Covering up

A sound mind is from a healthy body, as the old saying goes. And sports, in whatever form it is, is one of the paths which may lead to physical fitness.

In Islam, there was a time when the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. raced with Aisha, as narrated by Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Abu Dawud : -

'Aishah said, I raced with the Prophet (peace be on him) and beat him in the race. Later, when I had put on some weight, we raced again and he won. Then he said, 'This cancels that (referring to the previous occasion.)

From another hadeeth reported by Abu Dawud, The Prophet also wrestled with a man called Rukanah, who was well known for his strength, but Rukanah lost not once, but thrice. So there's an emphasis of how important physical fitness is, which in turn would assist the spiritual aspect of life.

Then there's horse riding, which is mentioned few times in the al-Quran (16:8). Umar Al-Khattab once mentioned ,"Teach your children swimming and archery, and tell them to jump on the horse's back."

For the record, i tried swimming but failed miserably. *Sigh*

Islam has outlined few ethical codes of sports. We should not occupy ourselves with sports too much to the extent of which it prevents us from practicing our daily obligations. There should be no foul words or behaviours towards the opposing team and it should be played in a respectful manner towards each other.

One of the aspects that might be slightly forgotten is the aurat issue. We might think that it's a small issue and there's nothing important regarding this. Some might say it is more comfortable wearing shorts, but we should be trying our best to cover up our aurat. Wear tights if possible.

There are few pieces of articles i've read regarding the aurat issue. It's not about Muslims who preach for other Muslims to cover up, but it is about Nike (yes, the mega sports' brand) plan to invent clothes which are suitable for Muslims to wear while playing sports. In this particular case, for Muslim women.

From one point of view, you might say that Nike are trying to milk out money from the pockets of Muslims world wide. But are there any other Muslim companies doing all the research to invent such clothes which are comfortable for sports? Although they mean business, they also understand the sensibilities and the market value of such items.

By the way, if i were a girl, i prefer an Adidas apparel instead of Nike. Three stripes on the hijab while playing sports? Consumeristic mind. Hah!

Sometimes i think the concept of halal not only involves a spiritual aspect, but the business aspect as well. It's like, if there is a Muslim developer producing goods/products which are based on spiritual guidance, there will be demand not only from Muslims, but non Muslims alike. If we are able to properly market and explain to them why we do this and that.

For example, if we are to sell chickens which are slaughtered according to the Muslim way, we have to explain that there are scientific researches done by a few German scientists on the benefits of such actions. We should explain this to PETA so that they would understand we could eat meat slaughtered the Islamic way.

Well, enough of mumblings and ramblings. If there are people out there, non Muslims, who understand the need of such clothing (aurat covering clothes) even while playing sports, then Muslims have no reason not to cover up.

So girls and boys, do cover up.

PS : I heard there will be this Kover up Kampaign for the Volgames or something like that. I'm not part of it.