saalamalaikum,
Today, there is a tremendous emphasis on beautifying oneself and taking care of one’s body such as gym, diet, cosmetics etc. I do not say this is prohibited but one should seek with what intention one is doing these things. It should not in no way lead to pride since pride blackens the heart and makes a person foolish.
This is an excellent excerpt from one of the letters of Sheikh Saeed Ahmad.
Neglecting Soul and Beautifying Body
The soul is subjected to an unseen system which has linked itself to man’s body. Man’s attention is generally focused on to the body which sees, hears and makes other movements. But this is evident from the fact that the hands, eyes etc. won’t function once the soul departs from the body. Once the soul leaves the body, nobody is prepared to keep the body of even the most famous personality at home for a single day. So the soul is the essence by which man displays marvelous wonders. He brings about great inventions, thanks to the soul.
(An amazing example)
The soul is likened to the rider and the body is likened to his conveyance. The soul is riding atop the body. For example, the jockey riding a horse. The rider is the soul and the horse is like the body. Now if a person riding on a horse comes to you as your guest, will you honor the rider or the horse? You will feed the horse with grass or whatever but make vigorous arrangements for the rider intending to satisfy him to the best of your ability.
However, today everything is upside down. The conveyance(the body) is well fed and embellished but nobody seems to pay any attention to the rider (the soul). Nobody is concerned about the rider’s (soul’s) nourishment, how it can gain strength, what are the ingredients to render it fragrant and clean? Alas! People neither cleanse it nor is there any importance attached to it. Everything is done for the conveyance i.e. the body. Only the body is washed, day in and day out the body receives attention. For the body alone man deceives others. In short, we do everything for the body but we pay no attention to the soul whatsoever.
(If you have benefited from this article, raise your hands and pray for me and send it to others)
