IS MEDICINE OF THE PROPHET (AL-TIBB AL-NABAWI)
BASED ON DIVINE REVELATION OR IJTIHAD?[1]
By Dr. Nurdeen Deuraseh[1]
If we assume, for the purpose of argument, that the medical healing of Prophet (s.a.w) referred mainly to the advice and the actions and tacit approval of the Prophet (s.a.w) with regard to medicine including preventive, preserving and curative medicine of mind, spirit and body as well as surgical treatment, now, can we regard all or some of his medicine are divine and could be used today.? In other words, do all or some of the sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) about medicine were as a result of revelation from Allah (s.w.t) or just his ijtihad and experiences?. After pondering the question, Ibn Ahmad al-Ayni (762-855 A.H/1361-1452 C.E) and Ibn Hajr al-`Asqalani (773-852 A.H/1372-1449 C.E) asserted two major views. The first view argued that the medical science was transmitted by revelation. The other was of the opinion that it was based on ijtihad and customarily practices of ancient peoples. In the following pages we shall discuss them briefly. In doing so, we are fully aware that we are not discussing the origin of medicine, either revelation or observation, by studying the view of ancient culture and civilization but we are searching for the evidences from the ahadith of the Prophet (s.a.w).[2]
IT WAS BASED ON IJTIHAD OF THE PROPHET (S.A.W) AND CUSTOMARY PRACTICE OF ANCIENT PEOPLE
It seems that the attempt to distinguish between Prophet’s medical teachings, which were revealed by Allah (s.w.t) and his medical teaching in his capacity as a human being living in Arabia at a particular historical period is not easy. It is common for the scholars who said that medicine of the Prophet was not part of the divine revelation but it was the result of the Prophet’s ijtihad and experience supported their argument by quoting the hadith in Sahih Bukhari saying “ma anzala Allah Da’ illa anzala lahu shifa, which means there is no disease that Allah has created except that He also has created its treatment.[3] In other version, the Prophet said: inna Allah lam yanzil da` illa lahu shifa’ fatadawu (there is no disease that Allah has created except that He also has created its treatment, so seek treatment).” Clearly, the hadith stressed not only that every disease has a treatment and humankind are encouraged to seek treatment but also the fact that the search of medical treatment does not stop at only by collection of medical teachings of the Prophet (s.a.w) made by Muhaddithin and others but goes beyond to what has been discovered by the researchers at all time. This implies among other things that medicine of the Prophet is not static which is only based on the collection of ahadith, which some of them were revealed, but on the other hands, there is room for development and growth. Therefore, the personal experience of the Prophet (s.a.w) had also came from some medical knowledge of other communities including Arab and non-Arab. This reveals to us that part of medicine in the time of Prophet known as al-tibb al-nabawi is also based on his ijtihad and personal experience through Arab and non-Arab medicine and culture.
If we accept the above, thus it is true to say that al-tibb al-nabawi did not cover every possible treatment of disease at the time of Prophet (s.a.w). Neither can it cover all ailments today or in the future in the various parts of the world. That is why the Prophet had said: fatadawu (seek treatment!) which implies that the proper way to get proper knowledge of treatment is through research and looking for signs of Allah (s.w.t) in the universe. In order to make sure that the Muslim may acquire enough medical experience through seeking knowledge and not waiting the inspiration, the Prophet (s.a.w) had encouraged Muslims to seek medical science wherever one could find it and similarly a patient was advised to consult a qualified physician. The patient was instructed to seek relief and healing from any physical or mental ailment by means of medical assistance and treatment, and not only by putting one’s trust in God’s power and mercy. It was regrettable, even though the Prophet (s.a.w) strongly encouraged Muslims to seek medical knowledge wherever one could find it, however, as far as the historical sources which are available to us today are concerned, only a few of the Prophet’s companions went to Jundishabur medical school in Persia, where the families of Bukhtishu` produced eminent physicians, pharmacists, and medical translators. We were been told by historian of medicine, Ibn Abi Usaybi`ah that Harith b. Kaladah, an early Arab physician who belonged to the Prophetic period, had received regular education in medicine at Jundishabur medical school in Persia.[4] That is why the Prophet (s.a.w) used to ask the sick people during his time to consult Harith b. Kaladah.
