About Islamic Medicines
Islam is a complete and perfect way of life that combines the physical and spiritual health of the mankind, whoever studies its teachings can very clearly understand this fact. All of its teachings are natural. It keeps a clear vision about all the matters of a human life, and gives perfect directions to make it healthy, physically and spiritually. The prophet if Islam (peace and blessings be upon him) proved this fact in his life and set broad guidelines for the use of natural remedies, like the black seed or nigella sativa, honey, mushroom, olive oil, figs, dry grapes etc. His teachings guides us to these facts.
Some of the important narrations of the Messenger of Allah related to sickness are narrated in Sahih Muslim: from the hadith of Abu al Zubayr and from Jabir bin Abd-allah it relates as follows: “for every sickness that Allah created, He also created a remedy, and when the remedy to the disease is found the patient is cured by permission of Allah SWT.”
Usamabin shareek narrates: “I was with Prophet PBUH when some Bedouins came to him and asked ‘O Messenger of Allah should we treat the sick? He replied: ‘Yes O servants of Allah treat your sick for Allah the Glorious One did not make any disease, without making a cure for it, all except one.’ ‘And which one is that?’ to which he replied ‘Old age’ ”
A much quoted Hadith regarding overindulgence in eating is that one should never fill up one’s stomach with food. The best proportion for eating recommended was 1/3rd food, 1/3rd water and 1/3rd empty. This would make perfect sense in modern day society where obesity is a running pandemic!
Broadly speaking the Prophetic medicine has been divided into “physical medicine” the treatment of the physical body, and “spiritual medicine” the treatment of the soul. Each of these being equally important to treat the body as a whole, essentially offering a “Holistic” approach to the treatment of a human being. On many occasions the Prophet relied upon the blessings of prayer as well as the verses of the Holy Quran to provide the “relief” from illness.
In the Musnad and Sunan from Abu Khuzaima: I asked the Messenger of Allah: ‘Do you consider incantations (recitation) to which we have recourse a suitable means of treatment? And are they useful in protection (against disease)? Do they turn back anything in Allah’s decree? He replied: ‘They are a part of Allah’s decree.
The integrality of the health of the whole person: spiritual, psychological, physical and moral- is the essence of the message of Prophetic Medicine.
