Natural Healing with the

Medicine of the Prophet

By Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya
Translation and Emendation
by Shaykh Muhammad Al-Akili
Publisher: Pearl Publishing House
© 1996-2005 Pearl Publishing House

Part I

Traditional Medicine
We say, and Allah is the helper Who provides the means and controls the actions,
that there are two types of illnesses stated in the holy Qur’an: 1. Illness of the hearts
and, 2. Illness of the body. As for the illness of the heart, it comprises two types, the
first is suspicion and doubt, and the second desire, allurement and sin. In that
regard, Allah, the glorious and magnificent, says: ? Their hearts are sick, and Allah
has caused their sickness to intensify ¤ (Qur’an 2:10). He also says: ? Those whose
hearts are sick and the unbelievers say: What does God mean with this parable?¤
(Qur’an 74:31) He, the most magnificent then says concerning those who refuse to
accept the criterion of the Qur’an and the prophetic traditions: ? When they are
invited to Allah and to His Messenger to judge between them, a group of them will
object, though if they were right, they would walk to him flagrantly. Are they sick at
heart or do they have doubt, or do they fear that Allah and His Messenger will
defraud them? Nay, but such are the unjust ones ¤ (Qur’an 24:48).
This is the sickness of doubt and suspicion. As for the sickness of desire, allurement
and wantonness, this is the sin of adultery. Admonishing the believers, Allah, the
magnificent and most exalted, addresses the wives of His Prophet h who had to
serve and attend the needs of the ever growing number of people visiting and
soliciting the advice of His Prophet h, saying: ? O ye consort of the Prophet, you are
not like any other women if you heed with piety. Therefore, be not too complaisant of
speech lest someone whose heart is sick should be moved with desire ¤ (Qur’an
33:32).
As for the illness of the body, Allah, the magnificent and most exalted, says: ? A
blind person is not subject to blame, nor is the lame or the sick ¤ (Qur’an 48:17).
He, the Almighty Lord, also mentions physical illness, the health advantages
embodied in the pilgrimage, fasting, and the hygienic properties of taking ablution,
besides other benefits, to illustrate the practical as well as spiritual wealth that is
hidden in the glorious Qur’an for those who read it, act upon it and fathom its
mysteries. This will help one to satisfy his utmost needs by pursuing the divine
guidance. Such guidance in physical wellness is better defined in pursuing three
avenues including: preventive medicine, abstaining from what is harmful and
cleansing the body and flushing out pernicious toxins. God Almighty mentions these
three principles in the verse of ‘fasting’ saying: ? Fasting is prescribed for a fixed
number of days; however, if any of you is ill or traveling, then the prescribed number
of days should be made up on later days ¤ (Qur’an 2:184). Thus, He otherwise
permitted the sick to postpone his fast until he recovers from his illness, and for the
traveler to temporarily delay the prescribed fast to preserve his strength, because of
the strain and movement involved in travel. As for the verse of ‘pilgrimage’, He
says: ? If any of you is ill or has an ailment in his scalp (necessitating shaving, he
should) in compensation either fast, or feed the poor, or offer sacrifice ¤ (Qur’an
2:196). Here again, God Almighty gives permission for a sick person or someone
suffering from a serious itch, dandruff or lice, for example, or from other scalp
disease to compensate by shaving the head during the sacrament of Ihrãm, which is
otherwise not permitted, to eliminate harmful vapors that would congest over the
scalp, hindering the breathing of the pores and perhaps causing infection of follicles.
Once he shaves his head, the pores open and such vapors are emitted, allowing a
natural cleansing process. Thus, in interpreting Qur’anic verses, and as one may
understand from the divine explanations, they provide guidance in handling the
lesser illness to help treat the more serious illness, and therefore, a deductive
method called qiyãs is developed for purging harmful toxins and other congestions.
This method deals with ten areas of the human body when excited, including: the
blood when it boils, semen when it abounds, urine, feces, gas, vomit, sneeze, sleep,
hunger and thirst. Each one of these ten elements causes an illness when congested
and henceforth necessitates purgation.
As for the aspect of dietetic abstinence (himyah), the divine guidance provided in the
verse of ‘ablution’ says: ? If you are ill, or on a journey, or if one of you comes from
offices of nature, or if you have been in contact with women and find no water for
washing your whole body, then use a clean surface (sand or earth) and rub your
faces and hands with it, for God blots out sins and forgives again and again ¤
(Qur’an 4:43). In this case, God Almighty permitted a sick person to substitute
tayammum for the regular ablution and avoid the use of water when its external use
is harmful. Again, this guidance indicates the need for abstinence to alleviate
questionable health complications. In such a way, God Almighty instituted the basic
principles of medicinal remedies and their constitutions.
In this study, we will also introduce the medical guidance which is instituted by God’s
messenger h, upon whom be peace, and surely there is no better way to apply such
knowledge than through their guidance. As for the medicine of the hearts, it can only
be acquired through God’s prophets, upon all of whom be peace and blessings, and
to correct one’s heart and wash it from impurities one must recognize his Creator
and Cherisher, His divine Names and attributes, observe His actions, contemplate His
wisdom and adopt the criteria He instituted for His creation. Such hearts also must
beseech His blessings by consenting to what He commands and loves, and by
abstaining from what He forbids and abhors, and one’s heart will know no trueness
or experience true life otherwise. Such knowledge can only be learned from the
teachings of His messengers, upon all of whom be peace, and thinking otherwise will
be completely wrong and unfruitful. Therefore, should one think that he can do
