Islam has treated the field of medicine with great care for it addresses one of the most significant needs of human beings. While medicine has been prioritized over the centuries as a field to be mastered, it is religiously necessitated for the ummah (Islamic society) to train sufficient number of doctors in order for the rest of the Muslims to be exempt from the responsibility. The principles applied in the conduct of medicine are also valid for any science deemed useful for the individual and the community.

Any Muslim accepts the fact that the two main sources of Islam, the Quran and the sunnah (practices of the Prophet), cannot be separated from one another. It is in these sources that the principles reigning over each stage of human life are located. Considering the fact that medicine deals fundamentally with man, it becomes natural for the Quran and the sunnah to devote much concern to this field.

Through various means, the Quran draws attention to the fact that the human being consists of soul and body. Two types of illnesses follow this course: spiritual and physical. The Quran and hadiths (sayings of the Prophet) that are accepted as the genuine interpretation of the Quran lay stress on the causes and results of both types of illnesses. The illnesses of qalb (soul, the spiritual heart) appear in forms of doubt and hesitation or sexual desire and heresy which are enumerated in the Quran. This first kind usually triggers the physical illnesses and its remedy resides in believing in Allah and His Messenger, and maintaining a life in line with His principles. The intake of medication is not related to this specific problem for the relief of the souls is only possible through sincerely remembering Allah.

The illnesses related to the body also find their place in the Quran. A considerable part of the fiqh (Islamic law) provisions serve to answer questions such as the way a sick person shall make wu’du (cleaning up before the prayer), perform salat (ritual prayer), fast and etc. in accordance with the type and degree of his/her illness.

The cure for such physical illnesses is also demonstrated through some basic principles; to protect one’s health, to abstain from harmful things, and to refrain from religiously forbidden desires and demands.

This type of sensitivity is crucial in a religion that is going to remain valid until the Day of Judgment. The basic structure of Islamic medicine operates through healthy man and health society. One of the primary goals, in this sense, is attaining a society of healthy people both physically and spiritually. Moreover, it is pivotal to avoid any kind of risk that threatens human health. That is why our practices in medicine have to be in line with the allowed and forbidden parts of our diet and behavior.
Just as the rules set forth by the Quran and sunnah, the vitality of medicine can never be invalidated through time. Despite the precautionary measures, we may inevitably confront an illness that necessitates us to seek remedies. The Quran contains many verses concerning shifa (cure). While Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) searched for and underwent treatment in case of an illness, he recommended the same thing to those seeking advice and pointed at general methods of treatment.

Just like in other fields, the Companions followed the Prophet’s advice on medicine. The Caliph Umar’s behavior during the military expedition to Damascus is a good example in this context. As a response to the warning of the commander of the army, Abu Ubaydah against the plague in Damascus, Caliph Umar convened a council composed of Companions. Following the Prophet’s hadith, “If you hear about an outbreak of plague in a land, do not go there; but if plague breaks out in a country where you are staying, do not run away from it,” he decided not to enter Damascus.

Correct information and unshaken principles lie at the heart of the medicine of the Prophet. Like in other fields, a serious attitude has been adapted against superstition and fallacious beliefs. The authentic narrations on medicine are qualified to be subjected to any investigation. Some hadiths that were formerly difficult to fathom have been deciphered in later centuries together with the advance of the sciences. Therefore, it is more reasonable to leave an obscure hadith to the passage of time instead of its direct rebuttal. How would it be possible to know that a hadith, presently unclear, cannot be interpreted more correctly in future? It is through such reflections that competent scholars of various disciplines have to turn to the study of the medicine of the Prophet.

The Prophet’s medicine contains recommendations over the general lines of health protection and the science of medicine. In addition to some basic principles on not entering and abandoning a place of epidemic, keeping our body, food and environment clean, avoiding waste and maintaining a healthy diet, his hadiths comprise advice on consulting the most able doctors and immediately seeking treatment.

Recalling the fact that there is no illness without a cure, it is strongly encouraged to make medical research and to look for ways of treatment. In addition to the presence of hadiths on methods of treatment, there are also those hadiths prohibiting a treatment that entails haram (a forbidden deed). Among the mentioned means of treatment are taking medication, giving blood and bandaging the wound. Moreover, many natural sources, such as plants, are indicated as requisites of treatment. There are also some authentic narrations stating that some illnesses were cured by reciting certain verses of the Quran (rukya). Yet, in spite of all of the measures taken, the patient may not recover. Therefore, it is accepted that there is a link between medicine and fate which is extremely crucial for the spiritual satisfaction of a believer.

The major factor for the development of the science of medicine in Islamic communities is the health policies of the Prophet. Saturated with many scholars identified as doctors, the field of the history of Islamic medicine can pose a productive area of research. Since the beginning, hadiths on medicine have drawn the attention of many scholars including the hadith experts who, in turn, attempted to collect and categorize the related narrations. Among the authors of the six well-known hadith collections, known as al-Kutub al-Sittah, there are those which have devoted a separate book or chapter to al-tibb al-nabawi. For example, Bukhari devoted two separate chapters in his celebrated books, “Kitab-al-Tibb” (The Book of Medicine) and “Kitab al-Marza” (The Book of Diseases). Abu Dawud also prepared a “Kitab-al-Tibb”. Tirmizi dedicated a chapter for medicine in his work known as Jami’. Ibn Maja also mentioned medical subjects in his book. Although they did not assign separate books or chapters, authors like Imam Muslim and al-Nasai mentioned hadiths on medicine by different means.

Due to their characteristic, narrations about medicine are again scattered in musnads, one of the works of the first period. For example, the book of medicine is a separate chapter in the Musnad of Abu Dawud Tayalisi (204 / 819). The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (240 / 854) contains many hadiths on medicine. We also come across many scattered hadiths and chapters on medicine in works preceding the period of al-Kutub al-Sittah; namely Muwatta of Imam Malik (179/795) and Musannaf of Abdurrazzaq ibn Hammam (210 / 825).

It can be observed that the subject of medicine was not neglected in the hadith collections of the following periods either. Kitab-al-Tibb is a separate chapter in Sharh al-Sunna of al-Baghawi (516 / 1122). Kitab-al-Tibb is also included in the bulky collection of Ibn al-Athir (606 / 1209), Jami al-Usul. The same chapter can be encountered in Majma‘ al-Zawaid by al-Haitham (807/1404). Moreover, another book of zawaid, Al-Matalib al-‘Aliyah by Ibn Hajar Asqalani (852/1448) refers to the subject. Finally, in a collection of later periods, Kanz al-Ummal, the author combines 508 hadiths in separate sections discussing Kitab-al-Tibb.

Aside from forming substantial chapters of voluminous books of hadith, there are separate books of medicine generally named al-tibb al-nabawi and they are encountered in the early periods.