Narrated Hanzalah Usayyidi [RA] , met Abubakr [RA] . H said :Who are you ? He said(Hanzalah) said Hanzalah has turned out to be a hypocrite . He (Abubakr) said: Glory be to Allaah, what are you saying ? Thereupon he[Hanzalah[RA] said: I say that when we are I the company of Allaahﾒs Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) we ponder over Hell-Fire and paradise as if we are using them before our very eyes . When we are away from Allaahﾒs prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) we attend to our wives, our children our business ;most of these things (pertaining to the After life) slip out of our minds.
Abubakr [RA] said: By Allaah ,I also experience the same. So`Abubakr [RA] and I went to Allaah's Messenger(peace and blessing of Allaah be upon him ) and said to him: Allaah's Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), Hanzalah [RA] has turned to be a hypocrite . Thereupon Allaah's prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him )said:
What has happened to you?
I said: Allaah's Messenger , When we are in your company, we are reminded of Hell-Fire and paradise as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but whenever we go away from you and attend to our wives, children and business, many of these things go out of our minds.
Thereupon Allaah's prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if your state of mind remains the same as it is in my presence and you are always busy in remembrance (of Allaah) , the angels will shake hands with you in your beds and on your paths. However, Hanzalah, there is a time for this [Worldly affairs] and there is time for that [prayer, meditation and dhikr of Allaah], He (the Holy prophet) said this thrice.[Muslim]
From the above hadith, we can see that try as we may, our minds will not always be inclined solely to matters of the hereafter. Often ,it will incline to matters of the world and it will incline to some relaxation as well. This is one of the key needs for sport and leisure .
Here are some ahadeeth to ponder on:
WRESTLING: The prophet [peace and blessing of Allaah be upon him] once wrestled with a man called Rukanah who was well known for his strength and skill at throwing people down . The prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him ] started with him. As the fight was hard , Rukanah said: "A sheep for a sheep. The prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] then threw him. The man said the same again. The prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] threw again, and the man said the same again. The prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] threw a third time . The man then said , What shall I tell my wife ? One sheep was eaten by the wolf, one ran away, but what about the third. The prophet[peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him]said:
"We are not going to defeat you and take something from you as well. Take your sheep! [Gaayatul Maram ]
FOOT RACING Aisha [RA] said, I raced with the prophet[peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him]and beat him in the race .Later, when I had put on some weight ,we raced again and he won. Then he said, "This cancels that [ referring to the previous one] [Ahmad and Abu Dawud]
Spear Play: It is reported in saheeh Bukhari and Muslim from Abu Hurayra that while the Abyssinians were performing their show with spears in the presence of the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him], Umar entered. He picked up some pebbles and started throwing it at them but the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, "Leave them alone, 0 Umar". Horseback riding The Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] also said;
"Any action without the remembrance of Allaah is either a diversion or heedlessness except for four acts: walking from target to target [during archery practice}, training a horse, playing with ones family, and learning to swim.[Tabarani].
In another narration, ibn Umar [RA] reported the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] organized horse races and gave a prize to the winner. [Ahmad] Were you surprised at t~ contents of these ahadeeth? It could be hard to imagine that the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him]; despite his busy schedule of preaching to the unbelievers, leading the people in Salah, receiving revelations of the Quran and teaching it to his Companions, attending to the problems of his family and that of his Companions as well as the community at large, would still have time for seemingly trivial things like sports and leisure! However, the truth is that taking part in some of these sports and leisure may even be something that is very recommended or compulsory on us as Muslims and thus a means of worshipping Allaah, our creator. The Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] has informed us that a Muslim who is strong and healthy is better and dearer to Allaah than a person who is weak and nonchalant. He said;
"A strong Muslim is better and more beloved to Allaah than a weak one and there is good in everyone, (but) cherish that which gives you benefit (in the Hereafter) and seek help from Allah and do not lose heart, and if anything (in the form of trouble) comes to you, dont say: If I had not done that, it would not have happened so and so, but say: Allaah did that what He had ordained to do and your "if opens the (gate for the Shaytan). " [Muslim].
