Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is, was and always will be a perfect role model. It is our mistake to think that his guidance was not for all times and places. In all areas of life, his advice and guidance was accurate, timeless and hugely effective. Certainly this is reflected in his knowledge of medicine.
The Medicine of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is a neglected yet very important aspect of our religion. The early Muslims gave this topic area huge thought and investigation, and as a result they advanced in medicine infinitely more than other civilisations at the time. The likes of Imam al-Bukhari and Imam al-Tirmidhi included separate chapters on Kitab al-Tibb (the book of medicine) in their revered compilations of hadith.
Implicitly this indicates that in the same way it is important to learn how to do Wudu, perform Salah and Hajj from the Messenger, importance should also be attached to taking our medicine from him too.
a. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
There are two gifts of which many men are cheated – good health and free
time (Sahih al-Bukhari)
b. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
Whoever wakes in the morning with a healthy body, and a self that is sound,
and whose provision is assured, he is like the one who possesses the whole
world (Sunan al-Tirmidhi).
c. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
Ask Allah for forgiveness and health. After certainty of faith, nothing better is
given to man than good health (al-Nasa’i).
In a hadith reported by Imam Muslim, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) instructed us that when a domestic animal drinks or licks a bowl, then it should be washed three times with water. However, he made an exception with a dog. If a dig licks from a bowl, then it should be washed seven times and it must also
be rubbed with earth/soil.
Recently, a group of Muslim scientists in the Middle East conducted experiments to explore this instruction from the Final Messenger. Their extensive tests showed that with animals like cats, the bowl became free from germs and bacteria when it washed thrice with water.
However, they established that with a dog, cleaning the bowl with water alone did not rid it of germs. Rather they found that the germs and
bacteria multiplied. It was only by rubbing it with earth that the bowl was totally free from impurities. The scientific explanation was that the virus from dog saliva is very small and soft.
The smaller the size of microbes, the more effective it will be in sticking to the side of a container. Dog saliva contains viruses that are shaped like a ribbon. In this case, soil plays an important role as an absorber of the microbes and viruses that are contained in the vessel. Soil is an effective element that can kill harmful germs.
When left outside, a corpse spread disease quickly. When buried, the effects are neutralised. This is because the soil fights and controls the germs.
Al-Qadi Iyad reports in al-Shifa that Habib ibn Fudayk’s father suffered from blindness in old age. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) blew in his eyes. His eyesight returned. Habib reports that he saw his father insert a thread into a needle at the age of eighty.
During the battle of Uhud, Qatada (may Allah be pleased with him) was hit in the eye with an arrow. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) placed his blessed saliva on the affected area and placed the eye back in its socket. His sight returned and in fact it became the stronger and more illuminating of the two (Mu’jizat al-Rasul, Mustafa Murad. p. 50).
Along with practicing the medicine of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), we should also have faith in it. Only then will it cure us. Abu Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: ‘Truly my brother’s stomach is upset.’ The Prophet replied; ‘Make him have some honey.’ So the man’s brother went away. He re-appeared some time later and said: ‘I have given it him to eat, but he is not any better.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave him the same advice to give him some honey. The same thing happened twice more. On both the third and fourth occasion, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Allah is the truth and the belly of your brother has lied!’ So the man gave his brother honey to consume once again and he was finally cured (Sahih al-Bukhari).
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