Answered by: Imam Abdul-Malik Sheikh
Question
Assalamualaikum
Is it permissible to pray for a husband who has muscles and abs? As I’ve read that it is a sign of Qiyammah that people will want to get a hard body as in getting muscles/ bodybuild etc. Please guide.
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
There is no evidence to suggest that building muscle and having abs is Harām in Islām. In fact, the Shari’ah encourages a healthy lifestyle and praises a believer who is physically strong.
Abū Huraira reported Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) as saying: “A strong believer is better and is more lovable to Allāh than a weak believer, and there is good in everyone, (but) cherish that which gives you benefit (in the Hereafter) and seek help from Allāh and do not lose heart, and if anything (in the form of trouble) comes to you, don’t say: If I had not done that, it would not have happened so and so, but say: Allāh did that what He had ordained to do and your” if” opens the (gate) for the Shaytān”. (Reported by Muslim)
There is no prohibition in Shari’ah for a wife praying for her husband. She can pray to Allāh to make her husband a better person and grant them both a happy marital life. If she feels that her husband is doing anything wrong or neglecting his duty towards her, she can advise him and pray to Allah to guide him.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Imam Abdul-Malik Sheikh
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham