Sunnah Health And Fitness Hijama.pdf

Introduction Medicine of medievil islamic world Major contributors to muslim medicine Major contributors to muslim medicine Medical contributions from medieval islam Medicine in the medieval islamic world ; list From ancient times to the 1800s Types of cupping How cupping works The benefits of cupping How cupping works The precise scientific medical rules for cupping operation “discovered by the savant m. amin sheikho” Treatments point for hijama (cupping) sunnah points Prophet’s sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. guidance using honey, hijamah (cupping) and cauterizing as remedies Pdf Publications online.

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BODY MIND AND SOUL The complete Truth to Health and Wellbeing The Breakdown of Tibb-e-Nabawi, The Prophetic Medicine

HIJAMA By Y A Dimmock SALUTATIONS Asalaam ualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu Praise be to Allah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah’ [Aal ‘Imraan 3:103] O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person, and from him He created his wife, and from them both He created many men and women, and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship) Surely, Allah is Ever an AllWatcher over you.’ [al-Nisaa’ 4:1], O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth).’ [al-Ahzaab 33:70].” All Praise be to Allah, the Rabb (Cherisher and Sustainer) of the Worlds, and Blessings and Peace upon our Prophet, Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and whoever follows his Sunnah, till the Day of Judgement.”

INTRODUCTION

Cupping therapy is an incredibly ancient and universal practice that spans both East and West. In the primitive shamanistic practices of all the world's indigenous peoples, there were certain shamans who specialized in the sucking out of illness and infirmity from the body. In the East, the Chinese have been practicing the art of cupping for at least three thousand years. Along with Tui Na massage, acupuncture and moxibustion, cupping forms part of the traditional bodywork or physiotherapy system of TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine. Cupping is applied to the acupuncture points to relieve the stagnation of Qi and blood, both locally and in the organ(s) activated by the point. In the West, cupping therapy had its birth in Egypt. The Ebers Papyrus, written around 1550 B.C.E., states that bleeding by wet cupping removes foreign matter from the body. In cupping, the ancient Egyptians saw the remedy for just about every disorder. The ancient Egyptians passed the art of cupping on to the ancient Greeks. Both Hippocrates and Galen were staunch advocates and users of cupping therapy. Galen once condemned Erasistratus, a noted physician in Alexandria, for not using cupping. Herodotus, a famous Greek historian and physician, wrote, in 413 B.C.: "Scarification with Cupping possesses the power of evacuating offending matter from the head; of diminishing pain of the same part; of lessening inflammation; of restoring the appetite; of strengthening a weak stomach; of removing vertigo and a tendency to faint; of drawing deep-seated offending matter towards the surface; of drying up fluxions; checking hemorrhages; promoting menstrual evacuations; arresting the tendency to putrefaction in fevers; allaying rigors; accelerating and moderating the crisis of diseases; removing a propensity to somnolence; conciliating natural repose; removing heaviness. These, and many analogous maladies, are relieved by the judicious application of the Cucurbits (Cups), dry or bloody." From the ancient Greeks and Romans, through the Alexandrians and Byzantines, cupping therapy was passed on to the Muslim Arabs and Persians. The Prophet Mohammeds allallahu 'alaihi wa sallam even sanctioned the use of cupping. Cupping is now an important and popular therapeutic modality of Unani Medicine. In the West, cupping remained an important part of medicine and therapy, both conventional, alternative, and folk-based, until the early 20th century. The surgeon Charles Kennedy wrote, in 1826: "The art of cupping has been so well-known, and the benefits arising from it so long experienced, that it is quite unnecessary to bring forward testimonials in favor of what has received not only the approbation of modern times, but also the sanction of remotest antiquity." After fallingout of favor with medicine in the modern era, cupping therapy is enjoying a resurgence in popularity, promoted by acupuncturists and other holistic healthcare practitioners. New and exciting variations on this ancient technique, like cupping massage, are also being developed. One secret of cupping's perennial popularity is its great ability to promote a state of deep pleasure and profound relaxation. Hopefully, cupping is here to stay.

MEDICINE OF MEDIEVIL ISLAMIC WORLD

In the history of medicine, Islamic medicine, Arabic medicine, Greco-Arabic and Greco-Islamic refer to medicine developed in the Islamic Golden Age, and written in Arabic, the lingua franca of Islamic civilization. The emergence of Islamic medicine came about through the interactions of the indigenous Arab tradition with foreign influences. Translation of earlier texts was a fundamental building block in the formation of Islamic medicine and the tradition that has been passed down. Latin translations of Arabic medical works had a significant influence on the development of medicine in the high Middle Ages and early Renaissance, as did Arabic texts which translated the medical works of earlier cultures. In the early Islamic period (661–750 AD), Muslims became aware that Allah Sub'hanu wa ta'ala' provides a treatment for every illness. Around the ninth century, the Islamic medical community began to develop and utilize a system of medicine based on scientific analysis. The importance of the health sciences to society was emphasized, and the early Muslim medical community strived to find ways to care for the health of the human body. Medieval Islam developed hospitals, expanded the practice of surgery. Important medical thinkers and physicians of this time were Al-Razi (Rhazes) and Ibn Sina (Pur Sina). Their knowledge on medicine was recorded in books that were influential in medical schools throughout the Muslim world and Europe, and Ibn Sina in particular (under his Latinized name Avicenna) was also influential on the physicians of later medieval Europe. Throughout the medieval Islamic world, medicine was included under the umbrella of natural philosophy, due to the continued influence of the Hippocratic Corpus and the ideas of Aristotle and Galen. The Hippocratic Corpus was a collection of medical treatises attributed to the famous Greek physician Hippocrates of Cos (although it was actually composed by different generations of authors). The Corpus included a number of treatises which greatly influenced medieval Islamic medical literature Medicine was a central part of medieval Islamic culture. Responding to circumstances of time and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed a large and complex medical literature exploring, analyzing, and synthesizing the theory and practice of medicine. Islamic medicine was initially built on tradition, chiefly the theoretical and practical knowledge developed in Arabia and was known at Muhammad'sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam s time, ancient Hellenistic medicine such as Unani, ancient Indian medicine such as Ayurveda, and the ancient Iranian Medicine of the Academy of Gundishapur. The works of ancient Greek and Roman physicians Hippocrates, Galen and Dioscorides also had a lasting impact on Islamic medicine. Ophthalmology has been described as the most successful branch of medicine researched at the time, with the works of Ibn Al-Haitham remaining an authority in the field until early modern times. The earliest surviving Arabic work on medical ethics is Ishaq ibn 'Ali al-Ruhawi's Adab al-Tabib ("Practical Ethics of the Physician" or "Practical Medical Deontology") and was based on the works of Hippocrates and Galen. Al-Ruhawi regarded physicians as "guardians of souls and bodies", and wrote twenty chapters on various topics related to medical ethics.

