IsmailaGodHasHeard
Well-Known Member
I admire the Arabs for all that they have done in the various fields of science.
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Medicine of the Prophet
- Thread starter Peace
- Start date
Mr Spinkles
Mr
Hello Peace,
Do you really believe that when Karfas (celery) is hung under the neck, it relieves toothaches? Do you have any evidence to support this claim?
I don't know about this Shah Faisal Institute of Hadith and Medical Sciences in India. If it is anything like the Shah Faisal institutes in Saudi Arabia I would be very skeptical. I am not an expert in medical science, but I do have some expertise in biological physics and I can tell you that Saudi Arabia is producing some absolute nonsense in this field. They are obsessed with things such as mixing camel's urine with gold nanoparticles, why? Because camel's urine was mentioned in the Hadith, and gold nanoparticles are systems of great scientific interest at the moment, with possible medical applications. So they just mixed the two. Then they claim, based on zero evidence, that it has miraculous healing properties. Don't believe everything that comes from a fancy-sounding "scientific" institute associated with the Saudis, or anything you read in the Riyadh Times, let me tell you.
It's really sad to see this nonsense because I have met brilliant, hard-working science students from India, Iran, and other countries, and I know they can do great science. I have seen physics students wearing headscarves and I know they are Muslim and I know they can be great scientists. And I know that those countries need to do great science if they are going to compete internationally and raise their standard of living.
But let me tell you, those countries will not be able to compete, in my opinion, if they do not foster a culture of science in which conclusions are based on *data*, and only on *data*; not based on whatever they find in ancient scriptures. The good science students from India, Iran, etc. who understand that science must be objective, and who will not simply claim things to support whatever they find in the Hadith -- they are not going to go back to their own countries to do research if the scientific culture is like that, which is a shame.
Do you really believe that when Karfas (celery) is hung under the neck, it relieves toothaches? Do you have any evidence to support this claim?
I don't know about this Shah Faisal Institute of Hadith and Medical Sciences in India. If it is anything like the Shah Faisal institutes in Saudi Arabia I would be very skeptical. I am not an expert in medical science, but I do have some expertise in biological physics and I can tell you that Saudi Arabia is producing some absolute nonsense in this field. They are obsessed with things such as mixing camel's urine with gold nanoparticles, why? Because camel's urine was mentioned in the Hadith, and gold nanoparticles are systems of great scientific interest at the moment, with possible medical applications. So they just mixed the two. Then they claim, based on zero evidence, that it has miraculous healing properties. Don't believe everything that comes from a fancy-sounding "scientific" institute associated with the Saudis, or anything you read in the Riyadh Times, let me tell you.
It's really sad to see this nonsense because I have met brilliant, hard-working science students from India, Iran, and other countries, and I know they can do great science. I have seen physics students wearing headscarves and I know they are Muslim and I know they can be great scientists. And I know that those countries need to do great science if they are going to compete internationally and raise their standard of living.
But let me tell you, those countries will not be able to compete, in my opinion, if they do not foster a culture of science in which conclusions are based on *data*, and only on *data*; not based on whatever they find in ancient scriptures. The good science students from India, Iran, etc. who understand that science must be objective, and who will not simply claim things to support whatever they find in the Hadith -- they are not going to go back to their own countries to do research if the scientific culture is like that, which is a shame.
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Celery and its seeds have been used traditionally to relieve pain. Now, some use it as a natural reliever of gout. I think there are some studies that show it contain an anti-inflammatory substance, in addition to its diuretic effect.
Actually, I don't know if celery is mentioned in a Hadith (Peace's post don't contain any)...or it was used traditionally during the author's time. This is not clear.
Is this somehow relevant to Peace's posts? :sarcastic
Mr Spinkles
Mr
But specifically, celery hung around the neck affects toothaches? I asked about this because it seems to be a particularly implausible claim among Peace's posts, as there is not even an obvious physical mechanism that would allow this to work.
I just hope people will be very skeptical of the claims of "traditional" or "alternative" or "natural" medicine. We have this in the West, but it's usually dressed up in New Age, or Hindu, or Native American terms. Peace seems to be describing the same basic "alternative medicine" movement, only it is dressed up in Islamic terms. My caution to people reading this thread is this: if something has not been accepted by mainstream medicine, that is because it has not been rigorously tested and shown to work (if it had been, it would no longer be "alternative" or "natural"). I don't think 90% of Peace's claims have been substantiated by mainstream medicine.
Perhaps not .... Peace cited the Shah Faisal Institute as a source for his claims, I suppose I went off on a tangent.
I have no idea.
The title of the thread is clear, isn't it?
True that alternative medicine is a highly controversial subject and I couldn't care less but this doesn't mean evidence based medicine doesn't recognize the health benefits in honey, olive oil, and other some fruits/plants/herbs.
To me as a Muslim, I can see the Hadith of the Prophet in that regard (after evaluating its authenticity) as a direction to certain creatures of God and we have a responsibility to discover and test their potential benefits, its safety, etc, based on the scientific method.
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Peace
Quran & Sunnah
Old and natural prescriptions are always useful and beneficial nowadays 
A genre of medical writing intended as an alternative to the exclusively Greek-based medical systems derived from Galen was that called at-tibb an-nabawi or "Prophetic Medicine." The authors were clerics, rather than physicians, who advocated traditional medicine as mentioned in the Qur'an and as practiced during the life of Prophet Muhammad. It concerned the medical ideas assimilated from Hellenistic society, thereby producing a guide to medical therapy acceptable to the religious.
Therapy consisted of diet and simple medications (particularly honey), bloodletting and cauterization, but no surgery. Topics covered included fevers, leprosy, plague, poisonous bites, protection from night-flying insects, protection against the evil eye, rules for coitus eruptus, theories of embryology, proper conduct of physicians, and treatment of minor illnesses such as headaches, nosebleeds, cough and colic. It was prohibited to drink wine or use soporific drugs as medicaments.
The treatises also provided numerous prayers and pious invocations to be used by the devout patient, with the occasional amulet and talisman, as they were particularly popular between the 13th and 15th centuries. Some are still available today in modern prints.
In contrast to many writers on this topic, the historian and theologian adh-Dhahabi, who died in 1348 (748 H), keenly attempted to combine the traditional medicine of Arabia and the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad with the ideas and terminology from the Greek-based system. He frequently cited Hippocrates and Galen as well as medieval Islamic physicians.
On the other hand, the popular treatise by the religious scholar Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti, who died in 1505 (911 H), was based almost exclusively upon what was known of medical practices during the time of the Prophet. It was derived from the Qur'an, traditions of the Prophet known as Hadith, and the practices of the early Muslim community.
Although a considerable number of Prophetic Medicine treatises were written, we do not have the name of any medical practitioner known for practicing this type of medicine.
The reason for this, of course, may well be that our written sources are for the most part skewed towards the Greek-based system and have omitted details of other practices.
The treatises on Prophetic Medicine appear to have been addressed to the same audience as the Islamic tracts on the plague. Both types of writings were especially popular in the 13th and 14th centuries, and later.
The plague tracts have as their primary focus the collection and interpretation of various hadith that were considered relevant to the concept of infection and the appropriate social reaction to contagious diseases.
They also attempted to offer some medical explanations and remedies for the plague, and sometimes a historical documentation of the plague up to that time.
They, like the treatises on Prophetic Medicine, were mainly written by religious scholars, although a few were composed by writers trained both as physicians and theologians.
Most Commonly Documented Prophetic Remedies
Read more...
Prophetic Medicine:
An Old Prescription for a New Era
An Old Prescription for a New Era
A genre of medical writing intended as an alternative to the exclusively Greek-based medical systems derived from Galen was that called at-tibb an-nabawi or "Prophetic Medicine." The authors were clerics, rather than physicians, who advocated traditional medicine as mentioned in the Qur'an and as practiced during the life of Prophet Muhammad. It concerned the medical ideas assimilated from Hellenistic society, thereby producing a guide to medical therapy acceptable to the religious.
Therapy consisted of diet and simple medications (particularly honey), bloodletting and cauterization, but no surgery. Topics covered included fevers, leprosy, plague, poisonous bites, protection from night-flying insects, protection against the evil eye, rules for coitus eruptus, theories of embryology, proper conduct of physicians, and treatment of minor illnesses such as headaches, nosebleeds, cough and colic. It was prohibited to drink wine or use soporific drugs as medicaments.
The treatises also provided numerous prayers and pious invocations to be used by the devout patient, with the occasional amulet and talisman, as they were particularly popular between the 13th and 15th centuries. Some are still available today in modern prints.
In contrast to many writers on this topic, the historian and theologian adh-Dhahabi, who died in 1348 (748 H), keenly attempted to combine the traditional medicine of Arabia and the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad with the ideas and terminology from the Greek-based system. He frequently cited Hippocrates and Galen as well as medieval Islamic physicians.
On the other hand, the popular treatise by the religious scholar Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti, who died in 1505 (911 H), was based almost exclusively upon what was known of medical practices during the time of the Prophet. It was derived from the Qur'an, traditions of the Prophet known as Hadith, and the practices of the early Muslim community.
Although a considerable number of Prophetic Medicine treatises were written, we do not have the name of any medical practitioner known for practicing this type of medicine.
The reason for this, of course, may well be that our written sources are for the most part skewed towards the Greek-based system and have omitted details of other practices.
The treatises on Prophetic Medicine appear to have been addressed to the same audience as the Islamic tracts on the plague. Both types of writings were especially popular in the 13th and 14th centuries, and later.
The plague tracts have as their primary focus the collection and interpretation of various hadith that were considered relevant to the concept of infection and the appropriate social reaction to contagious diseases.
They also attempted to offer some medical explanations and remedies for the plague, and sometimes a historical documentation of the plague up to that time.
They, like the treatises on Prophetic Medicine, were mainly written by religious scholars, although a few were composed by writers trained both as physicians and theologians.
Most Commonly Documented Prophetic Remedies
Read more...