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Does bodybuilding constitute a change to God's creation, and is it therefore forbidden?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The forbidden alteration of Allah's creation is that in which a person's hand is involved, such as plucking eyebrows (namṣ) and tattooing. As for practicing bodybuilding, which results in physical growth, it is not considered an alteration of Allah's creation. It is similar to consuming foods and medications that promote bodily growth. Therefore, there is no objection to bodybuilding as long as it does not involve harm to the body, uncovering of 'awrah (private parts), unlawful mixing (ikhtilāṭ), or any other forbidden acts.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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