WHY EMULATE THE SUNNAH OF THE PROPHET ﷺ

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
“You have a good model in the Messenger of Allah for one who hopes for Allah and the Last Day.” [Qur’an 33:21].

A role model is someone you would admire and would follow his actions, habits, and way of thinking. In this modern age, so many of us would cite successful businessmen, scientists or even celebrities as our role models, but the real role model recommended by Allah is none other than our beloved Prophet ﷺ.

We’ve all heard about scientific evidence in the Quran, where modern science has found scientific discoveries that have been revealed in the Qur’an 1, 400 years ago! So what about the Sunnah’s of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ? He has been described as a walking Qur’an after all. Rasulullah ﷺ is a role model and all his actions are to be followed and his manners to be imitated. So has Rasulullah ﷺ habitual actions (Sunnah) been confirmed by modern science too?

1 – THE SUNNAH AND THE SCIENCE OF EATING WHILE SITTING DOWN
The Prophet ﷺ forbade us from drinking while standing. Qatadah (R) reported: “We asked him: ‘What about eating?”‘ He said: “That is even worse, (or may be he said) more detestable.” (Muslim)

Today, it is now common to see people walking whilst drinking and eating. We live in a fast pace world, and so time is saved when we walk and do other things. In the West, there are now cafes which offer standing room only for drinking and eating.
A recent study at the University of South Florida found that people who ate while standing did not enjoy their meal as much. They felt their food to be less tasty than compared to people who ate while sitting down. People who ate while standing also ate lesser amounts compared to those who ate while sitting. This is because the standing position created greater physical stress on the body, which led to decreasing sensory sensitivity.

2 – FASTING REGULARLY: THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SUNNAH
Rasulullah ﷺ would often fast on Mondays and Thursdays (at-Tirmidhi) and recommended the fasting of Prophet Dawud (AS) (Bukhari) where fasting is done on alternate days.

This is now known as intermittent fasting and is practiced by health enthusiasts in the West, where food is not consumed for a period of 12-24 hours, followed by normal eating and the cycle then repeats.

Studies have shown that intermittent fasting can lead to health benefits such as weight loss, lowering type 2 diabetes and reducing neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson and stroke.

3 – THE SUNNAH OF THE MISWAK – DENTAL HYGIENE AND MODERN SCIENCE
Rasulullah ﷺ said: “If it were not that it would be difficult on my nation, then I would have ordered them to use the Siwak for each prayer.” (At-Tirmidhi)

Even 1,400 years ago, Islam showed the importance of body hygiene with the wudhu’ and dental hygiene by using the Miswak to clean the teeth.

In today’s modern age, we now use toothbrushes and toothpaste to maintain dental hygiene. The Miswak is often dismissed as just a twig, an old-age tool. But is it really?

A study had found that using the Miswak lowered gingival bleeding when compared to toothbrush users. Another comparison study of Miswak vs toothbrush found that using the Miswak leads to reduced dental plaque and gingivitis. Another comparison study also found that using the Miswak reduces dental caries when compared to using toothbrushes and toothpaste.

These are just a few to name, however, we don’t follow the Sunnah because of these benefits, we do so because it is the command of Allah. Nonetheless, having learnt of these extra benefits of practising on the Sunnah, should we not be grateful to Allah for enjoining upon us such a beautiful and easy way of life?