|
The Prophet  used medicine himself and prescribed medicine for his family and Companions (excerpt from Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet)
Yet, the type of medicines that the Prophet and his companions used to take was nothing like the chemical mixtures that are called "Aqrabathayn (Pharmacopoeia)". Rather, the majority of their medicine consisted only of one ingredient. Sometimes, they would take another substance to assist the medicine or make it taste better. This was, and still is the case with most of the medicine used bny many cultures such as Arabs, Turks, Indians and nomads. The Romans and the Greeks, on the other hand, used a mixture of substances or remedies in their mixtures.
...Prophetic medicine has a divine element to it. This element makes comparing Prophetic medicine to the medicines offered by regular doctors similar to comparing the medicine offered by doctors to folk medicine. The best medical authorities agree to this fact, since the science that they excel in is a result of comparisons, experimentation, inspiration, visions, and hypothesis. Some of them state that their knowledge is acquired through through the animal kingdom, for example they observe cats swallowing a venomous creature and then observe it lick the oil in the lamp, thus neutralizing the effect of the venom. They also observe a snake that has something wrong with its eyes. The snake then wipes its eyes on fennel leaves and cures its condition...
This type of knowledge cannot be compared to revelation from Allah to His Messenger and which informs him of what is good for him and what is not. Comparing scientific knowledge to revelation is like comparing the rest od the sciences to what the Prophet has been sent with. In fact, the Prophets provide us with a kind of medicine that the doctors can barely understand or reach by their experimentation, hypothesis or theories. The Prophets deliver remedies that cure the heart from whatever attacks it. These Prophetic remedies strengthen the heart and increase the reliance and dependence on Allah. It also aids in seeking refuge, being humble and showing meekness before Him. It also includes repenting to Allah, seeking His forgiveness, practicing kindness towards His creation and aiding those in desperate need and those who have suffered a calamity. These cures have been tried by various nations who have indeed found them to carry the cure doctors can never prescribe on their own, whether by experimentation of scientific observations.
|
