# The Prophetic Medicine

> A source-faithful reading edition of The Prophetic Medicine by Ibn Qay’em El-Jozeyah, translated by ABD EL-QADER the son of ABD EL-AZEEZ (2003 source edition).

This is an unproofread OCR transcription, not a verified edition. Arabic quotations, diacritics, religious symbols, numbers, and some English words may contain recognition errors. Verify exact quotations against the original PDF. Do not silently correct, paraphrase, or present uncertain text as verified.

This is historical source material, not medical advice or an endorsement of its remedies. Cite the book and printed page number when referencing a passage. PDF page numbers are printed page numbers + 1. Section headings and page labels below are navigation metadata; the passages retain the reader’s transcription and original order.

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[Section index](/llms.txt)

## The Letter Seen

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The Letter Seen 1. Senna

We mentioned Senna before and stated that it is In addition called Sanut. There are seven opinions regarding what the word Senna means.

Senna is said to mean honey, the thick juice that appears on the surface of the butter and which looks like black stripes, cumin like seeds, Persian cumin, dill, dried dates or fennel.

2. Safarjal (Quince)

Quince is cold and dry, constipates and benefits the stomach. Sweet quince is cold and dry and is somewhat mild. Sour quince constipates more than sweet

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quince and is colder and drier. All types of Safarjal quench the thirst, stop vomiting, help produce urine and constipate. Safarjal In addition helps against stomach ulcers, hemoptysis (spitting up blood), diarrhea and nausea. Safarjal In addition prevents the ascending of gaseous material when one eats it after the meal. In addition, the ashes of washed Safarjal leaves and stems are similar to zinc in benefit.

Consuming Safarjal before the meal constipates, while consuming it after the meals softens the stool and helps the digestion process. Eating excessive amounts of Safarjal harms the nerves and causes painful constipation. Safarjal helps extinguish the yellow bile ot the stomach.

When the quince is broiled, it will become softer and milder. When one removes the pips of. the quince, stuffs them with honey, dips them in a paste and then broil them under hot ashes, they will become very beneficial.

The best way to eat the quince is broiled or cooked in honey. The seeds of Safarjal In addition help against dryness in the throat, the windpipe and several other ailments. Its oil stops sweating and strengthens the stomach. Safarjal jam In addition strengthens the stomach and the liver and relieves the heart and the soul.

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3. Siwak

In the Sahihain it is narrated that the Prophet b said:

"If it was not for the fact that my nation would not be able to bear it, I would have ordered them to use Siwak before every prayer."

In addition, in the Sahihain it is narrated that:

"Whenever the Prophet as would wake up at night, he would clean his mouth with Siwak."

AI-Kukhari In addition narrated that he Prophet b said:

"Siwak cleans the mouth and pleases the Lord." Further, Muslim r.arrated that:

"Whenever the Prophet b would enter his house, he would first use the Siwak."

There are many other Ahadith on this subject.

An authentic Hadith In addition stated that just before he died, the Prophet b used the Siwak The Prophet b said:

I have troubled you by frequently stressing using

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the Siwak." The best type of Siwak is made from Arak trees. Further, one should not use an unknown tree for Siwak for it might be poisonous. In addition, Siwak should be used moderately, because it might cause the coating of the teeth to wear away and thus the teeth will be susceptible to the hot vapors or gasses that ascend from the stomach and to all kinds of dirt. When the Siwak is used moderately, it will polish the teeth, strengthen the roots of the teeth, help the tongue, prevent plaque, perfume the breath, clear the mind and strengthen the appetite.

The best way to use the Swak is by soaking it in rose water. In addition, the best type of Siwak is made from walnut stems. The author of At-Taysir said, "It was said that when one uses the Siwak once every five days, it will clear the head, sharpen the senses and alert the mind."

Siwak 1s beneficial for many reasons, such as perfuming the breath, strengthening the gingiva, clearing the phlegm and the sight and preventing cavities. It In addition preserves the health of the stomach, clears the voice, helps the digestion process, helps make the speech clear and encourages one to recite the Qura'an, remember Allah and pray. Siwak In addition fights sleepiness, pleases the Lord, delights the angels and increases the number of the good deeds.

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Siwak 1s preferred at any time, especially before the prayer, ablution, when waking up and when the mouth emits foul odor. It is In addition preferred for those who are fasting and all other people at all times. There are Ahadith that allow this practice for those who are fasting, because it is beneficial for them and pleases the Lord. Pleasing the Lord when one is fasting is even more desired than at other times. In addition the Siwak cleans the mouth, and cleanliness for the fasting person is one of his best deeds.

In the Sunan it is narrated that 'Amir bin RabT'ah said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah b on numerous occasion using the Siwak when he was fasting."

Al-Bukhari In addition said that Ibn 'Umar said that the Prophet sg used the Siwak at the two ends of the day.

There is a consensus that the fasting person rinses his mouth while performing ablution, and rinsing the mouth is an obligation or a more preferred act than using the Siwak. In addition, Allah does not have a use for the people to worship him while their mouths are emitting foul odor, nor is it an act of worship. When the Prophet mentioned that the odor that the mouth of the fasting person emits is better in His Sight than the scent of Musk, he meant to encourage the practice of fasting, not the

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practice of allowing the mouth to emit foul odor. Hence, the fasting person needs the Siwak more than anyone else. In addition, Allah's Pleasure is much better than His preferring the odor that the mouth of the fasting person emits.