Again the Prophet (s.a.w) reminded us that: “if an issue concerns worldly affairs, you may have more knowledge than myself. If it is concerned with religious affairs, I know more (than you).”[5] Since the science of medicine is worldly affairs, therefore, we understood that the medicine of the Prophet was also based on the result of experience. It implies that what people know on how to preserve health and on how to treat a disease, if they fall ill, and what are the relevant verses of the Qur’an for healing of a particular disease, are actually acquired by experiences rather than by revelation.[6] This means that although the Prophet (s.a.w) practiced medicine but we have to understand that his main mission was not to teach the worldly affairs i.e., medicine because his knowledge of the worldly affairs as other common human beings is very limited. In his Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun (732-808 A.H/1332-1406 C.E) clearly states:
Civilized Bedouins have a kind of medicine which is mainly based on experience restricted to a few patients only, and which they have inherited from their tribal leaders and old women. In some cases it is correct, but it is not founded on natural laws, nor is it tested against (scientific accounts) natural constitution (of peoples). Now the Arabs had a great deal of this type of Medicine before the advent of Islam and there were among them well known doctors like al-Harith ibn Kaladah and others. Their Medicine that has been transmitted in the Islamic religious works (as opposed to those works which were considered scientific works) belong to this genre. It is definitely no part of divine revelation (to the Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w) but was something customarily practiced by the Arabs. This type of Medicine thus is included in his biographies, just as are other multitudinous of matters of sociological importance like the natural life and customs of the Arabs, but forms no part of religion of Islam to be practiced in the same way.[7]
It is clear from the above quotation that the medicine mentioned in religious tradition is based on ijtihad and experience rather than revelation. Furthermore, in order to prove that medicine of the Prophet is not purely based on revelation rather than experience and observation, many Muslim scholars quoted hadith of the Prophet (s.a.w) narrated by Judamah binti Wahb al-Asadiyyah (sister of ‘Ukkashah) who said: “I was among others in the Prophet’s audience when he said: “I almost prohibited al-ghila[8] but then I considered the Romans and the Persians and found that pregnant mothers suckle their children without ill effects.”[9] From this it is clear according to the hadith, that the Prophet (s.a.w) knew the medical aspect of having sexual intercourse with pregnant wife from foreigners like al-Rum and Persia that were considered as the most developed and civilized countries in medical science of the time. With these concerns in mind, the Prophet (s.a.w) kept his desire and willingness to keep alongside of the knowledge of developed countries especially if something related to medical health and care. He learnt that al-ghilah was prevalent in those countries without any adverse effect on health. So, when the Prophet learnt that the pregnant mothers suckle their children without ill effects, he, therefore, did not make any unnecessary restriction for the husband. On the other hand, the Prophet permitted the Muslim to have sexual intercourse with their pregnant wife.
