Fatwa ID: 03260

Answered by: Imam Abdul-Malik Sheikh​

Question

Assalamualaikum

Is it permissible to pray for a husband who has muscles and abs? I've read that it is a sign of Qiyamah that people will want to get a hard body as in getting muscles/ bodybuilding 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