Prophetic
Medicine
The Prophet’s Knowledge of
medicine
Our Mother Aisha gained knowledge of herbal medicine
through The Prophet and and also through visitors who
came to visit There were visitors who were versed in
Greek medicine (Unânî),Christian and Jewish medicine
some of their expertise having been passed down by
The Prophet Solomon.
However, the prophet himself gained his knowledge of
Medicine directly through the Quran
The first instance of Medicine The Prophets
Once Prophet Solomon was worshipping in his monastery
and the plants and trees suddenly began to speak,
explaining their purposes and their uses for man. The
plants also expounded on their medicinal properties that
cure man and his ailments and also the processes to
extract these cures.
The Prophet Solomon recorded their descriptions in this
miraculous event.
~Related from the Hadith scholars At Tabarânî, Ibn Hibbân and Al Hâkim
Does prophetic medicine exist
today?
Remnants of The Prophet’s Medicine and
the inheritance of foreign Medicine
Although there are narrations of the actual medicinal practices and
uses of the Prophet Muhammad himself, due to a various factors
there were not any scholars of highest calibre to deduce rules of
medicine that could apply to the countless illnesses, from them.
i.e. in Fiqh (Laws of Worship) The scholars took hundreds of
Quranic and hadeeth principles and applied them to thousands of
methods and cases (masâ’il)
As a result hadîth pertaining to Medicine existed but few valuable
commentaries were created causing the science to be lost.
Thereafter the Muslims inherited Greek, Jewish and Christian
methodologies of medicine
So the answer unfortunately to the
question is
No
Development of Medicine
 The Muslims inherited and developed Unânî Medicine (Greek
Medicine). We also acquired knowledge of medicine through
The Family of the Prophet (Ahl Al Bayt) and the Shia but there
is no conclusive proof that their medicine is directly from the
Prophet.
 Greek Medicine was translated towards the latter stages of
the Umayyad (Umawi) Caliphate to the early stages of the
Abbasid Caliphates (Abbasi Khalîfa)
 There are many great Muslim scholars who were scholars of
Greek Medicine but not prophetic medicine i.e. Farâbi,
Bayrûni, Ibn Sîna
Initial Material on Prophetic Medicine
(Tibb An Nabawi)
 At Tibb An Nabawi – The first Book on this subject published
on this subject. By Ali Ar Riddâh (a descent of the Prophet),
11th Imam of the Shi’a.
Died 203 After Hijra (AH) (818 CE). A small book quoting hadîth on
Prophetic medicine but without explanations. translated in
French, latin and Arabic.
 Tibb An Nabawi, Abd Al Malik bin Habeeb (Hubayb), d 238AH
(853 CE)
A Arabian Qurayshi Born in Andalusia, Spain
 Tibb An Nabawi, Al Hâfiż Ibn As Sinni (Abu Bakr Adaynûri) d
365AH
 Tibb An Nabawi, Abû Nu’aym al Aspahânî,. d 430AH. (818 CE).
Author of the famous Hilyatul Awliyâh, In the same age as Ibn
Explanations and Commentaries
on Prophetic Medicine
Initially most of those scholars that mentioned Prophet Medicine
were muhadithûn (Scholars of Prophetic Narrations) thus
have looked at the hadîth through a legal perspective,
essentially not commenting on the narrations
The first explanation came from the philosopher, herbalist
(hakîm) and linguist, Abdul Latîf al Bagdâdî, d 629AH (1231 CE)
(closer to the time of the great Polymath Ibn al Jawzî) 200 years
after Ibn Sîna passed away
The Famous notables of Islamic
Medicine
 Smallpox and measles, L. Rhazes/Muhammad Ibn Zakarîya
al Razi – died 240AH (925 CE)
 The Canon of Medicine (Al Qânûn) by Avicenna/Abu Ali Al
Husayn Ibn Sîna. d 428AH (1037 CE). Provally the most famous
 Simplification of Therapeutics and diet by Avenzoar/Abd Al
Mâlik Ibn Zuhr. d 557AH (1162 CE)
 Generalities in Medicine by Averroes/A.M Ibn Rushd d 595AH
(1198 CE)
 A commentary on the analysis of the cannon of Avicenna, by
Alî b n al Nafîs.
d 607AH (1288 CE)
note: the name after the ‘/’ indicates the given name of the author
Notables Islamic Scholars of the
middle era
 At Tibb An Nabawi by ibn Qayyim al Jawziyah – d 751AH(1350
CE)
Probably the most famous at present on this subject
 At Tibb An Nabawi of Imam Dhahabî, d 748 AH (1274 CE).
Ordered/stratified his work emulating the work of Avicenna called
Al Qanûn, so very comprehensive, teacher of the Polymath, Al
Jawzi
 At Tibb An Nabawi, Imam Suyûti d 911 AH (1505 CE)– Another
famous work. He also quotes from Ibn Al Nafîs and Avicenna
Types of medicine
There are two types of medicine at present;
 Allopathic – Linguistically meaning ‘different than the
disease’
This is to treat a illness with it’s opposite or that which is
different (especially concerning modern conventional
medicine which is allopathic)
 Homeopathic - To treat a disease with it’s likeness. That
the treatments must be able to produce symptoms that
are similar to those of the disease being treated
What type of medicine did The
Prophet use?
Prophetic Medicine used practised his own
medicine. (from the Qur’ân)
However he did demonstrate a mix of
medicines
An homeopath example of the
Prophet’s Medicine
The prophet came upon a young boy whom had been suffering
from in an inflammation of his throat and a person was
attempting to cure this condition through rubbing the uvula
(throat) area with a abrasive type of fabric wrapped around
the hand
He said in amazement;
‘Do not kill your children.
When your child suffers from throat inflammation (uhtraa)
or headache, use Costus/Indian Aloe (Qist al Ûd)
treated in freshwater and make the child sniff it’
This is a example of a hot disease being treated by a hot
medicine (here, of the third degree)
An Allopath example of the
Prophet’s Medicine
Towards the end of the life of the Prophet, he was affected with
fever and commented thus upon it’s cure;
‘Whosoever is amongst you is struck with fever, which is a
slice of hell-fire, let him extinguish it with cold water’
Reported by Rafi’ bin Khadij