050315L - PROPHETIC MEDICINE, Tibb Nabawi

Lecture to 3^rd year Pharmacy students at Kuantan 15^th March 2005 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule, Sr.

Tibb Nabawi refers to words and actions of the Prophet with a bearing on disease, treatment of disease, and care of patients. Thus also included are words of the prophet on medical matters, medical treatment practiced by others on the prophet, medical treatments practiced by the prophet on himself and others, medical treatments observed by the prophet with no objections, medical procedures that the prophet heard or knew about and did not prohibit, or medical practices that were so common that the prophet could not have failed to know about them. 

Tibb nabawi is not one monolithic or systematic medical system. It is varied and circumstantial. It covers preventive[1], curative[2], and spiritual[3] approaches to disease. It integrates mind and body, matter and spirit.

Tibb nabawi is in essence a result of Islamization of pre-Islamic Arabian medicine in Hejaz. Tibb nabawi has several sources: revelation, wahy (Qur’an[4] and sunnat[5]), empirical experience of the prophet, folk medicine of that time in the Arabian peninsular, and medical knowledge of other communities that could have been known in Makka or Madina at the time of the prophet.

The spiritual remedies as well as general guidelines on preventive medicine in tibb nabawi are applicable to all places, all times, and all circumstances. The specific physical remedies of tibb nabawi were specific for place, population, and time but could be generalized after empirical research.

Tibb Nabawi is part of the open and flexible part of the shari’at: The flexible part has general principles from the Law-giver but the practical applications are open to the human effort of ijtihad. These applications will of necessity vary by place and time. Thus the general principles of tibb nabawi are applicable at all times and places but the specific remedies do change with change of time and place based on the level of scientific knowledge and technological caoabilities.

The scope of tibb nabawi is not inclusive of all branches of medicine. Tibb Nabawi as reported to us did not cover every conceivable disease at the time of the Prophet neither can it cover all ailments today or in the future in various parts of the world.  This is easy to understand from the context that although the Prophet practiced medicine, his primary mission was not medicine and he was not a full-time physician. The hadiths of the Prophet should not be looked at as a textbook of medicine.  They should be used for the diseases that they dealt with.  The proper way to get additional medical knowledge is through research and looking for signs of Allah in the universe[6].

Tibb nabawi is valid, effective, and useful. Whatever the Prophet said or did was true because he never uttered any untruth[7]. There are however considerations that prevent us from direct and automatic application of remedies of tibb nabawi to contemporary conditions. If the diagnosis of a disease and all the circumstances surrounding it are exactly like those at the time of the Prophet, then we have no hesitation in saying tibb nabawi should be used. In reality changes (in disease pathology, in the genetic pool of the patients, in the genetic pool of the medicinal plants, in weather and climatic conditions, and in meanings terms referring to diseases or treatment modalities) preclude automatic application of remedies as reported in the hadith. We can therefore conclude that the teachings of tibb nabawi can only be a foundation to guide and encourage scientific research for remedies that are suitable for our times.

Over the past 20 years scientific research has been undertaken on 2 remedies of tibb nabawi: the black seed (nigella sativa) and honey. Motivation for medical research is found in both the Qur’an[8] and sunnat[9]. Studies of nigella sativa (animal laboratory and clinical on in humans) have investigated its chemical and pharmacological properties[10]. Studies have also been undertaken on the following effects of nigella sativa: anti-pyretic[11], analgesic[12], cardiovascular[13], neurologic[14], reproductive[15], respiratory[16], hematological[17], allergic[18], Immunologic[19], anti- inflammatory[20], metabolic[21], diuretic[22] anti-microbial[23], anti-fungal[24]  and anti-helminthic[25]. It has been found to play a role in protection of tissues against toxic damage as well as repair and healing of injured tissue[26]. It also has anti-neoplastic[27] and anti-oxidant activity[28]. Studies have also demonstrated low toxicity of nigella sativa[29] which explains its popularity and widespread use over many centuries and in many countries.

Research on honey has covered the following aspects.

This intense research activity testifies to what we said above that tibb nabawi is dynamic and can grow and its remedies should be subjected to modern research for best effect.

We can conclude from the discussions above that tibb nabawi is a valid medical system whose general principles are eternal but whose practical remedies need to be subjected to research in order to know how best to use them in the modern era. Tibb nabawi is part of a wide spectrum of medical systems that fulfil Islamic criteria. It is not valid to confine the term Islamic medicine to tibb nabawi standing in isolation.

FOOTNOTE

1 Most of tibb nabawi is preventive medicine which is a very advanced concept given the level of scientific knowledge at the prophet's time and certainly must have been divinely inspired. Some of the preventive measures taught by the Prophet were: dietary guidelines, physical exercise, quarantine for epidemics, hijr sihhi, forbidding urination in stagnant water, use of tooth stick, siwaak, precautions in the house at night against accidental fire and pests, leaving a country because of its water and climate, marriage and mental health, marriage and sexual health, dietary control to avoid excesses, cleanliness and avoiding filth.