The best way to achieve this is by exercising the body and training it. Also, while it is true that the purpose of our existence is so that we worship Allaah alone, however, it is also true that the way Allaah has created us as human beings is that we get bored and we need a form of leisure or in other words; entertainment in as much as these entertainment does not go against Islamic principle. Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] allowed some Abyssinians to display their skills in hismosque and he let his wife Aisha [RA] watch their show and encouraged them by saying, "Carry on, 0 Bani Arfidah]". [Bukhari].
We can see from this hadith that the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] took leisure in watching the Abyssinians display their skill and also entertained his wife by taking her to watch them. Rewards and Benefits Experts recommend that teens get 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. Here are some of the reasons:
1. Sports or Exercising benefit every part of the body, including the mind: Exercising causes the body to produce endorphins, chemicals that can help a person to feel more peaceful and happy. Exercise can help some people sleep better. It can also help some people who have mild depression and low self esteem. Plus, exercise can give people a real sense of accomplishment and pride at having achieved a certain goal like beating an old time in the 100-meter dash.
2. Sports can help you look better: People who do sports burn more calories and look more toned than those who dont. In fact, exercise is one of the most important parts of keeping your body at a healthy weight.
3. Sports helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases: Exercising to maintain a healthy weight decreases a persons risk of developing certain diseases, including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. These diseases, which used to be found mostly in adults, are becoming more common teens.
4. Exercise can help a person age well. This may not seem important now, but your body will thank you later. Women are especially prone to a condition called osteoporosis (a weakening of the bones) as they get older. Studies have found that weight ﾖbearing exercise , like jumping, running or brisk walking, can help girls(and boys!) keep their bones strong.
LIMITATIONS
As muslims, we cannot just do whatever we want in any way we like. We need to observe the limits that Islam has set for us in all our activities . while it is true that Islam encourages us to participate in sports and take leisure , there are some limits that we must not cross in our desire to enjoy those sport:
1.No Injury: It must not cause injury to the other person involved especially when it involves striking the other person on the face as is common in the modern day wrestling and most especially boxing . The prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] forbade us from doing that . He said; There is no harm and there is no reciprocation of harmﾔ[Ibn Majah]. Also, Jabir bn Abdullah narrated that Allaah's Messenger of Allaah [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] forbade beating on the face or cauterization on the face [Abu Dawud ].
2. Remembrance of Allaah: We must not be so engrossed in it to the extent that we forget the remembrance of Allaah e.g. the time of Salaah. Otherwise, any activity that makes you forget the remembrance of Allaah is an instrument of shaytan , therefore we must leave it. Allaah says;
Shaitan has overpowered them so he made them forget the remembrance of Allaah. They are the party of shaitan that will be losers [Q 58:19 ]
Missing out on the mandatory remembrance of Allaah because of sports has become common nowadays especially with the game of football both for people who are involved in it and those who are spectators at the match venue or those who are watching on the television set in their homes.
3. Cover the Aurah: The people who are participating in it must cover their aurah[private part] . It is not permissible for a person to look at the aurah of another person. However, most of the sports that people engaged in these days , especially football and athletics fall within this category.
4. Meaningful, No Evil: It should be meaningful and should not call to evil . Most of the things that people do for leisure are meaningless and some of them even call to evil . For example, most of the video games or computer games are just time wasters and some of then even call to evil and immorality and at the end of the day we have nothing to show for it except evil.
5. No Fanaticism: The purpose of sports is to strengthen the human body physically and also mentally and also strengthen the bond between Muslims. However, people have turned it into something of enmity between them. Thus ,support for sports clubs or players or athletes has turned into a source of love and hatred. You are loved if you are a Man U supporter but you are reviled or hated if you are a Chelsea or Arsenal fan. What is worse ,people-including Muslims-have attacked ,maimed or kill each other on account or this subhanallaah! This is clearly forbidden in Islam and has Muslims, we are not permitted to do this
6. No Free Mixing: there should not be free-mixing between the sexes, what this means is that there should be no intermingling amongst themselves.
7. No Betting: It should not involve betting. What this means is that it should not involve the parties putting money or anything at stake for winning or losing the contest. Someone may argue that it is permissible because Rukanah [the man who wrestled with prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] staked three sheep in his wrestling contest with him. However, what is clear from the narration is that it was only Rukanah who staked sheep and the prophet [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] did not stake anything. Therefore what we can deduce from this is that it may be permissible for one of the two parties to stake something but it is not permissible for one.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited