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We, the physicians, have now come to accept a fact known
to our patients for centuries: that healing is from God, and we are just
an instrument of the Healer. We give the same medication to two
different patients with the same type of medical problem or perform
similar operations on two patients otherwise at the same risk and one
will survive and the other one doesn't. It is more than simple luck. As
Socrates put it, "I dress the wound and God heals it." This was also acknowledged by the Prophet Abraham, "and when I
am ill, it is He who cures me" (Quran 26:80). God himself
attests to it by saying "If God touches thee with an affliction,
no one can remove it but He" (Quran 6:17).
Healing from the Quran
The Quran is not a textbook of medicine, rather it
contains rules of guidance that if followed will promote good health and
healing. This is why the Quran calls itself a book of healing.
"O mankind, there has come unto you a direction
from your Lord and a healing for the heart and for those who believe in
guidance and mercy" (Quran 10:57).
"We have sent down in the Quran that which is
healing and a mercy to those who believe" (Quran 17:82)
Healing from the Quran is of three types:
a. Legislative effect: This includes faith (iman) in God
as not only the Creator but the Sustainer and the Protector. This also
includes the medical benefits of obligatory prayers, fasting, charity
and pilgrimage.
b. Health Guidelines: Health-promoting items from the
Quran and the tradition of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him)
including the use of honey, olives, fruit, lean meat, avoiding excessive
eating, and the prohibition of alcohol, pork, homosexuality, sexual
promiscuity and sex during menstruation.
c. The direct healing effect of the Quran: Recitation of
Quran by the ill or for the ill (ruqya) has shown to have a direct
healing effect. This most likely uses the medical benefits of echo.
Echo of sound is such a powerful force that it has been
used to blast off mountains. Now the miniaturized version of echo is
used in medicine to break kidney stones (lithotripsy), gallstones, and
even vegetations in the subendothelial bacterial endocarditis (SBE).
Listening to the recitation of the Holy Quran has been shown in a study
conducted by Dr. Ahmed E. Kadi and his associates to lower blood
pressure, heart rate, and to cause smooth muscle relaxation in Muslim
Arabs, non-Arab Muslims and even in non-Muslims. It is postulated
that the echo target of “Alif Lam Meem” (the first three words of
Surat AlBaqarah-the 2nd chapter of the Quran) is in the heart and that
of Ya-seen (chapter 36) is in the pituitary gland of the brain. Thus the
Prophet Mohammad always stressed reading the Quran (Quran-recitation)
loudly and not silently by saying, "The comparison between a silent
reader and a recitor is like a bottle of perfume when it is closed and
when it is opened."
Use of Meditation in Prayer and Healing
Meditation includes acts of remembrance and
communications with God as ordained to us.
1. "When
my servant asks you (O Muhammad) about me, (tell them) I am close to
them: I listen to the prayer of each supplicant when he asks Me. Let
them listen to My call and believe in Me, that they may walk in the
right way" (Quran 2:186).
2. "Your
Lord says: "Call on Me and I will answer your call" (Quran
40:60).
3. "Those
who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of God, for in
the remembrance of God do hearts find rest" (Quran 13:28).
4. "Remember
Me, I will remember you; thank Me and reject Me not" (Quran
2:152).
5. "Remember
thy Lord much and praise Him in the evening and morning" (Quran
3:41).
6. "Such
as those who remember God standing, sitting and reclining" (Quran
3:191).
7. "and
men who remember God much and women who remember God, God has prepared
for them forgiveness and a vast reward" (Quran 33:35).
8. "O
you believe! Remember God with much remembrance and glorify Him in the
morning and evening" (Quran 33:41-42).
Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad
The Prophet Muhammad, like all other prophets of God,
was engaged in the remembrance of God most of the time. He is known to
have said:
1. "There
is a polish for everything that removes the rust and the polish for the
rust-of- heart is the dhikr (remembrance) of God."
2. He was
asked which people are most virtuous and most highly esteemed by God on
the Day of Judgement. The messenger of God (P) replied "Those
who remember God often."
3. It is
narrated in a hadith Qudsi (direct revelation to Prophet Muhammad)
"God Most High says I am as my Servant thinks I am. I am with
him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me by himself, I
make mention of him to Myself. If he makes mention of Me in an assembly,
I make mention of him in an assembly better than his. If he comes closer
to Me a hand span, I come closer to him arms-length, if he comes to Me
walking, I come to him running."
Thus meditation/remembrance has been a practice of all
Sufi sheikhs. In the words of Sheikh al-Mursi "dhikr (meditation)
pleases God, defeats and drives evil forces, increases livelihood, makes
the personality more prestigious, cleanses the heart, removes the faults
and saves the tongue from lying, gossip, backbiting and hypocrisy while
engaged in the remembrance of God."
Seeking Help with Prayers
According to Imam Ghazali, illness increases faith and
brings man closer to God. Knowing this nature, we are told by the Quran
- "O you who believe, seek help with patience and prayers, as
God is with those who patiently persevere" (Quran 2:153).
The Prophet Muhammad used to comfort the ill when he
visited them and would say the following prayer:
"O Allah remove the hardship, O Lord of mankind,
grant cure for You are the Healer. There is no cure but from You, a cure
which leaves no illness behind."
He would also make following prayer for his own health:
"O Allah cure my body, cure my heart and cure my
eyesight from any illness" (repeated 3 times).
Do Prayers Work?
Yes they do. Dr. Larry Dossey in his book
"The Healing Words" has documented the healing effects of
prayer. Citing one example from the research conducted by Dr. Byrd at
San Francisco General Hospital in 1988, 393 critically ill heart
patients admitted to the intensive care units over a 10-month period
were divided into two groups. Patients categorized into group (A) were
prayed for by name until they left the hospital. Those in group
(B) were not prayed for. Those giving the prayers were not told how to
pray. The results were very interesting. Those prayed for left the
hospital early, had a lower incidence of cardiac arrest, 2-1/2 times
less incidence of congestive heart failure and required 1/5th less
antibiotics. The research team also observed that prayer combined with
loving care worked even better. Men who had angina pectoris and a
loving, caring wife, reported a 50% reduction in angina than men who
were single or divorced.
Prayers work for us even while we are sleeping. The
Prophet Muhammad advised us to say prayers from Quran (Surah Ikhlas, Al
Falaq, Annas and/or last verse of Al Baqra (2:286) before going to
sleep.
My Own Practice
I do dhikr in all my free time, especially while
driving, and I pray for myself, my family, my friends and my patients by
name, knowing that cure is only from God.
One time I visited a critically ill patient who had an
adrenal tumor (pheochromocytoma) and was in hypotensive shock. I asked
her what I could do for her and she, out of desperation (doctors had
told her she wouldn't make it) asked me to pray. So I placed my hand
over the site of the tumor and made the prophetic prayer and left. The
next day when I came, I was surprised to see her sitting up in bed
smiling. She told me that in the evening, the radiologist x-rayed her
again and found no trace of the tumor. He could not explain it but
thought that the arteriogram might have infarcted the tumor.
The Sufi Practices
In the treatment of diseases, Sufis use prayers and the
knowledge of specific verses of the Quran and the names of Allah. This
is called the Science of Tawidh (Taweez). They use science of numerology
associated with Arabic alphabets. Some sample tawidh is given for
illustration. One must know the healing is not in a piece of paper,
words or numbers, but only from Allah. In my humble opinion, Tawidh is
only a way to become God-conscious and receive His mercy as a result.
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