Definition: Tibb Nabawi refers to words and actions of the Prophet with a bearing on disease, treatment of disease, and care of patients. Thus also included are words of the prophet on medical matters, medical treatment practiced by others on the prophet, medical treatments practised by the prophet on himself and others, medical treatments observed by the prophet with no objections, medical procedures that the prophet heard or knew about and did not prohibit, or medical practices that were so common that the prophet could not have failed to know about them.  The prophet's medical teachings were specific for place, population, and time. They however also included general guidance on physical and mental health that are applicable to all places, all times, and all circumstances. Tibb nabawi is not one monolithic or systematic medical system as some people would want us to believe. It is varied and circumstantial. It covers preventive medicine, curative medicine, mental well-being, spiritual cures or ruqyah, medical and surgical treatments. It integrates mind and body, matter and spirit.

Search for cures: The Prophet enunciated a basic principle in medicine that for every disease there is cure. This is an impetus for us to look for remedies. Thus the prophetic medical tradition does not stop at only the medical teachings of the prophet but goes beyond to encourage humans to search and experiment with new treatment modalities. This implies among other things that prophetic medicine is not static. There is room for growth and even breaking new ground. Another implications of this hadith is that seeking treatment does not contradict qadar (pre-determination). Thus both the disease and its treatment are part of qadar.

SOURCES OF TIBB NABAWI

The Qur’an as a source of tibb nabawi. Many verses of the Qur’an relate to diseases of the body and the mind and their treatment.  The Qur’an talks about physical ill health and mental ill-health/diseases of the heart. The Qur’an contains dua for good health as well as guidance on specific therapy such as honey, eating only healthy halal food, avoiding unhealthy haram food and not eating in excessive amounts. The Qur’an is not a textbook of medicine but a book of moral guidance. It contains basic information and guidance on medical matters leaving the room open for humans to undertake research and fill in the details. Confining medicine to only the teachings in the Qur’an would make it very limited because the Qur’an is very selective in coverage of details leaving the field open to humans to observe, search for an understand Allah’s signs on earth, aayaat al llaah fi al ardh.

Hadith as a source of tibb nabawi: The following were the forms of the prophet’s medical teachings: words of the prophet on medical matters, medical treatment practiced by others on the prophet, medical treatments observed the prophet with no objections, medical procedures that the prophet heard/knew about and did not prohibit. The total number of hadiths on medicine is about 300; many do not reach the degree of hasan. Bukhari in his Sahih narrated 129 hadiths directly related to medicine. He devoted two books to medicine: kitaab al tibb and kitaab al mardha. There are many other hadiths in Bukhari indirectly related to medicine. Other books of hadith also narrate more hadiths with relevance to medicine. Scholars have collected these hadiths together and some have related them to available medical knowledge. Hadiths on physical remedies are either wahy or based on empirical experience. In most cases we cannot distinguish between the two sources unless there is a specific indication that wahy is involved such as in the hadith of using honey in treating an abdominal ailment of a brother of a companion. Thus hadiths that are not specifically wahy are not binding, ghair mulzimat. However all hadiths on spiritual cures of disease are wahy and are binding, mulzimat

CLASSIFICATION OF TIBB NABAWI:

Preventive tibb nabawi: The classification of traditions relating to medicine depends on the state of knowledge and changes with time and place. Jalaluddin al Suyuti published a book on tibb nabawi and divided medicine into 3 types: traditional, spiritual and preventive. Most of tibb nabawi is preventive medicine which is a very advanced concept given the level of scientific knowledge at the prophet's time and certainly must have been divinely inspired. Al Suyuti (1994) listed preventive medical measures such as food and exercise. Other preventive measures taught in hadith include: quarantine for epidemics, hijr sihhi, forbidding urination in stagnant water, use of tooth stick, siwaak, precautions in the house at night regarding fire and pests, leaving a country because of its water and climate, marriage and mental health, marriage and sexual health, dietary control to avoid excesses, cleanliness and avoiding filth.

Spiritual tibb nabawi: Study of tibb nabawi reveals that there are spiritual aspects of healing and recovery. Prayer, dua, recitation of the Qur’an, and remembrance of Allah play a central role. Psychosomatic diseases could respond to spiritual approaches. The use of ruqyat (surat al fatiha, al mu’awadhatain) falls between physical curative and spiritual. The curative part of ruqyat can be understood in modern terms in the way the psyche can modulate immune mechanisms that protect against disease.

                  Curative tibb nabawi: Ibn Qayim al Jawziyat listed many diseases with their recommended treatments from tibb nabawi. Diseases in tibb nabawi treatable by natural remedies: fever, humma;  bowel movements, istitlaq al batan; dropsy, istisqa; wounds, jarh; epilepsy, sar’a; sciatica, ‘irq al nisa; temperaments, tabau’; skin itch, hakk al jism; pleurisy, dhaat al janb;  headache and hemicrania, sidau and shaqiiqat; inflammation of the throat, ‘adhrat;  enlargement of the heart, al maf’uud; ophthalmia, al ramad; catalepsy, khudran al kulli; pimples, bathrat; skin eruptions, awraam;  food poisoning, sum;  witchcraft, sihr; and head lice. He also mentioned other diseases like: plague, leprosy, eye diseases, throat and tonsils, diarrhea, abdominal disease, fever, plague, snake bite, scorpion bite, food contamination by a fly, headache, nose bleeds, teeth, cough, dropsy, sprain, fracture, bite by rabid dog, and the evil eye. The medical treatments mentioned were honey, al 'asal; cold water for fever, al mau al barid; diet, ghadha;  milk, al laban;  camel milk; camel urine. The black seed, al habba al sauda,  was especially emphasized. The surgical treatments mentioned were: cupping, al hijaam;  cauterization, al kayy;  venesection with cauterization, qatiu al uruuq wa al kayy.

APPLICATION OT TIBB NABAWI TODAY

Empirical research on tibb nabawi: There is a lot of scientific interest in prophetic teachings on medicine. The black seed (nigella sativa) is an example of a prophetic remedy that has been studied extensively by both Muslims and non-Muslims.