Summing up from the above discussion, we can say that medicine of the Prophet, as other rational disciplines, is not static but it could grow and develop according to the time and circumstance, which needs experience and new knowledge so that it could develop. This kind of medicine is called by Ibn Hajr “the knowledge which is based on al-`fikr wa nazar.” [10]
The other school of thought was of the opinion that the medicine of the Prophet was mainly based on divine revelation. This idea has its root in Fath al-Bari of Ibn Hajr, who mentioned that al-Tibb al-Qalb (spiritual medicine) is the second kind of medicine. According to Ibn Hajr, it is primarily based on what has been transmitted from the Prophet as inspired by Allah (s.a.w). So that everything would come through inspiration and revelation, should be considered as divine, and therefore, no alteration and change are needed. This conclusion was essentially in accordance with the Qur’anic verse: “We reveal of the Qur’an what is healing and merciful for the believers,”[11] Similarly, in regard to the hadith of the Prophet (s.a.w), Ibn Majah reported a Prophetic tradition as related by `Ali b. Abi Talib (May God bless his soul) that Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w) once said: “The best medicine is the Qur’an.”[12]
If we accept the theory according to which al-Qur’an is al-Shafi (the Healer) and ahadith of the Prophet is not only considered as the original source of Islamic law, from which the principles of Islam are drawn, but also the source of medical science, then we must accept the fact that the science of medicine was also transmitted from one generation to other generations. Therefore, those who believed that medicine was inspired by God must also believe that the medicine of the Prophet (al-tibb al-nabawi) is divine medicine. They argued that an exalted art, that is medicine, could not have been perceived by the intellect of man, but by God who is the Creator of all. This belief was accepted by many Muslim medical authorities and historians such as al-Qifti (d. 645 A.H/1248 C.E) and Sa`id al-Andalusi as well as by religious scholars including al-Ghazali. In the introduction to his Tarikh al-Hukama, al-Qifti believed that the art of medicine was originally revealed through the Prophet Idris (identified with Enoch).[13] If this idea is accepted, then the essential outline of the philosophical tradition of Islamic healing was illuminated by revelation.
Some Shi‘ah believe that medicine is not based on scientific experiment, but rests only on the authority of tradition. Al-Shaykh al-Mufid (d. 413/1023), one of the foremost Twelve Shi‘ite theologians and religious authorities, is of the opinion that the science of medicine is correct and its knowledge is attested through revelation. Scholars learned this from the Prophet. For this reason, there is no way to have the knowledge of diseases, except on the basis of traditional authority, and there is no way to have knowledge of a cure except through divine assistance. It seems, the acquisition to learn medicine is acquired through listening from one who knows hidden things. This belief was very common in medieval Islam that all arts and cultures were first revealed to Prophets or discovered through intuition.[14]
Lastly, they, the scholars who were of the opinion that medicine of the Prophet (s.a.w) was mainly based on divine revelation, also argued that since the primary sources of Islamic law (Shari`ah) are the Quran and the ahadith of the Prophet (s.a.w), therefore, the ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) regardless what subject matters they are, should be considered as divine. Unlawful method of healing i.e., healing by magic, was inspired by God rather than through experience and observation. The medical knowledge that Islam strongly against the practice of pre-Islamic Arabs who used to treat their patients by al-sihr (magic) and also by offering unlawful sacrifices to the idols around the Ka`bah, in the belief that these sacrifices and idols would bring about the cure of a disease or a protection against a disease, are known through revelation rather than through experience or observation.[15]
The above discussion leads us to understand that the medicine of the Prophet (al-Tibb al-Nabawi), in real sense, is not only referred to whatever medical treatments, prescriptions of diseases, prevention, health promotion and spiritual aspects that recommended by Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) to his companions, and what does not come from the Prophet (s.a.w) is not considered as medicine of the Prophet. This is because the medicine of Prophet as other medical sciences is so broad, meaning that, it does not only refer to what had been said and practiced in the time of Prophet but it reaches and includes as it does into every field of human medical research, activity and thought at all time. To do so, one should know the problem and cause of certain cases, then, he should try to solve it by consulting ahadith of Prophet (s.a.w) relating to medicine as well as ancient and contemporary medical books. Summing up from this, we can say that medicine of Prophet, as other rational disciplines, is not static but it could grow and develop according to the time and circumstance, which needs experience and new knowledge so that it could develop. This kind of medicine is called by Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani “the knowledge which is based on al-`fikr wa nazar.”
[1] This article is part of chapter one of my “Health and Medicine in the Light of the Book of Medicine (Kitab al-Tibb) in Sahih Bukhari”. It was prepared while I was a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) from March until June 2004. I would like to express my deepest thank and recognition to the Director of OCIS, Dr. F.A Nizami for giving me the golden opportunity to conduct my research at the University of Oxford as well as for the funding that I received for my research from the Centre. Similarly, I wish to express my gratitude to the Vice Chancellor, the Dean of Faculty of Human Ecology and the Head of the Department of Government and Civilization Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, for their moral support, encouragement and understanding. Currently, the author is a lecturer in the Department of Government and Civilization Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, University Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
[2] Hadith (its plural is ahadith), according to Muhaddithin, is divided into three parts: al-qawliyah, the traditions which are statements and sayings of the Prophet; the second is al-fi‘liyah that is the traditions that is derived from the deeds of the holy Prophet, and third, al-taqririyyah (the traditions of the tacit approval), is taken from the Prophet’s silence or tacit approval regarding deeds which had occurred with his knowledge. The collections of ahadith were officially began with Umayyad Caliph ‘Umar Ibn Abdul `Aziz (d. 101/720)’s instruction, for the first time to Abu Bakr b. Muhammad b. Amr b. Hazm, al-Zuhri and others to collect ahadith of Prophet (s.a.w). al-Zuhri was the first who recorded them. Later, in the third century of Hijrah, scholars of hadith devoted their life and energy in shifting the hadÏth examining the narrators and ensuring their authenticity for preserving the ahadith of Prophet (s.a.w). From the middle until the end of third century, there was a serious collection of ahadith. These collections were well-known with the successful compiled six textual collections of the ahadith namely of Imam BukharÏ (d. 256/ 870), Imam Muslim (d. 261/875), Abu Daud (d. 275/888), al-Tirmidhi (d. 279/892), al-Nisa’i (d. 303/915), Ibn Majah (d. 273/886) etc. (For details, see M.M. Azami, Studies in Early Hadith Literature (Indiana: American Trust Publications, 1978); M. Hamidullah, Early Compilation of Hadith, Islamic Review, May, 1949).
[3]Imam Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Kitab al-Tibb, bab Ma Anzala Allah Da’ illa anzala lahu shifa.
[4] For detail, see S.K. Hamarneh, Tarikh Turath al-`Ulum al-Tibiyyah `ind al-‘Arab wa al-Muslimin (Amman: The National Press, 1986), 109-122; Encyclopaedia of Islam, new ed., “tibb” by F. Klein-Franke, X: 452.
[5] Muslim, Sahih Muslim, kitab al-Manaqib, hadith no. 2363.
[6] It had often been said that the science of medicine emerged as a result of man’s reason with the culmination of efforts of people from one generation to another and from one country to another, some are known to us and others not. They argued that man has the ability to apply analogy to objects he sees. This view is reasonable in the sense that, the experimenters and researchers are capable of interpreting the events by referring to the method of enema (huqnah, insertion of a liquid into the body). In this event, the bird used to fill its beaks with sea water and insert it into itself through the beak. Based on this event, man was able to create certain medical instrument. Another event occurred at the beginning of human life when the practice of burying the dead was not known. When a man was pondering over this problem, a fortunate incident helped him to find the answer in a significant act in which a raven was able to bury its dead through inspiration. Al-Biruni made a chart listing the names of physicians that began with Asclepious I, Gurus, Mimos, Parmenides, Plato, Asclepious II, Hippocrtaes and Galen. All these physicians and practitioners helped to bring great progress to the science of medicine. They introduced the laws to preserve the science of medicine to the following generations. However, little is known about these physicians, with the exception of Hippocrates and Galen. Chiefly because their instructions were taught orally to their offspring and not by means of books until Hippocrates, who was afraid that medicine might disappear, composed this art in the book form. (see, al-Biruni, Risalah al-Biruni fi Fihrsit kutub al-Razi, ed. Mehdi Mohaghegh (Tehran: Tehran University, 1973).
[7] Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah Ibn Khaldun, 3 vols., ed. `Ali `Abd al-Wahid Wafi (Cairo: Dar Nahdah Misr li al-Tab` wa al-Nashr), 1142-4 {trans. Franz Rosenthal,The Muqaddimah,, 3 vols. (New York: Princeton University Press, 1958), 3: 150-151}.
[8] Al-Ghila is the act of sexual intercourse with a woman in lactation.
