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In Islam, prophetic medicine (Arabic : الطب النبوي, ‘al-Tibb al-nabawī) is the advice given by the prophet Muhammad ( peace be upon him ) with regards to sickness, treatment and hygiene as found in the hadith. It includes remedy recipes, by which the Prophet, peace be upon him, was cured or he called people to be cured by. Furthermore, it includes recommendations relevant to human health in the conditions of life, including eating, drinking, housing, and marriage. It comprehends legislations related to medication, medicine in practicing the profession, and the guarantee of the patient in the perspective of Islamic Law. Prophetic medicine is distinct from Islamic medicine, which is a broader category encompassing a variety of medical practices rooted in Greek natural philosophy. The literature of prophetic medicine thus occupies a symbolic role in the elucidation of Islamic identity as constituted by a particular set of relationships to science, medicine, technology and nature. Ibn Al Qayyim, may Allah be merciful with him, in his book Zad Al Ma’ad Fe Haday Khair Al Abad, said: “The medicine of the Messenger, peace be upon him, is not similar to the medicine of physicians. The medicine of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is certain, categorical, and godly medicine; issued by the Revelation, Prophethood niche, and sagacity; while the medicine of others is inductive, assumptive, and experimental.”
It is important to note that medieval interpretations of the hadith were produced in a Galenic medical context, while modern-day versions of prophetic medicine treatments may include recent research findings to frame the importance of the genre. In the hadith, prophet Muhammad ( peace be upon him ) recommended the use of honey and hijama (wet cupping) for healing and had generally opposed the use of cauterization for causing “pain and menace to a patient”. Other items with beneficial effects attributed to prophet Muhammad ( peace be upon him ), and standard features on traditional medicine in the Islamicate world, include olive oil; dates; miswak as a necessity for oral health and Nigella sativa or “black seed” or “black cumin” and its oils. These items are still sold in Islamic centers or sellers of other Islamic goods.
Prophet Muhammad’s ( peace be upon him ) firm belief in the existence of a cause and a cure for every disease is described in many hadith along the lines of the below:
Make use of medical treatment, for Allah has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of one disease, namely death.
Ref— Abu Dawood, Sunan Abu Dawood
The Prophet said, “If a house fly falls in the drink of anyone of you, he should dip it (in the drink) and take it out, for one of its wings has a disease and the other has the cure for the disease.”
Ref— Muhammad al-Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari
This belief can be said to be a grounding philosophy of this otherwise loosely defined field, and is said to have encouraged early Muslims to engage in medical research and seek out cures for diseases known to them.