Sports for all.

Byline: Kashif Shahzada

LET there be no doubt that without a healthy body everything falls apart. To deliver quality work in life we need energy, strength and fortitude. All this is within our power only if we possess a healthy body. Unless we are physically fit, we cannot contribute to society and make life meaningful.

Sick people usually cannot achieve much. Their recovery, if ever made, is an achievement in itself. It follows from this premise that for human beings to achieve, a healthy mind and body are essential. Being in good health is not a matter of common sense, it is also a religious duty. Islam requires believers to perform some physical tasks and activities.

For example, the five daily prayers, the tawaf (circumambulation) and sayee (walking/jogging) during Umrah, the discipline and exertion of Haj, the month-long endurance of fasting - all these acts require physical strength and a healthy body. Though there are rules on religious observance for when one is sick and unable, it is rudimentary knowledge that we need physical prowess to observe God's law in our life. For this, we need a certain level of fitness.

The Islamic scripture has attested to the importance of a strong and healthy physique. In its narratives, prophets of Allah are described as individuals who possessed not only knowledge and leadership ability but also the physical attributes required to fulfil life's duties. Thus the Quran cites that when people objected to the appointment of Talut as a king, the prophet of the time replied: 'Allah hath Chosen him above you, and hath gifted him abundantly with knowledge and bodily prowess. ...' (2:247). Notable in the Quranic verse is the inclusion of 'bodily prowess' along with other qualities, thus indicating that along with character, knowledge and acumen, physical fitness too is a necessary requirement for leadership as per divine directives.

We need a certain level of fitness to observe God's law.

About Prophet Musa, the Quran records the following statement given by one of the women whom he had helped in passing: 'Said one of the (damsels): 'O my (dear) father! engage him on wages: truly the best of men for thee to employ is the (man) who is strong and trusty' (28:26)'.

Thus the verses identify prophets of Allah as individuals who are 'strong', thereby establishing the importance of building a healthy physique as attested to in the Islamic scripture.

The performance of daily acts of ibadah such as the qiyam...