Encyclopedias The first encyclopedia of medicine in Arabic language was Persian scientist Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari's Firdous al-Hikmah ("Paradise of Wisdom"), written in seven parts, c. 860. Al-Tabari, a pioneer in the field of

child development, emphasized strong ties between psychology and medicine, and the need for psychotherapy and counseling in the therapeutic treatment of patients. His encyclopedia also discussed the influence of Sushruta and Chanakya on medicine, including psychotherapy.[verification needed]

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS TO MUSLIM MEDICINE The art of healing was dead, Galen revived it; it was scattered and dis-arrayed, Razi re-arranged and realigned it; it was incomplete, Ibn Sinna perfected it. Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi 'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi (died 982-994), also known as Haly Abbas, was famous for the Kitab al-Maliki or Complete Book of the Medical Art, his textbook on medicine. Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi Zakariya Razi, commonly known as Rhazes, was a Persian physician, alchemist and chemist, philosopher, scholar, and a prominent figure in Islamic Golden Age. He was the chief surgeon in many hospitals in the cities of Rey and Baghdad, and he became an advisor to caliphs and rulers of the time. Thanks to his authority and achievements in medicine, he was considered as the father of Islamic medicine, "the greatest physician of the Muslim World", as well as a respected philosopher. He believed in the existence of Allah Sub'hanu wa ta'ala' and the soul but rejected prophetically revealed religion and ritualism, believing instead that anyone could use reason to understand the world.

He is known for separating the "science of physic" into two different aspects: physical and spiritual. The physical dealt with the "physiological diseases" while the latter dealt with the spiritual self. He felt that in order to completely understand the science of the body, a doctor needed to be a master of both the physical and spiritual knowledge regarding the body. Al-Razi was also interested in medical ethics, about which he wrote Ahlaq al-Tabeeb. In Ahlaq Al-Tabeeb (Medical Ethics) al-Razi wrote about the importance of morality in medicine. He presented the first model for ethics in Islamic medicine. He felt that it was important not only for the physician to be an expert in his field, but also to be a role model. His ideas on medical ethics were divided into three concepts: the physician's responsibility to patients and to self, and also the patients’ responsibility to physicians. In addition to being a famous physician, al-Razi is known for being an encyclopedic scholar, compiling more than 200 works during his lifetime, half of them on medicine. He wrote the Comprehensive Book of Medicine in the 9th century. The Large Comprehensive was the most sought after of all his compositions, in which Rhazes recorded clinical cases of his own experience and provided very useful recordings of various diseases. Al-Razi was "the first of the (physicians of medieval Islam) to treat medicine in a comprehensive and encyclopedic manner, surpassing probably in voluminousness Galen himself...Rhazes is deservedly remembered as having first described small-pox and measles in an accurate manner". The kitab-al Hawi fi al-tibb (The Comprehensive book of medicine, Continens Liber, The Virtuous Life) was one of his largest works, a collection of medical notes that al-Razi made throughout his life in the form of extracts from his reading and observations from his own medical experience. In its published form, it consists of 23 volumes. Each volume deals with specific parts or diseases of the body, although the

groupings of ailments are often idiosyncratic. Al-Hawi remained a textbook on medicine in most European universities, regarded until the seventeenth century as the most comprehensive work ever written by a medical man. al-Mansuri (Liber almansoris, Liber medicinalis ad almansorem) was written for "the Samanid prince Abu Salih al-Mansur ibn Ishaq, governor of Rayy."It consists of ten books based mainly on Greek science. It was a prescribed textbook for medical students for centuries. "The ninth section of the book, a detailed discussion of medical pathologies of the body from head to toe, became particularly famous and circulated in autonomous Latin translations as the Liber Nonus." Another work of al-Razi is called the Kitab Tibb al-Muluki (Regius). This book covers the treatments and cures of diseases and ailments, through dieting. It is thought to have been written for the noble class who were known for their gluttonous behavior and who frequently became ill with stomach diseases. Other works include A Dissertation on the causes of the Coryza which occurs in the spring when roses give forth their scent, a tract in which al-Razi discussed why it is that one contracts coryza or common cold by smelling roses during the spring season, and Bur’al Sa’a (Instant cure) in which he named medicines which instantly cured certain diseases. Abu-Ali al-Husayn ibn Abdullah ibn-Sina Ibn Sina, more commonly known in west as Avicenna was a Persian polymath and physician of the tenth and eleventh centuries. He was known for his scientific works, but especially his writing on medicine.Ibn Sina is credited with many varied medical observations and discoveries, such as recognizing the potential of airborne transmission of disease, providing insight into many psychiatric conditions, recommending use of forceps in deliveries complicated by fetal distress, distinguishing central from peripheral facial paralysis and describing guinea worm infection and trigeminal neuralgia.He is credited for writing two books in particular: his most famous, al-Canon fi al Tibb (The Canon of Medicine), and also The Book of Healing. His other works cover subjects including angelology, heart medicines, and treatment of kidney diseases. Avicenna’s medicine became the representative of Islamic medicine mainly through the influence of his famous work al-Canon fi al Tibb (The Canon of Medicine).The book was originally used as a textbook for instructors and students of medical sciences in the medical school of Avicenna. The book is divided into 5 volumes: The first volume is a compendium of medical principles, the second is a reference for individual drugs, the third contains organ-specific diseases, the fourth discusses systemic illnesses as well as a section of preventative health measures, and the fifth contains descriptions of compound medicines.The Canon was highly influential in medical schools and on later medical writers.

MEDICAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MEDIEVAL ISLAM Human anatomy and physiology It is claimed that an important advance in the knowledge of human anatomy and physiology was made by Ibn al-Nafis, but whether this was discovered via human dissection is doubtful because "al-Nafis tells us that he avoided the practice of dissection because of the shari'a and his own 'compassion' for the human body". The movement of blood through the human body was thought to be known due to the work of the Greek physicians. However, there was the question of how the blood flowed from the right ventricle of the heart to the left ventricle, before the blood is pumped to the rest of the body. According to Galen in the 2nd century, blood reached the left ventricle through invisible passages in the septum. By some means, Ibn alNafis, a 13th-century Syrian physician, found the previous statement on blood flow from the right ventricle to the left to be false.Ibn al-Nafis discovered that the ventricular septum was impenetrable, lacking any type of invisible passages, showing Galen’s assumptions to be false. Ibn al-Nafis discovered that the blood in the right ventricle of the heart is instead carried to the left by way of the lungs. This discovery was one of the first descriptions of the pulmonary circulation, although his writings on the subject were only rediscovered in the 20th century, and it was William Harvey's later independent discovery which brought it to general attention. According the Ancient Greeks, vision was thought to a visual spirit emanating from the eyes that allowed an object to be perceived. The 11th century Iraqi scientist Ibn al-Haytham, also known as Al-hazen in Latin, developed a radically new concept of human vision. Ibn al-Haytham took a straight forward approach towards vision by explaining that the eye was an optical instrument. The description on the anatomy of the eye led him to form the basis for his theory of image formation, which is explained through the refraction of light rays passing between 2 media of different densities.Ibn al-Haytham developed this new theory on vision from experimental investigations. In the 12th century, his Book of Optics was translated into Latin and continued to be studied both in the Islamic world and in Europe until the 17th century. Ahmad ibn Abi al-Ash’ath, a famous physician from Mosul, Iraq, described the physiology of the stomach in a live lion in his book al-Quadi wa al-muqtadi. He wrote: “When food enters the stomach, especially when it is plentiful, the stomach dilates and its layers get stretched...onlookers thought the stomach was rather small, so I proceeded to pour jug after jug in its throat…the inner layer of the distended stomach became as smooth as the external peritoneal layer. I then cut open the stomach and let the water out. The stomach shrank and I could see the pylorus…" Ahmad ibn Abi al-Ash’ath observed the physiology of the stomach in a live lion in 959. This description preceded William Beaumont by almost 900 years, making Ahmad ibn al-Ash’ath the first person to initiate experimental events in gastric physiology. According to Galen, in his work entitled De ossibus ad tirones, the lower jaw consists of two parts and it can be proven by the fact that it disintegrates in the middle when cooked. Al-Baghdadi, while on a visit to Egypt, encountered many skeletal remains of those “who had died from starvation or had been eaten by their fellows” near Cairo. He examined the skeletons and established that the mandible consists of one piece, not two as Galen had taught. He wrote in his work Al-Ifada w-al-Itibar fi al_Umar al Mushahadah w-

al-Hawadith al-Muayanah bi Ard Misr, or “Book of Instruction and Admonition on the Things Seen and Events Recorded in the Land of Egypt”: What I saw of this part of the corpses convinced me that the bone of the lower jaw is all one, with no joint nor suture. I have repeated the observation a great number of times, in over two thousand heads…I have been assisted by various different people, who have repeated the same examination, both in my absence and under my eyes... Unfortunately, Al-Baghdadi’s discovery was ignored by any medical superiors or literature after his time. This was probably because the information was published in a book about the geography of Egypt. The ignorance of this discovery could also been because the medical establishment was not yet ready to give prominence to observation over the word of ancient authority.

Drugs Medical contributions made by Medieval Islam included the use of plants as a type of remedy or medicine. Medieval Islamic physicians used natural substances as a source of medicinal drugs—including Papaver somniferum Linnaeus, poppy, and Cannabis sativa Linnaeus, hemp. In pre-Islamic Arabia, neither poppy nor hemp was known. Hemp was introduced into the Islamic countries in the ninth century from India through Persia and Greek culture and medical literature. The Greek, Dioscorides, who according to the Arabs is the greatest botanist of antiquity, recommended hemp’s seeds to "quench geniture" and its juice for earaches. Beginning in 800 and lasting for over two centuries, poppy use was restricted to the therapeutic realm. However, the dosages often exceeded medical need and was used repeatedly despite what was originally recommended. Poppy was prescribed by Yuhanna b. Masawayh to relieve pain from attacks of gallbladder stones, for fevers, indigestion, eye, head and tooth aches, pleurisy, and to induce sleep. Although poppy had medicinal benefits, Ali al-Tabari explained that the extract of poppy leaves was lethal, and that the extracts and opium should be considered poisons.

Surgery The development and growth of hospitals in ancient Islamic society expanded the medical practice to what is currently known as surgery. Surgical procedures were known to physicians during the medieval period because of earlier texts that included descriptions of the procedures. Translation from pre-Islamic medical publishings was a fundamental building block for physicians and surgeons in order to expand the practice. Surgery was uncommonly practiced by physicians and other medical affiliates due to a very low success rate, even though earlier records provided favorable outcomes to certain operations.[1] There were many different types of procedures performed in ancient Islam, especially in the area of ophthalmology.

Techniques Bloodletting and cauterization were techniques widely used in ancient Islamic society by physicians, as a therapy to treat patients. These two techniques were commonly practiced because of the wide variety of illnesses they treated. Cauterization, a procedure used to burn the skin or flesh of a wound, was performed to prevent infection and stop profuse bleeding. To perform this procedure, physicians heated a metal rod and used it to burn the flesh or skin of a wound. This would cause the blood from the wound to clot and eventually heal the wound.

Bloodletting, the surgical removal of blood, was used to cure a patient of bad "humours" considered deleterious to one’s health. A phlebotomist performing bloodletting on a patient drained the blood straight from the veins. "Wet" cupping, a form of bloodletting, was performed by making a slight incision in the skin and drawing blood by applying a heated cupping glass. The heat and suction from the glass caused the blood to rise to the surface of the skin to be drained. “Dry cupping”, the placement of a heated cupping glass (without an incision) on a particular area of a patient’s body to relieve pain, itching, and other common ailments, was also used. Though these procedures seem relatively easy for phlebotomists to perform, there were instances where they had to pay compensation for causing injury or death to a patient because of carelessness when making an incision. Both cupping and phlebotomy were considered helpful when a patient was sickly.

Treatment Surgery was important in treating patients with eye complications, such as trachoma and cataracts. A common complication of trachoma patients is the vascularization of the tissue that invades the cornea of the eye, which was thought to be the cause of the disease, by ancient Islamic physicians. The technique used to correct this complication was done surgically and known today as peritomy. This procedure was done by "employing an instrument for keeping the eye open during surgery,a number of very small hooks for lifting, and a very thin scalpel for excision." A similar technique in treating complications of trachoma, called pterygium, was used to remove the triangular-shaped part of the bulbar conjunctiva onto the cornea. This was done by lifting the growth with small hooks and then cut with a small lancet. Both of these surgical techniques were extremely painful for the patient and intricate for the physician or his assistants to perform. In medieval Islamic literature, cataracts were thought to have been caused by a membrane or opaque fluid that rested between the lens and the pupil. The method for treating cataracts in medieval Islam (known in English as couching) was known through translations of earlier publishings on the technique. A small incision was made in the sclera with a lancet and a probe was then inserted and used to depress the lens, pushing it to one side of the eye. After the procedure was complete, the eye was then washed with salt water and then bandaged with cotton wool soaked in oil of roses and egg whites. After the operation, there was concern that the cataract, once it had been pushed to one side, would reascend, which is why patients were instructed to lie on his or her back for several days following the surgery.