2 Ibn Qayim al Jawziyat in his book al tibb al nabawi listed many diseases with their recommended treatments. Some diseases in tibb nabawi are treatable by natural remedies for example fever, humma;  bowel movements, istitlaq al batan; dropsy, istisqa; wounds, jarh; epilepsy, sar’a; sciatica, ‘irq al nisa; temperaments, tabau’; skin itch, hakk al jism; pleurisy, dhaat al janb;  headache and hemicrania, sidau and shaqiiqat; inflammation of the throat, ‘adhrat;  enlargement of the heart, al maf’uud; ophthalmia, al ramad; catalepsy, khudran al kulli; pimples, bathrat; skin eruptions, awraam;  food poisoning, sum;  witchcraft, sihr; and head lice. He also mentioned other diseases with their diverse treatments like plague, leprosy, eye diseases, throat and tonsils, diarrhea, abdominal disease, fever, plague, snake bite, scorpion bite, food contamination by a fly, headache, nose bleeds, teeth, cough, dropsy, sprain, fracture, bite by rabid dog, and the evil eye. He mentioned several general medical treatments like honey, al 'asal; cold water for fever, al mau al barid; diet, ghadha; milk, al laban; camel milk; and camel urine. The black seed, al habba al sauda, was especially emphasized. Among surgical treatments mentioned were cupping, al hijaam; cauterization, al kayy; and venesection with cauterization, qatiu al uruuq wa al kayy.

3 Study of tibb nabawi reveals that there are spiritual aspects of healing and recovery. Salat, dua, tilawat al Qur’an, and dhikr, and dhikr play a central role. Psychosomatic diseases could respond to spiritual approaches. The use of ruqyat falls between physical curative and spiritual cures. The physical curative part of ruqyat can be understood in modern terms in the way the psyche can modulate immune mechanisms that protect against disease.

4 The Qur’an talks about physical ill health (2:196, 24:61, 48:17, 2:184-5, 4:43) and mental ill-health/diseases of the heart(10:57, 2:10, 74:31, 24:50, 22:53, 33:32). The Qur’an itself is a cure (17:82). It contains dua for good health as well as guidances on specific therapy such as honey (16:69), eating only hood halal food, avoiding unhealthy haram food (2:168, 2:172-173, 6:145-146, 16:114-115, 5:2, 5:4-5), and not in eating excessive amounts of food (7:31). Medical guidelines in the Qur’an are more appropriately related to general principles of a balanced life style that the Qur’an enunciated rather those specifics of medicine. Scientific explanations for Qu’ranic verses related to medicine (such as contagion, adwah; alcohol, creation, and saum) or establishing medicinal value of plants (zaitoon, tiin, dates, milk, and fruits) usually lacks scientific rigor or accuracy and has created more confusion than clarity. It can also mislead some people into thinking that they know the full reasons behind a certain Qur’anic injunction based on scientific medical evidence. Unless clearly stated in the Qur’an itself or by authentic sunnah, the reasons behind Qur’anic injunctions are unknowable to us with certainty.  All we can do is research and make Ijtihad, we could be right or wrong. We must have the humility to realize that we may not reach the whole truth and the scientific explanations that we propose may be wrong or may be only part of the explanation.

5 Hadith is the second source of tibb nabawi. The total number of hadiths on medicine is about 300; many do not reach the degree of hasan. Bukhari in his Sahih narrated 129 hadiths directly related to medicine. He devoted two books to medicine: kitaab al tibb and kitaab al mardhah. There are many other hadiths in Bukhari indirectly related to medicine. Other books of hadith also narrate more hadiths with relevance to medicine. Hadiths on physical remedies are either wahy or based on empirical experience. In most cases we cannot distinguish between the two types unless there is a specific indication that wahy is involved such as in the hadith of using honey in treating an abdominal ailment of a brother of a companion.

6 (2:164, 3:190, 10:5-6, 30:20-27, 39:59, 51:20-23)

7 The ijtihad of the prophet even in worldly matters was protected, ma'suum. The Qur'an and hadith have records of divine intervention to comment on the prophet's ijtihad on worldly matters such his advice on some aspects of agriculture that he later withdrew. Thus the record of authentic hadith that we have is valid whether in 'aqidat or worldly matters.  The attempt to distinguish between the medical teachings of the prophet-messenger and as a human living in Arabia at a particular historical epoch is not easy and is of no practical significance. As part of respect for the Prophet we follow him even in human matters that were not within the direct purview of wahy because he was a human model of perfect behavior.

8 The Qur’an is not a textbook of medicine but is a book of moral guidance. It contains basic principles and and guidance on medical matters leaving the room open for humans to undertake research and fill in the details.

9 The Prophet enunciated a basic principle in medicine that for every disease there is cure (ma anzala allahu daa; illa anzala lahu shifa'a- Kitaab al Tibb, al Bukhari).  This is an impetus for us to look for remedies. Thus the prophetic medical tradition does not stop at only the medical teachings of the prophet but goes beyond to encourage humans to search and experiment with new treatment modalities. This implies among other things that prophetic medicine is not static. There is room for growth and even breaking new ground.

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