The Fiqh of health, which incorporates the Islamic rulings that pertain to health and medicine, is one of the areas which require a genuine reformative approach in the full sense of the word. Most of the books and publications that tackle medical questions from an Islamic perspectives fall in two categories. The first speaks about certain methods of treatment recommended or tried by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The other type produces publications written by authors who claim to be able to treat some physical diseases, particularly chronic ones, with the Qur’an, specifying certain modes of recitation, memorization, frequent readings, etc.
This second type of publication has no relevance to either Islamic Fiqh or medicine. The Qur’an is by no means a medical book. Nor is it a book on any branch of human knowledge whatsoever. It is a book providing guidance for mankind, taking man by the hand to what ensures human happiness both in this life and in the life to come. This is assured through obeying the orders it contains and steering away from the prohibitions it specifies, learning the lessons it gives through its accounts of the history of past communities, and accepting what it explains of social laws. These either contribute to the progress and strength of communities or to their gradual weakness and decline. Hence, believers must follow the first type and avoid the second.
Certain verses describe the Qur’an itself as a “healing for what may be in (people’s) hearts”, (10: 57) or as a “healing and a mercy to those who believe.” (17: 82) Such descriptions are meant as a cure for spiritual illness, such as disbelief and the association of partners with God. The Qur’an helps to cure such illness by strengthening the elements of faith in people’s hearts and consolidating such faith through its regular recitation. The Qur’an also describes honey as a “cure for mankind”, but this is a description of a certain quality God has placed in a particular type of food. It is not a prescription of a medication. Mentioning this quality comes under reminding people of the favors God has given them. It is not meant as an indication of how to treat particular diseases.
The first type of publication mentioned above deals with what is commonly known as the Prophet’s guidance on medical treatment. “A number of Hadiths quote the Prophet as prescribing certain medicines for certain diseases. Scholars have given these statements due importance, treating them as part of the divine revelations and consequently as part of the religion of Islam. But we find that some of them reflect only what the Arabs at the time had, by experience, found useful. An example of these is the authentic Hadith: ‘If there is any good (or he might have said ‘cure’) in any of your medication then it will be in an incision to bleed, or in a drink of honey, or in cauterization, matching the illness (of which one complains). As for me, I do not like cauterization.’ Some of these are suitable in a particular environment, considering its climate, temperature and other factors, such as the desert environment of Arabia. They cannot be applied universally, as explained by Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim in Zaad Al-Ma’ad: ‘God’s messenger has been sent as a guide to mankind, calling on them to believe in God and follow the way which ensures their admittance to heaven. He has explained to people about God, and clearly pointed out what pleases Him, enjoining people to do it. He has also pointed out to them what incurs God’s displeasure emphasizing that they must refrain from it… As for medication for physical illnesses, this is complementary to his message. It is meant to serve a different purpose’.”
What is clear, then, is that both types of publication speaking about medicine from an Islamic point of view are of little use in delineating the Fiqh of health. This is an area which requires a great deal of effort so that we may have a good insight into it, and be able to contribute to it on the basis of contemporary knowledge. We should also write books that specialize in this area so that we may be able to uncover the valuable contributions made by our predecessors in this field, where we were world leaders for a considerable period of time. Our new contribution should follow in the footsteps of the great figures who were masters in both medical and Islamic knowledge.
I have often read with admiration Dr Khayat’s wonderful statement at the beginning of his dissertation, Health: an Islamic Perspective, as he says: “We have in our great reference books on Islamic jurisprudence gems of knowledge in the Fiqh of worship (ibadat), Fiqh of commercial transactions (muamalat), Fiqh of marriage (nikah) and Fiqh of prosecution (aqdiyah); but we have no chapter on the Fiqh of health. Its absence is not because it does not exist or is too difficult to find. In fact, it is available everywhere in these reference works. Perhaps it has come to be overlooked because of its immediate availability. It is sometimes said that very close proximity hides an object like a screen.”
The Prophet’s guidance underlines a number of highly important rules in both illness treatment and health protection. These are the twin areas of medicine. “Doctors of former and present times agree that there are two types of medicine: preservation of the health of those who are healthy, and restoration of health to the sick through medication and rehabilitation.”
In the curative aspect of health, the Prophet approves the principle of medical treatment and encourages us to seek it. In an authentic Hadith, he is quoted as saying: “Seek medical treatment. God has not placed a disease (on earth) without placing a cure for it.” In another Hadith, the Prophet says: “Yes, servants of God! Seek medical treatment.”
Al-Bukhari relates on the authority of Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet says: “God has not created a disease without creating a cure for it.” Thus, he raises the hopes of patients, making clear that all diseases that affect man may be cured. The Prophet also opens the doors of scientific research so that doctors who may not yet know an effective treatment of certain diseases to pursue their efforts in quest of such cures. Perhaps they are the ones addressed by the Prophet’s statement: “Every disease has a cure. If treatment is administered with the right cure, the patient will recover by God’s grace.” In a different version the Prophet is quoted as saying: “God has not created a disease without creating a cure for it, which may be known to some and unknown to others.”
We will continue this discussion of the Islamic perspective of health and medical treatment next week, God willing.