Anesthesia and antisepsis In both modern society and medieval Islamic society, anesthesia and antisepsis are important aspects of surgery. Before the development of anesthesia and antisepsis, surgery was limited to fractures, dislocations, traumatic injuries resulting in amputation, and urinary disorders or other common infections. Ancient Islamic physicians attempted to prevent infection when performing procedures for a sick patient, for example by washing a patient before a procedure; similarly, following a procedure, the area was often cleaned with “wine, wined mixed with oil of roses, oil of roses alone, salt water, or vinegar water”, which have antiseptic properties. Various herbs and resins including frankincense, myrrh, cassia, and members of the laurel family were also used to prevent infections, although it is impossible to know exactly how effective these treatments were in the prevention of sepsis. The pain-killing uses of opium had been known since ancient times; other drugs including “henbane, hemlock, soporific black nightshade, lettuce seeds”

were also used by Islamic physicians to treat pain. Some of these drugs, especially opium, were known to cause drowsiness, and some modern scholars have argued that these drugs were used to cause a person to lose consciousness before an operation, as a modern day anesthetic would. However, there is no clear reference to such a use before the 16th century. Muslim scholars introduced mercuric chloride to disinfect wounds.

Hospitals Many hospitals were developed during the early Islamic era. They were called Bimaristan, which is a Persian word meaning "house [or place] of the sick.] The idea of a hospital being a place for the care of sick people was taken from the early Caliphs. The bimaristan is seen as early as the time of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam, and the Prophet's mosque in the city of Madinah held the first Muslim hospital service in its courtyard. During the Ghazwah Khandaq (the Battle of the Trench), Muhammad sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam came across wounded soldiers and he ordered a tent be assembled to provide medical care. Over time, Caliphs and rulers expanded traveling bimaristans to include doctors and pharmacists. Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik is often credited with building the first bimaristan in Damascus in 707 AD. The bimaristan had a staff of salaried physicians and a well equipped dispensary. It treated the blind, lepers and other disabled people, and also separated those patients with leprosy from the rest of the ill. Some consider this bimaristan no more than a lepersoria because it only segregated patients with leprosy. The first true Islamic hospital was built during the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. The Caliph invited the son of chief physician, Jabril ibn Bukhtishu to head the new Baghdad bimaristan. It quickly achieved fame and led to the development of other hospitals in Baghdad.

Features of bimaristans As hospitals developed during the Islamic civilization, specific characteristics were attained. Bimaristans were secular. They served all people regardless of their race, religion, citizenship, or gender. The Waqf documents stated nobody was ever to be turned away. The ultimate goal of all physicians and hospital staff was to work together to help the well-being of their patients. There was no time limit a patient could spend as an inpatient; the Waqf documents stated the hospital was required to keep all patients until they were fully recovered. Men and women were admitted to separate but equally equipped wards.The separate wards were further divided into mental disease, contagious disease, non-contagious disease, surgery, medicine, and eye disease.Patients were attended to by same sex nurses and staff. Each hospital contained a lecture hall, kitchen, pharmacy, library, mosque and occasionally a chapel for Christian patients.Recreational materials and musicians were often employed to comfort and cheer patients up. The hospital was not just a place to treat patients, it also served as a medical school to educate and train students. Basic science preparation was learned through private tutors, self-study and lectures. Islamic hospitals were the first to keep written records of patients and their medical treatment. Students were responsible in keeping these patient records, which were later edited by doctors and referenced in future treatments. During this era, physician licensure became mandatory in the Abbasid Caliphate. In 931 AD, Caliph AlMuqtadir learned of the death of one of his subjects as a result of a physician's error. He immediately ordered his muhtasib Sinan ibn Thabit to examine and prevent doctors from practicing until they passed an

examination.From this time on, licensing exams were required and only qualified physicians were allowed to practice medicine.

Pharmacy The birth of pharmacy as an independent, well-defined profession was established in the early ninth century by Muslim scholars. Al-Biruni states that "pharmacy became independent from medicine as language and syntax are separate from composition, the knowledge of prosody from poetry, and logic from philosophy, for it [pharmacy] is an aid [to medicine] rather than a servant". Sabur (d. 869) wrote the first text on pharmacy.

Women and medicine During the medieval time period Hippocratic treaties became used widespread by medieval physicians, due the treaties practical form as well as their accessibility for medieval practicing physicians. Hippocratic treaties of Gynecology and Obstetrics were commonly referred to by Muslim clinicians when discussing female diseases. The Hippocratic authors associated women’s general and reproductive health and organs and functions that were believed to have no counterparts in the male body.

Beliefs The Hippocratics blamed the Womb for many of the women’s health problems such as Schizophrenia.They described the womb as an independent creature inside the female body; and, when the womb was not fixed in place by pregnancy, the womb which craves moisture, was believed to move to moist body organs such as the liver, heart, and brain. The movement of the womb was assumed to cause many health conditions most particularly that of menstruation was also considered essential for maintaining women’s general health. Many beliefs regarding women’s bodies and their health in the Islamic context can be found in the religious literature known as "medicine of the prophet." These texts suggested that men stay away from women during their menstrual periods, “for this blood is corrupt blood,” and could actually harm those who come in contact with it. Much advice was given with respect to the proper diet to encourage female health and in particular fertility. For example: quince makes a woman’s heart tender and better; incense will result in the woman giving birth to a male; the consumption of water melons while pregnant will increase the chance the child is of good character and countenance; dates should be eaten both before childbirth to encourage the bearing of sons and afterwards to aid the woman’s recovery; parsley and the fruit of the palm tree stimulates sexual intercourse; asparagus eases the pain of labor; and eating the udder of an animal increases lactation in women. In addition to being viewed as a religiously significant activity, sexual activity was considered healthy in moderation for both men and women. However, the pain and medical risk associated with childbirth was so respected that women who died while giving birth could be viewed as martyrs. The use of invocations to God, and prayers were also a part of religious belief surrounding women's health, the most notable being Mahammed’s encounter with a slave-girl whose scabbed body he saw as evidence of her possession by the Evil Eye. He recommended that the girl and others possessed by the Eye use a specific invocation to God in order to rid themselves of its debilitating effects on their spiritual and physical health.

