Miracle of the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah in the Field of Preventative Medicine

The definition  of modern  preventative  medicine is that it is a branch of knowledge  that has  to do with  protection  against  microorganisms that may cause  physical disease  and against  psychological  disease, in the individual  and in society. Microorganisms  are the cause of bacterial and  other kinds  of disease,  and  they  are regarded  as a community  of living beings, most of which we cannot see with our eyes, but they exist everywhere,  in the air, in water and in dust, on our bodies  and in our mouths  and intestines,  and  sometimes  even in the food we eat. Some of them are beneficial and some are harmful.  There are many different families and types of them, and they differ in size. The smallest of them are  the  viruses,   followed  by  microbes,  funguses,   protozoa,  various kinds of parasitic  worms,  and finally parasitic  arthropods  or insects.

There are three sources or habitats of them, namely man, animals and the environment (dust and water).

The texts of Shari'ah (Islamic legislation) enumerate  several methods regarding  the eradication of these organisms  from  their habitats and preventing  them from causing  harm  to man,  by establishing   rules  of cleanliness such as washing  the hands  and forearms,  wiping  the head and ears, washing  the feet and washing  the mouth  and nose five times a day, washing each part three  times.

Allah, the Exalted, says: "O you who believe! When you intend to offer As-Salah (the prayer), wash your faces and your hands (forearms) up to the elbows, rub (by passing wet hands over) your heads, and (wash) your feet up to the ankles. If you are in a state of Janaba (i.e. after a sexual discharge), purify yourselves (bathe your whole body) ..." [Surah AI-Ma'idah, 5:6]

Rinsing the mouth

Rinsing  the  mouth   three  times  with  water  (for example,  during the course  of ablution)  rids  it of a large  number  of microorganisms, which inhabit the mouth.  It is estimated that the number of germs in saliva is approximately one hundred   million per square millimeter. There are also a large number  of microorganisms   which  feed on food remnants between the teeth; the  growth  and  multiplication   of these creatures  produces  acid  and  other  secretions  which  affect the mouth and  its smell,  and  the colour  and  function  of the  teeth.  Rinsing the mouth thrice, five times a day, rids the mouth of a huge number of these organisms and their toxins.

Siwak

We may also sense the greatness of the Prophet's command to use the Miswak in his words: "The Siwak is purifying for the mouth and pleasing to the Lord." [Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Majah: Saheeh]

The Prophet,  peace  and blessings  of Allah be upon  him,  did not get up after a nap either  at night  or during  the day without  using the Siwak, and  the Prophet,  peace  and  blessings  of Allah  be upon  him, urged  his  Umman to use the Siwak all the time, when he said: "Were it not that it would  be too hard for my Ummah, I would  have  commanded   them to use the Siwak at the time of every prayer."

As is proved in the Saheehain,  when the Messenger  of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be  upon  him, got  up  at night  he  would  clean his mouth  with  the Siwak, and he also encouraged  us to use the Siwak all the time, even when fasting. That is because of the great benefits that it offers to the mouth and teeth. These benefits include the following:

• It kills germs.  Research has  proved  that  it kills off at least five types of disease-causing  germs that are found in the mouth,  the most  important   of which  is the  streptococcus  bacteria  which causes some types of rheumatic  fever (Brown and Jacob, 1979).

•   It removes food remnants and yellowness from the teeth, and makes teeth shiny.

• It purifies the mouth by killing germs and treats wounds   and inflammation of the gums.

• It prevents the growth of germs by increasing acidity in the mouth.

• It removes plaque before it becomes   hard   and   affects the tissues.

• It prevents diseases of the mouth and teeth.

• It has been proved that it effectively reduces sugar levels and has an anti-cancer effect.

Rinsing the nose by snuffing up water then expelling it

Snuffing up water into the nose and then expelling   it  has many medical benefits, the most important of which is that it removes accumulated  secretions from the nasal cavity, as well as dust that  adheres  to  the  mucus  lining of the nose,  such  as  house  dust, pollen, and   the   airborne   spores of some funguses  and moulds.  It moistens the inside of  the  nose so as to keep the mucus lining in good condition, and removes microorganisms that cling to the Inside of the nasal cavity.

Studies  that were  carried out to find  out  the  effect  of Wudhu' on nasal  health  have  proved  that the noses of those  who  do not pray  are inhabited by huge  numbers of streptococcus  and  staphylococcus   germs  as well  as other bacteria, whereas the noses  of those who regularly  performed Wudhu' do not contain any colonies of germs, although  in a few cases there were small numbers of germs, which soon disappeared  after they were taught how to rinse the nose properly.

Miraculous aspect

The science of preventative medicine did not take shape or come into existence until after the discovery of microorganisms of various types, which came about after immense scientific and technological progress in knowledge of the causes of disease, which only happened in the last century. Before that, people were of two groups, Muslims and non-Muslims. The Muslims had a precise system of preventative medicine which was part of their religion through which they worshipped Allah, the Exalted, and which followed easily. As for non-Muslims, this is the testimony of their scientists against them.

The German scientist, Siegfried Honeker, in her book ‘The Arab Sun Shining on the West’, described the impressions of Al-Tartoosi during his visit to the land of the Franks (Europeans) at that time, and how he, as a Muslim who did Wudhu' before each of the five daily prayers, was repelled by the state of filth in which the Europeans were living, and he expressed his astonishment that they only bathed once or twice a year, in cold water. As for their clothes they never washed them after they had put them on, so that they would not wear out. Then the German Researcher noted how European societies were gradually influenced by Islamic customs after that, once their benefits had become clear, and they began to set up private and public baths.

The British regarded bathing as so harmful to the health that it could cause death. It was regarded as something shameful to build a bath inside an American home, until the first bathroom equipped with a tub was built in the White House in 1851. At that time it caused a sensation because it was regarded as something shameful at that time. In France the Palace of Versailles did not have a single bathroom, despite its vastness.

Britain  colonized the  Sandwich Islands  and  forced   the  Muslim inhabitants   by  means of  oppression and enticement to  become Christians,  but the outcome,  as the British doctor Bernard Shaw noted in  his book ‘The Doctor's Frustration’, was  that lethal epidemics  spread among them, and he explained  that as being due to their abandonment of Islamic religious  teachings, which require absolute  cleanliness  in all matters, both great and small, to the point of cutting the nails and cleaning beneath them.

The science of microbiology was unknown at the time of the Prophet and  afterwards, until  the  last  century,  but  the  Islamic  teachings  on purification, Wudhu', Ghusl and cleanliness in the home, one's clothing and in places where people gather, and the teachings with regard to food and drink, behavior in public and  in private,  all point  in one way or another, to these hidden  worlds  and the causes of other diseases, which may result in death.

This proves that the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah were the first to refer to microorganisms and that Islam offers the most successful methods of eradicating them and protecting man against their dangers. Scientists have seen with their own eyes the truth of the Revelation sent by Allah to His Messenger and the fulfilment of the verse in which Allah, the Exalted, says:

“And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you (O Muhammad) from your Lord is the truth, and that it guides to the Path of the Exalted in might, Owner of all praise." [Soorah Saba, 34:6]