Reviving Humoral Medicine
with Dr. Hani El Batal
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Interpreting the Prophetic Hadiths According to the Concepts of Humoral Medicine
The Prophet ﷺ considered the qualities and natures of foods in what he ate, balancing between the hot, cold, wet, and dry. This Prophetic guidance clearly illustrates his adherence to the principles of humoral medicine, the ancient system of medicine upon which Muslim scholars and physicians relied throughout Islamic history.
On this page, we present clear examples from the Prophetic Hadiths that demonstrate how he ﷺ balanced the hotness of one food with the codlness of another and gave attention to moderating the natures of foods to preserve health and moderation.
The Prophet ﷺ Used to Eat Watermelon with Fresh Dates
Shaykh Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī stated in his book Mirqāt al-Mafātīḥ Sharḥ Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, on the authority of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah have his agreement on her), that the Prophet ﷺ used to eat unripe cantaloupe with fresh dates. In another narration recorded by Abū Dāwūd, as well as al-Bayhaqī and al-Tirmidhī, the Prophet ﷺ said:
"The hotness of this is offset by the coldness of that, and the coldness of that by the hotness of this."
In another narration:
"The coldness of this counteracts the hotness of that, and the hotness of that counteracts the coldness of this."
The scholars said that dates are hot and wet, while unripe cantaloup is cold and wet. Al-Ṭībī said that perhaps the cantaloup was unripe, in which case it would be cold.
This hadith clearly indicates that the Prophet ﷺ followed the principles of humoral medicine, because unripe cantaloup is cold and wet, while fresh dates are hot and wet. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ balanced the hotness of the fresh dates with the coldness of the cantaloup, while leaving the wetness of both the unripe cantaloup and the fresh dates unaltered, because the temperament of Madinah is dry.
The intended meaning here is unripe cantaloupe, which has a cold temperament.
Al-Qurṭubī's Explanation of the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ Eating Fresh Dates with Snake Cucumber
Al-Qurṭubī's Explanation of the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ Eating Fresh Dates with Snake Cucumber
Al-Qurṭubī, one of the greatest Qur'anic commentators, was also a jurist, a hadith scholar, an ascetic, and a devoted worshipper who lived in the 7th century AH. Imam Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī also quotes his words in Mirqāt al-Mafātīḥ Sharḥ Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ.
On the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaʿfar (may Allah have his agreement on both of them), who said:
"I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ eating fresh dates with snake cucumber."
Agreed upon (reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim).
Al-Qurṭubī said:
"From this hadith, it is understood that it is permissible to consider the qualities and natures of foods and to use them in the manner most appropriate to them according to the principles of medicine. Fresh dates possess hotness, while snake cucumber possesses coldness. When they are eaten together, they become moderate. This is a major principle in the compounding of medicines."
I say:
Fresh dates are hot and wet, while snake cucumber is cold and dry. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ balanced the hotness of the fresh dates with the coldness of the snake cucumber, while leaving the wetness unaltered. This is because the temperament of Madinah is dry and arid, and the body there requires additional wetness to counteract the dryness.
In Al-Qurṭubī's explanation is a profound medical principle: the moderation of foods and medicines, whereby the hot is balanced by the cold, the cold by the hot, the wet by the dry, and the dry by the wet.
Imam An-Nawawī’s Explanation of the Prophet’s Hadith: “For Every Disease There Is a Cure.”
تعريف
Imam An-Nawawī’s Explanation of the Prophet’s Hadith: “For Every Disease There Is a Cure”
The Hadith and Imam An-Nawawī’s Explanation
There is a hadith explained by Imam An-Nawawī: “For every disease there is a cure.” In this hadith, Imam An-Nawawī establishes important medical principles. An-Nawawī lived approximately in the 7th century AH. He was a hadith scholar, a memorizer of hadith, and a jurist. He authored a commentary on Sahih Muslim, one of the major books of hadith.
In this commentary, he writes regarding the Prophet’s statement:
“For every disease there is a cure. When the proper remedy is applied to the disease, the person recovers by the permission of Allah.”
This hadith is recorded in Sahih Muslim.