Roles It has been written that male guardians such as fathers and husbands did not consent to their wives or daughters being examined by male practitioners unless absolutely necessary in life or death circumstances. The male guardians would just as soon treat their women themselves or have them be seen by female practitioners for the sake of privacy.The women similarly felt the same way; such is the case with pregnancy and the accompanying processes such as child birth and breastfeeding, which were solely reliant upon advice given by other women. The role of women as practitioners appears in a number of works despite the male dominance within the medical field. Two female physicians from Ibn Zuhr's family served the Almohad ruler Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur in the 12th century. Later in the 15th century, female surgeons were illustrated for the first time in Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu's Cerrahiyyetu'l-Haniyye (Imperial Surgery). The treatment provided of women by men was justified to some, whom were believers, through the ideals of the Prophetic medicine (al-tibba alnabawi) other wise known as "medicine of the prophet" (tibb al-nabi) which provided the argument that men can treat women, and women men, even if this means they must expose the patients genitals in necessary circumstances. Female doctors, Midwives, and wet nurses have all been mentioned in literature of the time period.

Role of Christians A hospital and medical training center existed at Gundeshapur. The city of Gundeshapur was founded in 271 by the Sassanid king Shapur I. It was one of the major cities in Khuzestan province of the Persian empire in what is today Iran. A large percentage of the population were Syriacs, most of whom were Christians. Under the rule of Khusraw I, refuge was granted to Greek Nestorian Christian philosophers including the scholars of the Persian School of Edessa (Urfa)(also called the Academy of Athens), a Christian theological and medical university. These scholars made their way to Gundeshapur in 529 following the closing of the academy by Emperor Justinian. They were engaged in medical sciences and initiated the first translation projects of medical texts. The arrival of these medical practitioners from Edessa marks the beginning of the hospital and medical center at Gundeshapur. It included a medical school and hospital (bimaristan), a pharmacology laboratory, a translation house, a library and an observatory. Indian doctors also contributed to the school at Gundeshapur, most notably the medical researcher Mankah. Later after Islamic invasion, the writings of Mankah and of the Indian doctor Sustura were translated into Arabic at Baghdad. Daud al-Antaki was one of the last generation of influential Arab Christian writers.

Legacy Medieval Islam’s receptiveness to new ideas and heritages helped it make major advances in medicine during this time, adding to earlier medical ideas and techniques, expanding the development of the health sciences and corresponding institutions, and advancing medical knowledge in areas such as surgery and understanding of the human body, although many Western scholars have not fully acknowledged its influence (independent of Roman and Greek influence) on the development of medicine. Through the establishment and development of hospitals, ancient Islamic physicians were able to provide more intrinsic operations to cure patients, such as in the area of ophthalmology. This allowed for medical practices to be expanded and developed for future reference.

The contributions of the two major Muslim philosophers and physicians, Al-Razi and Ibn Sina, provided a lasting impact on Muslim medicine. Through their compilation of knowledge into medical books they each had a major influence on the education and filtration of medical knowledge in Islamic culture. Additionally there were some iconic contributions made by women during this time, such as the documentation: of female doctors, physicians, surgeons, wet nurses, and midwives.

MEDICINE IN THE MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC WORLD ; LIST

PHYSICIANS 7th century Al-Harith ibn Kalada and his son · Abu Hafsa Yazid · Bukhtishu · Masarjawaih · Ibn Abi Ramtha al-Tamimi · Rufaida Al-Aslamia · Ibn Uthal

9th century Albubather · Bukhtishu family · Jabril ibn Bukhtishu · Jābir ibn Hayyān · Hunayn ibn Ishaq and his son · Yahya ibn Sarafyun · Al-Kindi · Masawaiyh · Sabur ibn Sahl · Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari · Al-Ruhawi · Yuhanna ibn Bukhtishu · Salmawaih ibn Bunan

8th century Bukhtishu family · Ja'far al-Sadiq

10th century Qusta ibn Luqa · Abu ul-Ala Shirazi · Abul Hasan al-Tabari · Al-Natili · Qumri · Abu Zayd al-Balkhi · Isaac Israeli ben Solomon · Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi · Abu Sahl 'Isa ibn Yahya al-Masihi · Muvaffak · Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi · Ibn Juljul · Al-Zahrawi · Ibn al-Jazzar · Al-Kaŝkarī · Ibn Abi al-Ashʿath · Ibn al-Batriq · Ibrahim ibn Baks

11th century

12th century

Abu Ubaid Juzjani · Alhazen · Ali ibn Ridwan · Avicenna · Ephraim ibn al-Za'faran · Ibn al-Wafid · Abdollah ibn Bukhtishu · Ibn Butlan · Ibn al-Kattani · Ibn Jazla · Masawaih al-Mardini · Yusuf al-Ilaqi · Ibn Al-Thahabi · Ibn Abi Sadiq · Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal

Abu al-Bayan ibn al-Mudawwar · Ahmad ibn Farrokh · Ibn Hubal · Zayn al-Din Gorgani · Maimonides · Serapion the Younger · Ibn Zuhr · Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Israili · Abu Jafar ibn Harun of Trujillo · Averroes · Ibn Tufail · Al-Ghafiqi · Ibn Abi al-Hakam · Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī · Samauʼal Al-Maghribī · Ibn al-Tilmīdh · Ibn Jumay‘

13th century Sa'ad al-Dawla · Al-Shahrazuri · Rashidun al-Suri · Amin al-Din Rashid al-Din Vatvat · Avraham son of Rambam · Da'ud Abu al-Fadl · Al-Dakhwar · Ibn Abi Usaibia · Joseph ben Judah of Ceuta · Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (medieval writer) · Ibn al-Nafis · Zakariya al-Qazwini · Najib ad-Din-e-Samarqandi · Qotb al-Din Shirazi · Ibn al-Quff

15th century Abu Sa'id al-Afif · Muhammad Ali Astarabadi · Husayni Isfahani · Burhan-ud-din Kermani · Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu · Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Harawi · Nurbakhshi · Shaykh Muhammad ibn Thaleb

14th century Muhammad ibn Mahmud Amuli · Al-Nagawri · Aqsara'i · Zayn-e-Attar · Mansur ibn Ilyas · Jaghmini · Mas‘ud ibn Muhammad Sijzi · Najm al-Din Mahmud ibn Ilyas al-Shirazi ·Nakhshabi · Sadid al-Din al-Kazaruni · Yusuf ibn Ismail al-Kutubi · Ibn al-Khatib · Rashid-al-Din Hamadani

16th century Hakim-e-Gilani · Abul Qasim ibn Mohammed al-Ghassani ·Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf · Dawud al-Antaki

