Question Summary:
Is weight lifting permissible?

Question Detail:

 
I have been going to the gym for a couple of years now, originally because i was over weight and wanted to loose weight and now alhamdulillah i have lost majority of the weight. I have been doing weight training in order to loose the weight, this has lead to me wanting to also look good, not for other people as scuh but more of for myself.
Now, i have jus been told that doing a thing such a muscle building is haram due to the fact that the interntion is to do with "looking good" etc. Does this make it actually "haram" or is it just disliked because i feel as though for a sin so easily commited (having the wrong intention - not solely for the puurpose of pleasing Allah) this is too harsh. Please advise me as i still pray all my namaz and regularly go to the masjid as i fit going to the gym around my life, not the other way around. I do not enjoy going to the gym but i still go in order to be healthy, and i am just a bit proud of the fact that i have made an achievement with that, i do not have a vain personality and do not go out topless or in a vest, i will wear t shirts and jackets like any normal person would. I always thought that having a strong body, mentally and physically was always encouraged as i know most of the sahabah RA had them.
Basically my question is; is going to the gym to do weight training haram?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh. 
Rasullallah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said: 
 فَإِنَّ لِجَسَدِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا
“Verily, your body has a right over you.” [Bukhari. Hadith # 1975] [i]
It is the right of the body to train and keep it fit. If weight lifting is done to keep oneself fit and to look after one’s body, it is permissible, in fact praiseworthy.
However, one must ensure to train in a pure environment which is free from intermingling of the opposite gender and free from music. Furthermore, one must don appropriate attire and keep the satar covered at all times.
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Fahad Abdul Wahab
Student, Darul Iftaa
New York, U.S.A
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai