Inayat al-Islam bi-Sihhat al-Insan
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- Inayat al-Islam bi-Sihhat al-Insan
Inayat al-Islam bi-Sihhat al-Insan (Islam's Care for Human Health) is a treatise co-authored by Amin ibn Abd Allah al-Shaqawi and Abd al-Rahim ibn Husayn al-Maliki on the Islamic teachings concerning health preservation, preventive measures, and medical treatment .
Purpose and Scope
The work highlights the comprehensive nature of Islam and demonstrates how the Quran and prophetic tradition address physical well-being alongside spiritual matters . The authors present bodily health as ranking directly after religious rectitude in importance, noting that the sound execution of Islamic obligations—such as prayer, pilgrimage, and jihad—depends on bodily capacity . They caution that neglect or reckless harm to one's own body incurs moral culpability . The authors note that the treatise is not a technical medical work, but rather a concise collection of scriptural proofs showing the virtues and health guidelines embedded in Islamic law .
Structure and Contents
The book is structured into an introduction, two main parts, and a conclusion :
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Part One: Divine Remedies (al-Adwiyah al-Ilahiyyah): Covers spiritual remedies, including Quranic recitations, supplications (adʿiyah), daily remembrances (adhkar), incantations (ruqa), charity (sadaqah), and righteous deeds .
- Chapter One: Preemptive measures to preserve health and ward off affliction before its occurrence, citing the health and spiritual benefits of charity, the night vigil prayer (qiyam al-layl), and protective prophetic remembrances such as morning and evening invocations and the recitation of Surat al-Baqarah .
- Chapter Two: Maintaining health and dispelling sickness through divine means after an illness has already occurred .
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Part Two: Material Remedies (al-Adwiyah al-Maddiyyah): Explores tangible remedies and physical preventive habits, such as honey, black seed (al-habbah al-sawdaʾ), cupping (hijamah), Zamzam water, and natural substances .
- Chapter One: Preventive physical practices before illness occurs, divided into discussions of diet (categorized into pure nourishment, pure medicine, and items serving as both), air, clothing, housing, physical exercise, mounts and transportation, and cleanliness .
- Chapter Two: Treating and repelling illness through material remedies after its onset .
The book closes with a summary outlining the primary conclusions of the study .
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