CONCEPTS Psychology · Ophthalmology

WORKS The Canon of Medicine · Anatomy Charts of the Arabs · The Book of Healing · Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye · De Gradibus · Al-Tasrif · Zakhireye Khwarazmshahi · Adab al-Tabib

CENTERS Bimaristan · Nur al-Din Bimaristan · Al-'Adudi

INFLUENCES Ancient Greek medicine

INFLUENCED Medical Renaissance · Ibn Sina Academy of Medieval Medicine and Sciences

FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE 1800S

Earliest descriptions of bloodletting is available in Ancient Ayurvedic Texts, wherein detailed, systematic, scientific modes of bloodletting are cited. Bloodletting is one of the oldest medical techniques, having been practiced among ancient peoples including the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians, and the Greeks. In Greece, bloodletting was in use in the fifth century B.C. during the lifetime of Hippocrates, who mentions this practice but generally relied on dietary techniques. Erasistratus, however, theorized that many diseases were caused by plethoras, or overabundances, in the blood and advised that these plethoras be treated, initially, by exercise, sweating, reduced food intake, and vomiting. Herophilus advocated bloodletting. Archagathus, one of the first Greek physicians to practice in Rome, also believed in the value of bloodletting. "Bleeding" a patient to health was modeled on the process of menstruation. Hippocrates believed that menstruation functioned to "purge women of bad humors". During the Roman Empire, the Greek physician Galen, who subscribed to the teachings of Hippocrates, advocated physician-initiated bloodletting. The popularity of bloodletting in the classical Mediterranean world was reinforced by the ideas of Galen, after he discovered that not only veins but also arteries were filled with blood, not air as was commonly believed at the time. There were two key concepts in his system of bloodletting. The first was that blood was created and then used up; it did not circulate, and so it could "stagnate" in the extremities. The second was that humoral balance was the basis of illness or health, the four humours being blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile, relating to the four Greek classical elements of air, water, earth and fire respectively. Galen believed that blood was the dominant humour and the one in most need of control. In order to balance the humours, a physician would either remove "excess" blood (plethora) from the patient or give them an emetic to induce vomiting, or a diuretic to induce urination. Galen created a complex system of how much blood should be removed based on the patient's age, constitution, the season, the weather and the place. "Do-it yourself" bleeding instructions following these systems were developed. Symptoms of plethora were believed to include fever, apoplexy, and headache. The blood to be let was of a specific nature determined by the disease: either arterial or venous, and distant or close to the area of the body affected. He linked different blood vessels with different organs, according to their supposed drainage. For example, the vein in the right hand would be let for liver problems and the vein in the left hand for problems with the spleen. The more severe the disease, the more blood would be let. Fevers required copious amounts of bloodletting. The Talmud recommended a specific day of the week and days of the month for bloodletting, and similar rules, though less codified, can be found among Christian writings advising which saints' days were favourable for bloodletting. During medieval times bleeding charts were common, showing specific bleeding sites on the body in alignment with the planets and zodiacs Even after the humoral system fell into disuse, the practice was continued by surgeons and barbersurgeons. Though the bloodletting was often recommended by physicians, it was carried out by barbers. This division of labour led to the distinction between physicians and surgeons. The red-and-white-striped pole of the barbershop, still in use today, is derived from this practice: the red represents the blood being drawn, the white represents the tourniquet used, and the pole itself represents the stick squeezed in the

patient's hand to dilate the veins. Bloodletting was used to "treat" a wide range of diseases, becoming a standard treatment for almost every ailment, and was practiced prophylactically as well as therapeutically. The benefits of bloodletting only began to be seriously questioned in the second half of the 1800s, as the development of evidence-based medicine led to new statistical methods for evaluating treatment effectiveness. While many physicians in England at the time had lost faith in the general value of bloodletting, some still considered it beneficial in some circumstances, for instance to "clear out" infected or weakened blood or its ability to "cause hæmorrhages to cease"—as evidenced in a call for a "fair trial for blood-letting as a remedy" in 1871.Bloodletting persisted into the 20th century and was even recommended by Sir William Osler in the 1923 edition of his textbook The Principles and Practice of Medicine. A number of different methods were employed. The most common was phlebotomy, or venesection (often called "breathing a vein"), in which blood was drawn from one or more of the larger external veins, such as those in the forearm or neck. In arteriotomy, an artery was punctured, although generally only in the temples. In scarification (not to be confused with scarification, a method of body modification), the "superficial" vessels were attacked, often using a syringe, a spring-loaded lancet, or a glass cup that contained heated air, producing a vacuum within (see fire cupping). There was also a specific bloodletting tool called a scarificator, used primarily in 19th century medicine. It has a spring-loaded mechanism with gears that snaps the blades out through slits in the front cover and back in, in a circular motion. The case is cast brass, and the mechanism and blades steel. One knife bar gear has slipped teeth, turning the blades in a different direction than those on the other bars. Leeches could also be used. The withdrawal of so much blood as to induce syncope (fainting) was considered beneficial, and many sessions would only end when the patient began to swoon. William Harvey disproved the basis of the practice in 1628, and the introduction of scientific medicine, la méthode numérique, allowed Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis to demonstrate that phlebotomy was entirely ineffective in the treatment of pneumonia and various fevers in the 1830s. Nevertheless, in 1840, a lecturer at the Royal College of Physicians would still state that "blood-letting is a remedy which, when judiciously employed, it is hardly possible to estimate too highly", and Louis was dogged by the sanguinary Broussais, who could recommend leeches fifty at a time. Some physicians resisted Louis' work because they "were not prepared to discard therapies 'validated by both tradition and their own experience on account of somebody else's numbers'." Bloodletting was used to treat almost every disease. One British medical text recommended bloodletting for acne, asthma, cancer, cholera, coma, convulsions, diabetes, epilepsy, gangrene, gout, herpes, indigestion, insanity, jaundice, leprosy, ophthalmia, plague, pneumonia, scurvy, smallpox, stroke, tetanus, tuberculosis, and for some one hundred other diseases. Bloodletting was even used to treat most forms of hemorrhaging such as nosebleed, excessive menstruation, or hemorrhoidal bleeding. Before surgery or at the onset of childbirth, blood was removed to prevent inflammation. Before amputation, it was customary to remove a quantity of blood equal to the amount believed to circulate in the limb that was to be removed. Leeches became especially popular in the early nineteenth century. In the 1830s, the French imported about forty million leeches a year for medical purposes, and in the next decade, England imported six million leeches a year from France alone. Through the early decades of the century, hundreds of millions of leeches were used by physicians throughout Europe.

One typical course of medical treatment began the morning of 13 July 1824. A French sergeant was stabbed through the chest while engaged in single combat; within minutes, he fainted from loss of blood. Arriving at the local hospital he was immediately bled twenty ounces (570 ml) "to prevent inflammation". During the night he was bled another 24 ounces (680 ml). Early the next morning, the chief surgeon bled the patient another 10 ounces (285 ml); during the next 14 hours, he was bled five more times. Medical attendants thus intentionally removed more than half of the patient's normal blood supply—in addition to the initial blood loss which caused the sergeant to faint. Bleedings continued over the next several days. By 29 July, the wound had become inflamed. The physician applied 32 leeches to the most sensitive part of the wound. Over the next three days, there were more bleedings and a total of 40 more leeches. The sergeant recovered and was discharged on 3 October. His physician wrote that "by the large quantity of blood lost, amounting to 170 ounces [nearly eleven pints] (4.8 liters), besides that drawn by the application of leeches [perhaps another two pints] (1.1 liters), the life of the patient was preserved". By nineteenthcentury standards, thirteen pints of blood taken over the space of a month was a large but not an exceptional quantity. The medical literature of the period contains many similar accounts-some successful, some not. Bloodletting was also popular in the young United States of America, where Benjamin Rush (a signatory of the Declaration of Independence) saw the state of the arteries as the key to disease, recommending levels of bloodletting that were high even for the time. George Washington asked to be bled heavily after he developed a throat infection from weather exposure. Within a ten hour period, a total of 124-126 ounces (3.75 liters) of blood was withdrawn prior to his death from a throat infection in 1799.

Bloodsticks for use when bleeding animals One reason for the continued popularity of bloodletting (and purging) was that, while anatomical knowledge, surgical and diagnostic skills increased tremendously in Europe from the 17th century, the key to curing disease remained elusive, and the underlying belief was that it was better to give any treatment than nothing at all. The psychological benefit of bloodletting to the patient (a placebo effect) may sometimes have outweighed the physiological problems it caused. Bloodletting slowly lost favour during the 19th century, but a number of other ineffective or harmful treatments were available as placebos— mesmerism, various processes involving the new technology of electricity, many potions, tonics, and elixirs. In the absence of other treatments, bloodletting actually is beneficial in some circumstances, including hemochromatosis, the fluid overload of heart failure, and possibly simply to reduce blood pressure. In other cases, such as those involving agitation, the reduction in blood pressure might appear beneficial due to the sedative effects. In 1844, Joseph Pancoast listed the advantages of bloodletting in "A Treatise on Operative Surgery". Not all of these reasons are outrageous nowadays: The opening of the superficial vessels for the purpose of extracting blood constitutes one of the most common operations of the practitioner. The principal results, which we effect by it, are 1st. The diminution of the mass of the blood, by which the overloaded capillary or larger vessels of some affected part may be relieved; 2. The modification of the force and frequency of the heart's action; 3. A change in the composition of the blood, rendering it less stimulating; the proportion of serum becoming increased after bleeding, in consequence of its being reproduced with greater facility than the other elements of the blood; 4. The production of syncope, for the purpose of effecting a sudden general relaxation of the system; and, 5. The derivation, or drawing as it is alleged, of the force of the circulation from some of the

internal organs, towards the open outlet of the superficial vessel. These indications may be fulfilled by opening either a vein or an artery.

TYPES OF CUPPING Definition of Cupping The word “cupping” was derived from the Arabic verbs “Hajama” and “Haj’jama” which they mean “to minimize” or “to restore to basic size”, or “to diminish in volume”. In Arabic they say, “A certain person diminished the problem”, they meant that he returned the problem to its original size. There is also a verb “ahjama” which means “to withdraw or retreat from attack”. Broadly speaking there are two types of cupping: dry cupping and bleeding or wet cupping (controlled bleeding) with wet cupping being more common. The British Cupping Society (BCS), an organisation promoting the practice, teaches both. As a general rule, wet cupping provides a more "curative-treatment approach" to patient management whereas dry cupping appeals more to a "therapeutic and relaxation approach". Preference varies with practitioners and cultures.

Dry cupping The cupping procedure commonly involves creating a small area of low air pressure next to the skin. However, there is variety in the tools used, the method of creating the low pressure, and the procedures followed during the treatment. The cups can be various shapes including balls or bells, and may range in size from 1 to 3 inches (25 to 76 mm) across the opening. Plastic and glass are the most common materials used today, replacing the horn, pottery, bronze and bamboo cups used in earlier times. The low air pressure required may be created by heating the cup or the air inside it with an open flame or a bath in hot scented oils, then placing it against the skin. As the air inside the cup cools, it contracts and draws the skin slightly inside. More recently, vacuum can be created with a mechanical suction pump acting through a valve located at the top of the cup. Rubber cups are also available that squeeze the air out and adapt to uneven or bony surfaces.[citation needed] In practice, cups are normally used only on softer tissue that can form a good seal with the edge of the cup. They may be used singly or with many to cover a larger area. They may be used by themselves or placed over an acupuncture needle. Skin may be lubricated, allowing the cup to move across the skin slowly. Depending on the specific treatment, skin marking is common after the cups are removed. This may be a simple red ring that disappears quickly, the discolouration left by the cups is normally from bruising especially if dragging the cups while suctioned from one place to another to break down muscle fiber. Usually treatments are not painful.

Fire cupping Fire cupping involves soaking a cotton ball in 70% alcohol. The cotton is then clamped by a pair of forceps and lit via match or lighter. The flaming cotton ball is then, in one fluid motion, placed into the cup, quickly removed, and placed on the skin. By adding fire to the inside of the cup, oxygen is removed (which is of course replaced with an equal volume of carbon dioxide) and a small amount of suction is created by the air cooling down again. Massage oil may be applied to create a better seal as well as allow the cups to glide over muscle groups (e.g. trapezius, erectors, latisimus dorsi, etc.) in an act called "moving cupping". Dark circles may appear where the cups were placed due to rupture of the capillaries just under the skin, but are not the same as a bruise caused by blunt-force trauma.

Wet cupping While the history of wet cupping may date back thousands of years, the first documented uses are found in the teachings of the prophet Muhammadsallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam According to Muhammad al-Bukhari, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Nishapuri and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muhammad approved of the Hijama (cupping) treatment. A number of hadith support its recommendation and use by Muhammad sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam . As a result, the practice of cupping therapy has survived in Muslim countries. Today, wet cupping is a popular remedy practiced in many parts of the Muslim world. Mild suction is created using a cup and a pump (or heat suction) on the selected area and left for about three minutes. The cup is then removed and small superficial skin incisions are made using a cupping scalpel. A second suction is used to carefully draw out a small quantity of blood. The procedure was piloted and developed by Ullah et al 2005 and has been endorsed by the British Cupping Society which aims to promote, protect and develop professional standards in cupping therapy. In Finland, wet cupping has been done at least since the 15th century, and it is done traditionally in saunas. The cupping cups were made of cow's horns with a valve mechanism in it to create an underpressure on them by sucking the air out. Cupping is still used in Finland as an alternative medicine.