What Imam An-Nawawī Said About Disease and Its Treatment
Imam An-Nawawī explains this hadith in his book, and his words are profound. He says regarding this hadith:
“This contains a clear explanation, for the physicians have stated that disease is the body's departure from its natural state, and treatment is restoring it to that state.”
What is disease? Disease is an unnatural condition in the human body that, by its very nature, causes an impairment in its functions. In other words, when the body's organs are not functioning properly, the goal is to restore them so that they function correctly again—to return them to their natural state.
He also says:
“Preserving health is maintaining that state.”
In other words, preserving health means keeping the body in its natural condition. Once the body has reached moderate state between hotness and coldness, wetness and dryness, this moderation should be maintained through appropriate foods.
The Importance of Correcting Diet and Moderating the Temperament
What does Imam An-Nawawī say?
“Preserving health is achieved by correcting foods and other matters.”
This means that nutrition is extremely important. Some foods are hot, some are cold, some are wet, and some are dry.
How do we preserve health?
If a person has excessive hotness in the temperament, we feed them cold foods to moderate that hotness. This is a religious principle: treatment is by the opposite, not by the similar.
Today, some people, such as advocates of homeopathy, say that treatment is by the similar. That is not the case. Treatment is by the opposite. This is a fundamental principle.
Sound reasoning illustrates this clearly. For example, if someone's blood is boiling and they have excessive hotness in the body—to the point that their blood pressure has risen—would we tell them to eat garlic? Or to eat salt? Garlic is hot and dry, and salt is hot and dry. Naturally, this would increase the hotness even more and raise the blood pressure further.
Treatment is not by the similar.
However, some people have observed that a person with high blood pressure may take garlic and experience a reduction in blood pressure. This is because that person's temperament is cold. Their high blood pressure results from a cold, wet temperament, meaning there is thickness in the blood pressing against the arteries. Garlic helps dissolve that thickness, causing the blood pressure to decrease.
Thus, this is not an absolute rule applied without considering the person's temperament.
Treatment Is by the Opposite, Not by the Similar
What does Imam An-Nawawī say?
“Preserving health is achieved by correcting foods and other matters, while restoring health is accomplished through appropriate remedies that are opposite to the disease.”
Hippocrates said:
“Things are treated by their opposites.”
(Hippocrates is regarded as the father of medicine, who spread medical knowledge among the people.)
He continued:
“However, determining the true nature of the disease and the true nature of the medicine may be subtle and difficult. Confidence in applying the opposite may therefore be reduced, and this is where the physician alone falls into error.”
In other words, Hippocrates says that treatment is by the opposite. Sometimes, however, the physician fails to recognize the true nature of the illness. He may think it is hot when it is actually cold, and thus prescribes the wrong medicine.
Imam An-Nawawī further says:
“The physician may think that the illness results from a hot substance when in fact it does not.”
For example, a person may simply have been exposed to a cold draft, or they may have suffered sunstroke. One produces coldness, while the other produces hotness.
The Physician May Not Find the Appropriate Remedy
Imam An-Nawawī continues:
“Or the illness may result from a cold substance, or from a hot substance that is less hot than the physician imagined. In such cases, healing does not occur. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ indicated at the end of his statement what might appear to contradict its beginning. Someone might say: ‘You said that every disease has a cure, yet we see many patients who are treated but do not recover.’ The answer is that this results from not knowing the true method of treatment, not from the absence of a cure. This is clear. And Allah knows best.”
This concludes Imam An-Nawawī's words.
The hadith stating that “For every disease there is a cure” is true. It is revelation. “When the proper remedy is applied to the disease, the person recovers by the permission of Allah.” If the correct remedy is not applied, recovery does not occur.
The difficulty lies with the physician.
Sometimes the physician does not know the proper remedy. For example, the physicians of earlier times stated that they had no cure for cancerous tumors. They only attempted to manage them. Some recommended complete surgical removal so that no trace remained, while warning against disturbing the tumor or taking a biopsy because this might aggravate it. Others advised against operating on internal cancerous tumors altogether, recommending only supportive management when surgery was impossible.
They never claimed to possess a cure for cancer.
Even today, no cure for cancer has been found. Neither the physicians of the past nor those of the present have discovered a cure for cancer.
The Classical Definition of Cancer
The physicians of earlier times defined cancer as an ulcerated or non-ulcerated tumor generated from burned black bile that has flowed into the affected organ and filled the surrounding blood vessels.
