In the recent times we face several health issues. I came across a Hadith (sayings of the Islamic Prophet) from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) – (peace be upon him) I would like to mention a few good habits which would help us be healthy. At first I would like to mention something which was said around 1300+ years ago.
The Holy Prophet (SAW) Said:
1) Four things that make your body sick:
a) Excessive talking
b) Excessive sleeping
c) Excessive eating and
d) Excessive meeting other people
So lets think about the recent times. Look around yourself and see the results of
a) Excessive talking
“Some studies have found that excessive talking about problems can contribute to emotional difficulties, including anxiety and depression.
The term researchers use is “co-rumination” to describe frequently or obsessively discussing the same problem. The behavior is typical among teens — Why didn’t he call? Should I break up with him? And, psychologists say, it has intensified significantly with e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging and Facebook. And in certain cases it can spin into a potentially contagious and unhealthy emotional angst, experts say.” - NY Times
The above mentioned NYtimes was more related to a girls being talkative. The only thing i wanted to highlight was the researchers point of view.
Just search for excessive talking and there are so many articles relating to people describing this as a bad habit. Even with regards to business where we negotiating is an important factor a common mistake is talking too much and listening too little. People tend you avoid those who talk too much.
Why dont you think how many times have you avoided people who do excessive talking? Often it feels as if that would just take your peace away, a healthy conversation needs to be very balanced.
There are more evils which may come as a result of excessive talking such as boasting, being more self absorbed, arrogance, etc.
b) Excessive sleeping
“Many people will tell you, they sleep a little worse when they sleep a long time on weekends,” said Dr. Daniel Kripke, co-director of Scripps Clinic Sleep Center in La Jolla, California. “Too much long sleep on weekends does not seem to make people feel better.” But he acknowledged that the reasons haven’t been determined.
For years, doctors have warned about the dangers of not getting enough shuteye — traffic accidents, weight gain, decreased productivity and immune protection, but the effects of oversleeping are not well-understood. There isn’t medical evidence to recommend that people who sleep long hours should change their habits, Kripke said. - CNN
The above in red shows that even in the recent times we do not completely understand this phenomenon. And Alhamdolillah (All praise is due to Allah) Prophet Muhammad (saw) recommended that we avoid excessive sleep 1300+ Years ago.
Moving further lets see some further side effects of excessive sleeping.
“..oversleeping has been linked to a host of medical problems, including diabetes, heart disease, and increased risk of death…” – WebMD
There are many more health related websites which also recommend that we have a good quality sleep rather than sleeping excessively. It reduces our muscle activity and slows us down overall. You can read a bit more on this here.
c) Excessive eating
“The obesity epidemic has nothing to do with modern sedentary lifestyles and is entirely down to eating too much, a leading academic has claimed. ” – The Telegraph
We all know the effects of eating too much. Obesity is one of the major problems caused by eating too much. Already we are in an age where countries often face food shortages common sense tells us that when people eat less automatically this would have a direct impact on our food industry and we would be able to save resources. This would mean that there would be enough for everyone.
d) Excessive meeting other people
Meeting people too much all the time is another habit we should avoid. Often when we are meeting people all the time we have less time for ourselves and less time to stay focused. Its better to spend some time in solitude to reflect on our own life/thoughts and try to search for what is important. There are many other bad habits which further come as a result of this.
A very important note i would like to mention here is that there should be a fine line between whats right and wrong. The above mentioned points indicate that the EXCESSIVE use of such habits are bad only. Incase they are being done in a healthy and balanced manner then there is no harm. Life can only be healthy when there is a balance in what we do. This is also one of the fundamental teachings of Islam. Extremism in anything is bad, I am sure when we think logically and apply our minds and search in our hearts we would reach the right decision.