~ Prophetic Medicine in Modern Life~

Ron-Kid

HasbunAllahu wa ni`mal Wakil '
610 AD

Allah’s Messenger said, “The stomach is
the central basin of the body, and the
veins are connected to it. When the
stomach is healthy, it passes on its
condition to veins, and in turn the veins
will circulate the same and when the
stomach is putrescence, the veins will
absorb such putrescence and issue the
same” - Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad
(saws).

1999 AD

“The diet of the future will not be
designed to lose weight, but to cheat
death. Within the next few years,
scientists hope to meld increasing knowledge about the genetic makeup of the human body
with the equally promising use of food as medicine to customize diets that can forestall, treat or
even prevent disease.” - The Los Angeles Times
Aisha used to recommend At-Talbina for the sick and for such a person as grieved over a dead
person. She used to say, "I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'At-Talbina’ gives rest to the heart of
the patient and makes it active and relieves some of his sorrow and grief. " In fact, the prophet
used to “prescribe” food for ailments even more than he prescribed herbs or medicines.

The Prophet used everything from barley soup to honey to camel’s milk to heal his followers
and advised them to eat certain foods to prevent or cure other ailments. In fact, food is one of
the oldest and most respected healing tools available to man. Even the first fruits of paradise -
the apple and/or the pomegranate - have hundreds of curative properties (Yeager, p.21). The
Chinese and Indian healers have used the properties of food to heal for thousands of years.

Modern science is now “discovering” the power that food has. Bookshelves at the store are
filled with books on Ayurvedic medicine, books like Eat Right 4 Your Type, hundreds of books on
how to detoxify your body using diet and an equal number of books touting certain ways of
eating such as macrobiotic or vegan as a “cure all” for any disease. Other books give specific
recipes or lists of foods that cure various diseases.

The Los Angeles Times reported a few years ago that, “...some experts are already espousing
the medicinal power of certain foods to some patients. They are advising menopausal women
to drink soy milk, which is thought to ease hot flashes and other symptoms. They are
suggesting fish high in omega-3 oils, like salmon, herring and mackerel, to patients at risk of
cardiovascular disease or breast cancer. And for men fearing prostate cancer, they are advising
consumption of more tomato-based products, such as spaghetti sauce--because tomatoes are
high in lycopene, thought to reduce the risk of this disease” (Cimons).

In reality, healing with food is one of the oldest methods of healing known to man and is not a
“new” concept in any way. It is also one of the most economical and globally available methods
of healing known to man. The Prophet Muhammad (saws) used it more than a thousand years
ago and even a thousand years before him the Chinese used it.

In fact, in areas where medicine and herbs are not available, food can provide a solution to
many medical problems. In many developing countries where people cannot afford to buy
medicines, traditional healers commonly hand out prescriptions in terms of berries or cups of
oats.

In the book, Smoothies for Life, the following recipe is given for preventing osteoporosis:

Smoothie

1 cup nonfat yogurt
1/2 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup pitted dates
1 frozen banana
3 tablespoons of tahini

Add a sprig of mint, blend together and drink.
Dates and Tahini are credited with giving this nutritious shake a big calcium boost. In fact,
foods like humus, zaaatar or anything else with a large proportion of tahini or sesame seeds
will help prevent osteoporosis.

In the book, Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners, Amadea Morningstar gives the following recipe
to heal candida and depression stemming from such a condition:

Minestrone Soup

2/3 cup dried mung beans, navy beans and
chick peas
8 cups water
1 bay leaf
Cook the beans until done (soak overnight
first).

Wash and chop:

2 potatoes
1 carrot
3 inches of leek
2 stalks of celery
1 cup of fresh green vegetables
Add these vegetables to the pot with the beans and:
1 cup rose petal tomato sauce
1/2 cup white basmati rice
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sweet basil
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
Simmer for 45 minutes and serve.

In the book, New Foods for Healing, the editors of Prevention Magazine list recipes for almost
every disease including the following recipe for high cholesterol:

Oatmeal-Apricot Cookies

2/3 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup boiling water
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups oats

Combine the apricots in the food processor
with the water until well-blended. Add this to
the sugar and butter in another bowl. Add
the egg substitute and vanilla. Beat. Add the
rest of the ingredients except the oats and
mix again. Sprinkle the oats over the mix,
stirring. Bake at 350.

The key in this recipe is, of course, the oats.
Oat bran and oatmeal, in fact, are still the
most popular ways to lower cholesterol.

Some doctors even recommend that taking
1/2 cup of oat bran a day will cure
cholesterol (Kowalski).

In Healing with Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford
gives lists of foods that help to cure various
diseases along with helpful recipes such as the following dish for diabetics:

Millet with Onions

2 cups millet, soaked
1/2 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/4 cup hijiki, soaked and cut
6 cups water
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Toasted sesame seeds
Layer vegetables in order given. Add millet, water and salt. Cover Bring to a boil. Reduce heat
to low. Simmer 30 minutes. Stir and served sprinkled with sesame seeds.

The secret to this recipe is the millet, a very inexpensive and common grain.

Yuhanna bin Masawayh (known in the West as Mesue), an accomplished Arab pharmacist, said,
“A physician who can cure by using only diet without drugs, is the most successful and skilled
of all physicians.” This is certainly true if you are on a budget, are taking medications that may
interfere with herbs, you want to seek a simpler solution, you want to minimize side effects, or
you live in a country where many things are unavailable.
Certainly food should be considered a very real alternative to importing special medicines and
herbs or taking risky medicines ** The following website has a partial list of some foods and
diets that cure illness: http://www.curezone.com/foods/

References
Chance, Danielle and Keane, Maureen B. “Smoothies for Life.” USA: Prima Publishing.
1998.
Cimons, Marlene. “New RX: Food That Can Heal.” Los Angeles Times. May 19, 1999.
Heinerman, John. “Heinerman’s Encyclopedia of Healing Juices.” USA: Prentic Hall. 1994.
Kowalski, Robert and Kattus, Albert. “The 8 Week Cholesterol Cure: How to Lower Your
Cholesterol by Up to 40 Percent Without Drugs or Deprivation.” USA: Mass Market Press.
1999.
Morningstar, Amadea. “Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners.” Wisconsin: Lotus Press. 1995.
Pitchford, Paul. “Healing with Whole Foods: Oriental Traditions and Modern Nutrition.”
California: North Atlantic Books. 1993.
Yeager, Selene. “New Foods for Healing.” USA: Rodale Press. 1998.
 
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