It was called cancer for two reasons. First, because of its resemblance in appearance: its center resembles the body of a crab, while the surrounding blood-filled vessels resemble the crab's legs. Second, because it clings firmly to the affected organ just as a crab firmly grasps whatever it holds.
It has also been described as a hard tumor with deep roots in the body, nourished by green veins filled with black blood. It possesses hotness to the touch, resembling a blazing flame. In men, it may occur in the intestines, the face, and the urethra; in women, it may occur in the breast and the uterus.
The Explanation of the Prophet’s ﷺ Statement: “Give Him Honey to Drink.”
One of the scholars, Shihāb ad-Dīn al-Qasṭallānī, who lived in the 9th century AH, was one of the great hadith memorizers. He authored a book entitled Irshād as-Sārī, a commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari. He relates from Abu Saʿīd, who said:
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "My brother has diarrhea." The Prophet ﷺ replied, "Give him honey to drink."
So he gave him honey. Then he returned and said, "I gave him honey, but it only made his diarrhea worse." The Prophet ﷺ said, "Allah has spoken the truth, and your brother's stomach has lied."
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Qasṭallānī’s Explanation of the Hadith About Honey
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Qasṭallānī explains the Prophet’s statement, “Give him honey to drink.” He says:
“Honey is a remedy that removes the accumulated waste from the regions of the stomach because of its cleansing properties.”
What Al-Qasṭallānī Says
What does Al-Qasṭallānī say?
“It possesses cleansing properties and removes the waste that affects the stomach from sticky humors, which prevent food from settling properly within it. The stomach has villi like the fibers of a towel. When sticky humors cling to them, they spoil them and corrupt the food that reaches them. Therefore, its treatment is to use something that cleanses away those humors, and honey is especially effective in doing so, particularly when mixed with warm water.”
The Cause of the Diarrhea
This man's diarrhea resulted from hayḍah, a digestive disturbance caused by overeating and poor digestion.
The Properties of Honey
Honey is a cleansing substance. It removes the cold, sticky, corrupted materials that have affected the stomach because honey has a hot and dry temperament.
The stomach has villi similar to the fibers of a towel. Just as a towel has tiny fibers, the stomach has villi. When sticky humors adhere to them, they spoil them and corrupt the food that reaches them. Therefore, the treatment is to use something that cleanses away those humors, and honey is especially effective in doing so, particularly when mixed with warm water.
An Explanation of the Illness
This man's diarrhea resulted from hayḍah, a digestive disturbance caused by overeating and poor digestion. In this condition, the food becomes corrupted in the stomach, and the corrupted material is expelled either through vomiting or through diarrhea. As a result, severe diarrhea occurs because of this condition, so the Prophet ﷺ instructed that he be given honey.
Why the Honey Was Repeated
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Qasṭallānī explains:
The man gave his brother honey, but it did not succeed. He returned to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "I gave him honey, but it only increased his diarrhea." This happened because of the corrupted humors and because the amount of honey was less than the quantity of those humors, so it did not remove them completely.
The Prophet ﷺ then said what ir means:
"Allah has spoken the truth, and your brother's stomach has lied."
This is because Allah, Exalted is He, says what it means that honey is "a healing for mankind." The statement "your brother's stomach has lied" means that his stomach was mistaken in not being healed by the honey, because the disease, due to the abundance of corrupted materials, required the honey to be taken repeatedly.
The Result of Repeating the Honey
For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ instructed him to give his brother honey again. When he repeated this, the man recovered.
Another narration states that he gave him honey a second and a third time. In the narration recorded by Imam Ahmad, the Prophet ﷺ said what it means on the fourth occasion:
"Give him honey to drink."
He gave him honey, and he recovered. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said what it means:
"Allah has spoken the truth, and your brother's stomach has lied."
Summary of the Treatment
In other words, hayḍah is a condition for which honey is beneficial, even though it is accompanied by diarrhea. This is because it is severe diarrhea caused by cold, sticky, corrupted materials. Honey, having a hot and dry temperament, is beneficial because it expels these materials from the abdomen, causing the diarrhea to stop.
This is an example of treatment by the opposite.