Further, Allah prefers using the Siwak more than for the odor that comes out of the mouth of the fasting person to remain.

In addition, using Siwak does not prevent the good scent that Allah creates in the fasting person's mouth on the Day of Resurrection. Rather, the mouth of the fasting person will smell better than Musk on the Day of Resurrection as a sign of his observing the Fast, even if the Siwak removed the odor that used to come from his mouth. Similarly, whoever suffers a wound [for the sake of Allah] in this life is commanded to remove the blood from his body in this life, but his wound would still have the color of blood on the Day of Resurrection.

Furthermore, the Siwak does not completely remove the odor of the mouth for the fasting person because its reason still remains, that is, the stomach being empty of food. Only the effect of this fact will be lessened from the teeth and gums.

The Prophet b taught his nation the preferred and the disliked acts of the Fast. He did not mention the Siwak

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among the disliked acts although he knew they were using it. Rather, he encouraged them in general to use the Siwak and they saw him using it himself at innumerable times, knowing that they would imitate him. Never did he discourage them from using the Siwak in the afternoon (when they are fasting). It is a fact that the Prophet "g is required to offer the religious ruling when it is needed.

4. Somn (Shortening)

There is a weak Hadith that narrates that the Prophet as encouraged the Muslim to drink cow milk, because it is a remedy and because the butter of that milk is a cure, while stating that cow meat is an ailment, The chain of narrators for this Hadith is not authentic.

Somn is hot and wet in the first degree, it is mild, and helps eliminaie the various tumors that attack the soft parts of the body. Somn is stronger than butter as a maturing agent, Galinus said that he used shortening to cure the tumors that occur in the ear and the tip of the nose. In addition, when the base of the teeth is anointed with shortening, the teeth will emerge faster.

When shortening is blended with honey and bitter almonds, it will clear the chest and the lungs and will dissipate various ailments; Shortening is harmful for the stomach, especially if the person has a mucus condition.

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When the shortening made of cow and goat milk is mixed with honey, it helps against toxic materials and snake and scorpion stings. Ibn As-Sunni mentioned that 'Ali said that the people never use a better remedy than shortening.

5. Samok (Fish)

Imam Ahmad and Ibn Majah narrated that 'Abdullah Ibn 'Umar said that the Prophet b said:

"We were allowed two dead animals and two bloods: fish and locust, and liver and spleen."

There are many kinds offish, the best of which is the most delicious, the best scented, moderate in size, which has fine scales, the softest meat, which live in fresh water that flows on pebbles and which eat plants and not organic waste. The best areas for the fish to live are those with the freshest water that runs through rocks, then the areas that have sandy ground void of filth or wastes and which are mildly calm and exposed to the sun and wind,

Sea fish are In addition soft and delicious. The meat of sea fish that has soft skin is cold and wet, difficult to digest and produces excessive amounts of phlegm, but In addition produce acceptable temperament, increase semen production and fertility and suit hot conditions.

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The best kind of salted fish is the most recently salted. Salted fish is hot and dry, and the older they get the hotter and drier they become. Silurid (similar to catfish) is very viscous, and the Jews do not eat this type of fish. Yet, soft Silurid meat softens the stomach, and when it is salted, kept and then eaten, it will clear the windpipe and make the voice finer. When it is ground and used as an external ointment, it will extract the wastes that accumulate inside the body, as it has the quality of extracting such substances,

Sitting in_ the salty water of Silurid relives the effects of newly formed ulcers and extracts the harmful substances to the surface. Salty water of Silurid In addition relieves sciatic nerve ailment when one is injected with it.

The best part of fish meat is closer to the tail, and the soft and fatty fish meat produces fatness and flesh.

In the Sahihain it 1s In addition narrated that Jabir bin Abdullah said, "The Prophet b sent us with three hundred riders under the leadership of Abu 'Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah. We went by the seashore and were soon very hungry until we ate tree leaves. The sea then threw out a whale that is called 'Anbar. We ate from it for a half a month and In addition used its fat in our food. Abu Ubaidah then took a rib of the fish and asked a man to

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ride on his camel and then pass under the rib, which he easily did."

6. Silgh (Chard)

At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud narrated that Um: Al-Munthir said, "The Messenger of Allah b came by along with Ali when he was still recovering from an illness. Then, we had some hanging clusters of dates. The Messenger of Allah b started eating from it, and he (Ali) joined him. The Messenger of Allah b then said to him:

"You are still recuperating, until 'Ali stopped eating.' I then made some barley with chard and brought it to them. The Prophet b said, to 'Ali 'Eat from this: this more beneficial for you.'"

Silgh is hot and dry in the first degree and has a soothing coofness in it. Chard In addition decomposes and opens the clogs. The black chard constipates and helps against alopecia (A skin disease characterized by loss of hair, partial or total), spots, dandruff and warts if its water is used as ointment. It In addition kills lice and is used as ointment when blended with honey to cure herpes. Silgh In addition opens the clogs in the liver and spleen.

The black chard constipates as we have stated, especially when taken with lentils, both of which are not suitable for the stomach. However, white chard with

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lentils softens the stomach and is used as a laxative and is used to treat hemiplegia (Paralysis affecting only one side of the body), when blended with food aliments and condiments. Yet, it is not nutritious, produces harmful mixtures and burns the blood. Eating it with vinegar and mustard helps neutralize these side effects. Finally, eating it excessively causes constipation and flatulence.