Cupping continued
As for cupping, Ibn Majah narrated in his Sunan that the Messenger of Allah b said:
"During the night of Israa' (the overnight journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and then to the heavens), every company (of angels) that I passed by would say, 'O Muhammad! Order your nation to use cupping."
In addition, in the Sahihan it is narrated that the Prophet ate once had his blood cupped (medically) and paid the person who applied the cupping.
Further, in tne Sahihan it is narrated:
Abu Taybah cupped Allah's Messenger b who then ordered that Abu Taybah be paid one So" (a measure pertaining to food) of dates and ordered his masters to reduce his tax (as he was a slave and had to pay a tax to them). The Prophet a§ then said:
"Cupping is among your best remedies."
The benefits of cupping include cleansing the exterior parts of the body more than puncturing the veins, or puncturing the veins, is better when used to extract blood from the internal parts of the body. Cupping entails removing blood from the various parts of the skin.
Using either cupping or puncturing the veins depends on the time of year, the area, the age and state of the ailing person. For instance, cupping is more beneficial than puncturing the veins in warm areas, warm weather and hot-tempered people, whose blood is near maturity (concerning the septic substances in the blood). In this case, the septic, maturing blood will collect near the skin. Cupping extracts the septic blood more efficiently than puncturing the veins. This is why using cupping for children and those who cannot bear puncturing the veins is better and more useful.
Doctors affirm that cupping is better used in warm areas than puncturing the veins and that cupping 1s preferred in the middle of the month or soon after,
especially in the last quarter in the month. In the beginning of the month, the blood will have already become irritated (thus carrying septic materials that need to be cupped). In the end of the month, the blood will be idle, unlike the case in the middle and last quarter of the month when the blood is agitated and sufficiently produced.
The author of Al-Qanun said, 'Cupping is not preferred in the beginning of the month, because the body's various conditions will not be agitated then, nor is it preferred in the end of the moath, because by then the conditions would have decreased. Cupping is preferred in the middle of the month when the substances (of the constitution, or condition) accumulate and become agitated." It was reported that the Prophet b said:
"Cupping and puncturing the veins are your best remedies."
This Hadith is directed at the people of Hijaz and warm areas in general, for their blood is delicate and circulates closer to the surface of the skin, while the pores on their skin are wide and their strength weakened (i.e., during summer). Puncturing the veins is harmful for them. Puncturing of each of the veins usually has a special benefit. For instance, puncturing of the basilica vein (the large vein running on the inner side of the upper arm) is useful against the reat of the liver and spleen and various
blood-related tumors in these two organs. It is In addition useful for tumors of the lungs (emphysema), arterial pulsation, pleurisy and all blood-related diseases of veins in the lower part of the knee to the hip. Further, puncturing of the median vein helps against the various swellings that appear throughout the entire body, especially when the swelling is blood-related, and contains spoiled blood in general. In addition, puncturing of the arm's vein helps against the ailments in the head and neck that result from excessive amounts of blood or from septic blood. Puncturing of the jugular vein helps against the ailments of the spleen, asthma, thoracic cavity and forehead pain.
Cupping the upper section of the back helps against the aches of the shoulder and the throat. Further, cupping the two jugular veins helps against the ailments of the head, face, teeth, ears, eyes, nose and throat, if these ailments were caused by excessive presence of blood, soiled blood or both.
Anas said:
"The Messenger of Allah used to apply cupping on the two jugular veins and the upper part of the back." [Abu Dawood, At-Termezey, Ibn Majah, Ahmad and Al- Hakim].
"The Messenger of Allah b used to apply cupping
on three areas, his upper back area and the two jugular veins." [Al-Bokhary and Moslem].
It is In addition narrated in the Sahih that the Prophet b used cupping on his head when he was in a state of Thram (for Hajj or omrah) due to a headache.
In addition, Abu Dawood narrated that Jabir said that the Prophet s& used cupping on his hip because of a debilitation he suticred from.