oppositely, it means that he merely fosters the health and strength of his animal
mind, desire, lust, carnality and wantonness. His life will be meaningless and similar
to that of animals, while a true heart of piety is free from such base associations.
One who cannot discern the difference between these two types of hearts should cry
for his losses, for a true heart is alive, and a heart that is blinded with carnality is
dead, and a true heart is filled with light while a dead heart is submerged in the
abyss of darkness.
God’s Messenger h, indicated that there are two types of knowledge: (A) Knowledge
of religion, and (B) knowledge of the body. The medicine for the illness of the body is
also of two types: (1) one which, innate in both human and animal lives,
necessitates no diagnosis of a physician to attend to it, such as hunger, thirst, cold
and fatigue, and has its own natural remedies and antidotes; and (2) a second type
of illness which does require diagnosis and treatment, and affects one’s
temperaments and humors, whereby heat, cold, dryness or moisture in the body
exceed their natural balance, and the effects of combining any two of them
exacerbates discomfort. Such effects produce one of two types of illness, that is,
either somatical or collateral. Hence, for example, somatical illness manifests in the
form of agitation of the blood or spillage of an element, while the collateral illness
manifests as a result of such excess spillage and after the elimination of the original
causes. Thus, the illness-causing matters are expelled and the after effects remain to
influence one’s temperaments and humors.
A somatical disease carries its own stimulus that arouses further complications.
Hence, if the disease carries its own stimulus, one must first diagnose the cause,
then the effects, then find the medicine—that is recognizing the disease, then the
illness, then prescribing the cure. Somatic diseases manifest in the form of
physiological changes, such as a cavity in an organ, narrowing or expanding of ducts,
organ deformation (enlarged heart or small stomach for example), rough or soft
uterine-wall tissue, dislocated bones or displaced organs as well as other diseases.
When organs correlate and operate harmoniously, they form a healthy body, while if
they are abnormal, discordant or malfunctioning, they produce the synchronous
effects of an illness, some of which are organic and others relate to bodily
temperaments and humors.
Common diseases are the result of malfunction of the humors. This intemperament is
called ‘illness’. When its harm is felt, it manifests in eight areas: (1) four of them are
compound, and (2) the other four are primary. The latter can either be cold, hot,
moist or dry and they manifest at the site of the liver. The compound temperaments
manifest as hot and moist, cold and moist, hot and dry, and cold and dry. This is
caused with or without spillage of a component, and if the disease does not reach
further complications and produces mere discomfort, it indicates an unhealthy
balance of one’s body.
Thus, the human body sustains: (1) three natural healthy conditions, (2) one
abnormal condition, and (3) a mild condition. The natural healthy conditions
demonstrate the standard functions and constitution of the human body, otherwise,
one is sick, and the third condition known as mild identifies an in-between state that
is consented to and is treated by the person as tolerable, without the need for a
physician, by taking a simple pain reliever for example. Such an in-between state of
“not healthy” and “not sick” can only linger in the same category, for negative does
not become positive, but rather remains constant or invariable.
The cause of such body abnormality can either be internal or external. The internal
causes manifest because of the four humors: (1) hot, (2) cold, (3) moist, and (4)
dry, and as for the external causes, they manifest because of the nutrients one takes
in, and those can either be agreeable or disagreeable to the body. Thus, the harm or
illness that results thereafter produces such imbalance and discomfort, or could be
the result of malfunction of a specific organ, or a general malaise of the body, or
even weakness of the spirits that bear the body. This general condition is caused by:
(1) increase in passivity of what must be balanced when it does not compensate for
losses; or (2) by decrease of needed adjustment of balancing factors of the humors
when they do not compensate for saturation; or (3) by the hindering of agents that
are supposed to facilitate the flow of balancing factors; or (4) by the linking of
agents whose binding interferes with creating the correct balance; or (5) by the
acceleration of what should be moderate; or (6) by the deformation of molecules; or
(7) by the displacement of an organ. The experienced physician or hakim can identify
such disorders and either eliminate the causes that infringed upon the proper
constitution of a healthy body, or he maybe able to stabilize them and gradually, with
the proper treatment, deal with the disease by using the correct antidote. Hence, the
proper diet (himyah), moderating excess and abstinence prove to be the best cure as
we shall see later in this study of guidance in natural healing with Tibb medicine of
God’s Prophet (uwbp).

The name epilepsy in arabic is Sara’ its root is derived from the word Sara’a meaning to
knock down, strike down, or bring to the ground. This is the classic symptoms of epilepsy
and thus in Arabic its name was derived from.

Possesion by evil spirits or Jinn which requires exorcism for its cure, has the same classic
symptom and was called by the same name. Epilepsy in Arabic therefore is described as
being of two types, classic physical epilepsy or spiritual possession of Jinn.

Quran reference :

Chapter 23 : ayat 115

“Did not think that We (Allah) had created you in play (without any purpose), and that
you would not be brought back to us ?”

Sheikhs often recite Ayat Al Kursi, Surah An Naas & Surah Al Falaq as a means of
removing jinn or spirits from a person who has been possessed.
The person is possessed with jinn because they are weak in iman & do not have strength
in their ibadah so the jinn finds it easy to possess them and not those who are pious.