Islam Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for Muslims, experts in Islam, and those interested in learning more about Islam. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
There are rules in Islam like brushing teeth, being clean, avoiding dead animals and taking bath regularly and not fasting when it's harmful.
Am I right to assume that such things exists in Islam because of their health benefits?
If that is the case and Islam recommends/commands actions that have health benefits, how do you explain that it didn't prescribe making medications such as Antibiotics and Penicillin.
Answer to question no.1 is: No, because if the health of human was the goal of God, so God simply could do not create such harmful things to health of human. Or create human body in a form that remain always healthy.
To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He creates what he wills. He gives to whom He wills female [children], and He gives to whom He wills males. http://tanzil.net/#42:49
And:
Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, "Be," and it is. http://tanzil.net/#2:117
Assuming that God is seeking to make health for human by making some Islamic laws has conflict with the infinite power of God described in Quran. Such God is a weakling God.
So the question no.2 automatically becomes invalid. Although it is not right to assume Islam has not prescribed making medicines like antibiotics. The Prophet SAWW and Ahl al Bayt has many hadith about medicine.
Although the Islam laws have some worldly good byproducts and benefits but the purpose of Islam laws is not the health of humans. But the purpose of Islam rules is to test humans and to good and evil humans be distinguished.
[This is] so that Allah may distinguish the wicked from the good and place the wicked some of them upon others and heap them all together and put them into Hell. It is those who are the losers. http://tanzil.net/#8:37
Medicine rules of Islam are not always known as medical by current empirical science of each era. So some of them can even seem silly for current scientists of that time. I mean all people do not know that a rule of Islam has a physical benefit for body. Many health benefits of Islam rules are not known still and perhaps 500 years later some of them become scientifically known. So there is no main difference between medical rules of Islam and non-medical rules of Islam because their origin is not science. But their origin is revelation. So a believer obey them regardless of their if they have health benefit or not. This is a test who obey God goes to paradise and who disobey goes to Hell. This is how people are distinguished. By obeying or disobeying All rules of Islam even without knowing their physical body health benefits.
Believers trust any authentic hadith and obey it. Benefits is not limited to benefits for physical body. Some Islamic rules has harm for body but benefit for soul. Like Jihad. I.e. Islam look at life before and after death totally. Not only physical life. A believer does not obey a hadith for its physical benefits only. But mainly obey it for obeying God. Trusting in a hadith depends on its level of authenticity. God always wants benefit of humans. But benefit is not limited to this world.
