lack of sleep
can exacerbate almost any health problem from hypoglycemia and diabetes to pain
and mental illness. Even missing an hour of sleep on a regular basis can harm
your health.
7. Pray More:
A
man who was stung by a scorpion was brought to the Prophet [peace be upon him].
He said: Had he said the word: "I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah
from the evil of what He created, "he would not have been stung, or he
said, "It would not have harmed him,” (Bukhari: Book 28, Number 3890).
“
And when I sicken, God heals me,” (26:80 Qur’an).
There
are entire sects and groups of people who do not use conventional medicine at
all, but, rather, use prayer as medicine. Even the Prophet himself used prayer
alone as medicine in many instances. In addition, many new studies have found
that prayer does have healing effects - for the prayer as well as the prayed
for.
8. Keep Good Company:
“The
Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Allah has cursed wine, its drinker, its
server, its seller, its buyer, its presser, the one for whom it is pressed, the
one who conveys it, and the one to whom it is conveyed,” (Bukhari: Book 26,
Number 3666).
In
many cases in the Qur’an and Hadith it is mentioned that you do not actually
have to perform a bad act to be affected by it. Muslims are encouraged to
“hang out” with people they would like to emulate and not with those that
are a bad influence on them. This influence, in fact, can come in many forms. Do
you hang out with friends that drink, smoke or consume too much coffee? Does
your office always have donuts available for breakfast and your local grocer
always have goodies on sale? Start hanging out with people who have the good
habits of eating well and start shopping in stores that offer healthier whole
grain and organic foods. Reduce time spent with people or in places that are a
bad influence.
9. Use Natural Healing:
“God
never inflicts a disease unless he makes a cure for it...” (Hadith of the
Prophet Muhammad related by Abu Hurairah)
The
Prophet himself used natural healing in his community. In fact, Allah HAS
created a cure for every disease - so go see a natural health care practitioner
and get evaluated.
10. Laugh More, Yell Less:
Allah's
Apostle said, "The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his
strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself while in anger,” (Bukhari:
Volume 8, Book 73, Number 135).
Laughing,
instead of yelling, has enormous healing potential. Tell jokes to your children,
listen to comedy on radio or television, buy comedy tapes, and read the comics
in the newspaper. Laughing has been found to have therapeutic qualities, as
illustrated by Robin Williams in the film “Patch Williams”. On the other
hand, anger has been found to reduce immune system function.
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