TIBB-AN-NABAWI:
The Primary Arabic Medical
Literature in Islam
Once the guidelines in respect of human health and biological significance
of good and Halal food were highlighted by the Qur'an, the Divine Revelation,
they served as the basis of Muslim thinking in medical
sciences. The Holy Prophet of Islam inspired the believers through the Qur'anic
verses and his saying (reported by Anas) that the entire humanity was like
a family of Allah, and the most beloved and esteemed man in the eyes of Allah
was one who best served His family with devotion, magnified the imagination
of the believers, inculcating in them the spirit of selfless service to mankind.
Neither did they discriminate against patients on the grounds of race, religion
or colour, (because mankind as a whole was the family of the Creator) nor
spared an iota of energy in healing them and making researches for the cure
of various kinds of illnesses and physical infirmities.
Tibb-an-Nabawi or Prophetic Medicine, is a part of all the books (collections)
on Hadith. The medical treatment of ancient Arabia was inherited by the Muslim
community which was based mostly on the hot climatic conditions of the desert
area and suited to the temperament of the people. The Prophet made changes
slowly and gradually and prescribed better alternatives. He was the doctor
of the soul and the body at the same time. Although he was not a physician
in the literal sense as we understand it but in his wisdom he made medical
services a sacred duty of man. He asked patients not to ignore medical treatment,
which was obligatory on every sick person. Usama b. Sharik relates that once
when he was in the company of the Prophet and the Bedoins came to ask him
whether there was any sin if they neglected medical treatment, the Prophet
replied that as there was no illness without a cure and since Allah created
a cure for all disease, except the cure for old age, it was incumbent on
the believers to remedy disease through medical treatment. Both Bukhari and
Muslim narrate the same Hadith through Hadrat Jabir. The Hadith is a clear
indication that there is also a cure for cancer, although medical science
has not yet reached the stage of curing every type of it.
There was hardly any branch of medical treatment in ancient Arabia, which
the Prophet did not treat. Believers would come to him for both Spiritual
as well as for physical health and the Prophet himself treated them, including
surgery. The Prophet also laid stress on psychic treatment through visiting
the patients and putting hands on their foreheads and praying for them. He
himself practiced it and asked the believers to do the same. The Hadith has
been regarded by Imam Bukhari as Fard-al-Kifaya (collective obligation).
The well known Hadith that cure lay in the Holy Qur'an and honey also belong
to the same category. The former is a Cure for the ailing soul while the
latter cures the physical sickness. Salat (Prayer) has also been described
by the Prophet as a Cure and a healing.
The Prophet laid great stress on medical training and warned the untrained
not to embark on medical treatment. If the patient suffers at the hands of
the ill-trained doctors or dies-or any part of his body is harmed, the doctor
according to the Hadith has to pay the penalty (Diya). The Prophet has given
guidance for the treatment of fever and surgery etc. Hygienic rules, injurious
foods, eating and drinking habits, which keep the health steady, have also
not been ignored. The stomach was described by him as the basic machinery
for the human body. Diseases attack man only when the stomach is sick.
The ancient world believed in mythical treatment, such as sorcery, witchcraft,
talismanship, spells, incantations, amulets, folk medicine, or magic charms
etc., and Arabia was no exception to them. Since Islam had to bring reform
in every walk of life, the medical field also received the deserved attention
of the Prophet and later, of the Muslim thinkers. The Holy Prophet emancipated
the Arabian mind from mythical beliefs slowly and gradually. Since Tawhid
(Unity of Allah) was the axis of Islamic belief-system and life-style the
medical field had also to be affected by the same system. The Prophet taught
the believers that Cure comes from Allah and not from any other source, such
as witchcraft, magic or charms etc. This teaching had its impact on the believers.
Once 'Abd-Allah b. Mas ud saw an amulet (Ta'widh) around the neck of his
wife Zainab, he snatched it and threw it away. The Prophet endorsed the act
and said such treatment amounted to polytheism (Shirk).
A special study of Tibb-an-Nabawi (The Medicine of the Prophet) is needed
by our doctors in order to interpret it in modern scientific terminology
and analyze it both in religion-philosophical as well as in medical terms.
Many aspects of prophetic teaching seem to be merely religious, but the fact
is that the essence of medical theory stems from the Divine Source. The human
or religio-philosophical aspect of the medical science is quite evident from
the sayings of the Prophet who metaphorically regarded the children of Adam
as a family of Allah. Cleanliness (immunity from infection), the foundation
of modern medical theories, has been regarded by the Prophet as a part of
faith (Iman). Such expressions need medical interpretation for they are both
religious and clinical in nature.