[9] Muslim, Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Nikah, Bab Jawaz al-Ghilah wahiya wat’ al-Mardi‘ wa karahah al-`azl.
[10] Ibn Hajr, Fath al-Bari Sahrh Sahih al-Bukhari, 13 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-kutub al-`ilmiyyah, 1989), 10: 165. Henceforth cited as FB.
[11] Al-Isra’(17): 82. The term shifa’ which occurs in many verses of the Holy Qur’an is one of the names of the Holy Qur’an. It means, “that which heals”, “the restore of health”. Significantly, the shifa’ or healing encompasses spiritual, intellectual, psychological and physical health. On the other hand, illness and diseases are frequently mentioned in the Qur’an; for example, see Hanna E. Kassim, A Concordance of the Qur`an (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983), s.v. “ghawl,” “marid,” “marida,” “marad” and “saqim.”
[12] Ibn Majah, Sunan Ibn Majah, fi al-Tibb, Bab al-Istishfa’ bi al-Qur’an, hadith no 3501.
[13] Cf. al-Dhahabi, al-Tibb al-Nabawi (Istanbul: Hakikat Kitabevi, 1990), 125-126; Osman Bakr, Tawhid and Science (Kuala Lumpur: Secretariat for Islamic Philosophy and Science, 1991), 108.
[14] Ibna Bastam, Tibb al-A’immah (Beirut: Dar al-Rasul al-Akram, 1994), 16-17. Cf. Al-Sayyid `Abd Allah Shibar, Tibb al-A’immah (Kuwait: Maktabah al-Alfayn, 1990), 25-34.
[15] Throughout human history, we found that belief in superstitions, in supernatural as well as depending on the position of the stars had been considered as the meant to know cause of illness. Sometime, amulets and magic formulae rank equally with herbs and materia medica. In this condition, it was reported that the Prophet (s.a.w) had forbidden magic and all talismans knowing that they contained certain words that contradicted the belief in the Oneness of God (tawhid), by supplicating spirits and other powers. In fact, Islam condemns al-sihr, black magic and those who practice it. The avoidance of the use of black magic and charms to cure the patient, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) gave new methods of treatment based on his strong belief in the efficiency of the revelations in providing true answers to all situations instead of the use of al-sihr, black magic. The solution that he offered to prevent physical and spiritual diseases was simple. He repeatedly advised that a Muslim has to show concern for his heart by saying: “Truly, in the body there is a morsel of flesh, and when it is corrupt the body is corrupt, and when it is sound the body is sound. Truly, it is the qalb (heart).” From here, it is clear that the heart is considered as the main cause, not only for spiritual diseases, but also for physical illnesses. Ibn Qayyim (d. 750 A.H/1350 C.E), in order to explain the role of heart in regards to spiritual and physical diseases, quotes the Qur’anic verse: “In their hearts is a disease, and Allah has increased their disease”; and “ O consorts of the Prophet ! Ye are not like any of the other women, if ye do fear (Allah), be not too complaisant of speech, least one in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire.” Ibn al-Qayyim interprets these verses as meaning that the diseases of the heart occur when there is suspicion and doubt about Allah (s.w.t). Thus, as for treating the heart, he advises that for the hearts to be righteous, it must know its Creator, the Creator’s names, the Creator’s Attributes and follow the commands of the Creator as there is no way of purifying the heart except by doing these. Another more affective measure for the preservation of the disease of the heart, is suggested by al-Ghazali (d. 504 A.H/1111 C.E). He explains, in his Ihya’ `Ulum al-Din, that each element of the body has been created to discharge a particular function, and when that part falls ill, its function is no longer able to perform its duty. The hand is sick when it can no longer strike, and the eye is sick when it can no longer see. Thus, it is with the heart, which falls ill when it becomes incapable of performing the activities properly for which it was created i.e., the acquisition of knowledge, wisdom, gnosis, worship and love of Allah (s.w.t), and taking delight in remembering Him, preferring these deeds to every other desire, and using all of one’s works for the sake of His remembrance.