Q.1. Is it permissible to say a prayer in one’s own language, which is not Arabic, during obligatory or voluntary prayers, after reading the Fatihah and other portions of the Qur’an in Arabic?
Q.2. It is said that a mixture of camel’s milk and urine can cure some abdominal ailment. A friend of mine says that there is a Hadith to this effect. Please comment.
U.S. Sahil, Riyadh
A.1. When the Prophet was asked about prayer, he said: “This prayer of ours consists of glorifying God, remembering Him and reading from the Qur’an.” In fact when we follow the example set by the Prophet, as we are required to do in prayer, we will include enough supplication not to need anything else. But if we wish to add more in prayer, we may do so, using the forms taught to us by the Prophet or mentioned in the Qur’an.
Needless to say, people have different problems in which they need God’s help or intervention. They like to appeal to Him for help. People will always be able to express themselves in their own language. Even Arabs may prefer to use their own dialects rather than standard Arabic. In all this, it is better to say such supplication after one has finished prayer. Any supplication stands a better chance of being answered when it is preceded by an act of worship, such as prayer, or reading the Qur’an, etc. Therefore, if you leave such supplication till you have finished your prayer, it will be much better, God willing.
A.2. There was a case at the time of the Prophet when some people came to Madinah and they were suffering from an infectious disease. The Prophet instructed them to go to the area where camels that were allocated for charity grazed, and to drink from their milk and their urine. They did so, and they were cured. However, before they left, they killed the shepherd who tended the camels.
Once I was traveling with a widely read medical doctor, and I asked him about this Hadith.
He mentioned to me a particular disease which could be cured by drinking camel’s urine, which is, incidentally, not impure in the religious sense, because camels’ flesh is permissible to eat. Why should we be surprised that urine which includes a concentration of acids should be useful in the treatment of some illness?
Arab News Islam 4 April 2003