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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taqwa (Piety) Advice of Piety And Health ==================== One of the affairs in relation to which man should observe Taqwa is the observation of piety concerning his health. One has to be careful about his diet, food, health, factors causing diseases, environment, and to keep away from contagious diseases whether viral or non-viral.

He should never have the impression that Taqwa only concerns the soul and it has nothing to do with the body, for Taqwa is to keep away and be careful of all what is harmful for human beings, whether it is physical or spiritual. That which is harmful has been prohibited by the Islamic laws.

Imam Ali (AS) has defined this kind of Taqwa as: “The fear of Allah…is the cure for the aliments of your bodies.”[^1] Fortunately, the Lord of the universe has made man familiar with his physical constitution and condition of health in a way that he can diagnose his ailment and be the physician of himself.

Imam Ali (AS) has been reported as saying to a man: “You cure is in yourself while you do not know, and your disease is from yourself while you do not understand.” Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said, “You have been made the physician of yourself. Ailments have been made clear to you and the signs of health are known to you and you have been guided to the cure. Therefore, see what you can do for yourself.”[^2] There are Quranic verses and traditions that refer to the same issue.

Furthermore, common sense confirms the same. Even those, who do not believe in religion, observe certain rules about health and hygiene in a way that they keep away from what is harmful to health. This can be seen even in animals.

The Lord of the universe says: “…eat and drink and be not extravagant, surely He does not love the extravagant.” [^3] The great scholar Faiz Kashani, in his commentary, says: “God has gathered medicine in a half of a verse, when He said, “Eat and drink and do not be extravagant!” As further explanation, it is related that Haroon al-Rasheed (the Abbasid Caliph) had an expert Christian physician who, one day, said to Ali ibn al-Hossain al-Waqidi: “There is nothing about medicine in your book whereas knowledge is of two kinds; knowledge of body (medicine) and knowledge of religion (jurisprudence).” Al-Waqidi, in response, said: “God has summarized medicine in half a verse and he recited the above-mentioned verse.