HOW CUPPING WORKS Traditional healers have long recognised the association between pain and conditions of congestion, stagnation and blockage. An old chinese medical maxim states; 2 where theres stagnation, there will be pain. Remove the stagnation, and you remove the pain “ Not omly pain, but the vast majority of an illness and disease comes from stagnation, congestion and blockage – of energy, like the Vital Force, or Vital Fluids or Humors, like blood, phlegm, or lymph. The suction applied by cupping sucks out and breaks upthat congestion, stagnation or blockage, restoring a free flow to the vital energies and humors of the organs Actually, pain is the essence of disease. Suffering, or disease, is experienced when things arent flowing right, when theres some difficulty or obstruction to the natural flow and functioning of the body. That is what Galen meant when he spoke of disease as being the state contary to nature.

In addition to dispensing and braking up stagnation and congestion in the flow of the Vital Force, blood and other humors, cupping also disperses pathogenic heat, toxins and inflammation by bringing them to the surface for realese. Pathogenic heat and toxins can fester and eat away at the organism when theyre submerged and under pressure, but they find release at the surface. Cupping can even be instrumental in mitigating or releiving fevers in the acute crisis stage, and in mitigating and reducing the putrification of blood and other humors, a common cause of fevers. By drawing congested energy, blood, or other humors to the surface, cupping is a form of derivation therapy. Derivation means the drawing away or diversion of vital energies or substances away from the site of blockage and obstruction in order to releive congestion and restore health and patency to the organism. Toxins, morbid humors and other congested offending matter can do more harm when they are deep within the organism, obstructing the functioning of the vital organs at the bodies core. The organism, whenever it can, will try to peripheralise such morbid matter by sending it to the serface in the form of various cysts, boils, or erruptions, even though they may be unsightly. Cupping is a way of activating this peripherlisation and releiving pathogenic congestion to the internal organs, thus averting or preventing more serious disorders. By improving the circulation of blood, lymph and other vital fluids and breaking up and dispersing blockages and congestion of offending waste matter, toxins and morbid humors, cupping improves the elimination functions and the evacuation of wastes from the organism. In Greek Medicine, the proper and timely evacuation of wasdtes from the body forms an important aspect of hygiene. Wheather it be constipation, urinary retention, or even suppressed menses, the undue retention of anything that should be expelled is a major cause of morbidity and disease.

THE BENEFITS OF CUPPING The benefits of cupping are many. On a general level, cupping improves the circulation or the blood and lymph. It also regulates and improves the functioning of the automatic nervous system. Locally, the most obvious benefit of cupping is the relif of pain and a relaxation and increased suppleness of stiff tendons and muscles. Cupping increases the cleansing flow of lymph, while removing congested blood from muscles. If cuppinf is applied to the joints, the blood flow to the joints is increased and theres an increased secretion of synovial fluid into the joint cavity. Cuppings effect on the digestive system/ organs, is to increase their digestive secretions and enhance their peristatic movement. Cupping can awaken the appetite, strengthen the stomach and digestion, improve bile flow and metabolism, releive constipation and promote regularity of the bowels. Cupping has a dramatic detoxifying effect on the skin and circulatory system. By increaseing the flow of blood and plasma through the veins and arteries, cupping enhances the cleansing and removal of toxins.This detoxification may not be observable after just one treatment, but after about three to five treatments, there will be a noticable improvement in the clour of ones complexion.

Cupping is benefical and indicated for multiple disorders affecting multiple organ systems; Digestive system Constipation Diarrhea Irratable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Vital, Metabolic Low energy Fatigue Anemia Atrophy of the tissues Cellulite Emaciation Weight gain Normalises body weight

Nervous system Headaches Depression Emotional problems Balances the nervous system

Gynecological Menstrual pain Suppressed or iregular menses

Muscularskeletal Local application, as appropriate, for Back pain#artheritis traumatic injuries Lumbago Sciatica

Respitory and circulatory Astma Bronchitis Common cold and flu High blood pressure Increased blood flow to the skin is theraputic for many skin disorders.

Plus other systems and every conceivable disease, illness, discomfort of the body.

THE PRECISE SCIENTIFIC MEDICAL RULES FOR CUPPING OPERATION “DISCOVERED BY THE SAVANT M. AMIN SHEIKHO” The place of body for applying the cupping operation. It is: near the lower end of the shoulder blade (the scapula) in the two symmetric locations between the spine and the inside limit of the scapula. The cupping operation makes a kind of blood congestion in the upper part of the back "these two symmetric places of back" by using (air cups). This cup is applied on the upper frontal part of the back, near the lower end of the scapulae and on the two sides of the spine. This is because it is the calmest area in the body and void of moving joints. This area is a net of plexus capillaries of much ramification and profusion which makes the flow rate of blood circulation much less where the blood of the body precipitates its harmful precipitations (such as cell ghosts and dead of red blood cells ...) in it. We made a lab study on this case, we found that the white corpuscles were less in this area of the back on the Cupping position other hand the cupping blood (the withdrawn blood by cupping) was full of cell ghosts, dead and abnormal red blood cells which made the cupping operation very suitable here. We per-formed cupping operations in places on the leg, the two jugular veins, and the back near the pelvis. The cupping blood in these places was similar to the vein blood.

The suitable age for applying cupping operation Concerning men: It is incumbent upon every male who reaches the twenty-two years of age to undergo cupping operationfrom the seventeenth day of the lunar month which comes in the spring season of every year until the twenty-seventh day of it. Childhood and adulthood stages require big quantities of iron because the body is in the phase of growth. These quantities are not completely supplied by food for this growing body. This decrease in iron is equalized by the way of digesting the senile and spoiled red blood cells in the liver and the spleen, and the phagocytes of the body forming the stored iron reserve which are kept for the body needs. The body in general and its bone marrow in particular benefit from these red blood cells after transforming them suitably in a series of operations "metabolism" producing the iron (hemo) and amino acids (globin) which are used by the growing body to supply its need of iron in addition to reconstruction of new red generations of red blood cells . After the twenty years, the big consumption of the spoiled red blood cells stops for the cessation of body's growth. So the surplus of them become big and “they must bedischarged”. Concerning the women: It is incumbent upon every female who passes the menopause stage. The woman has a natural outlet through which she can release herself from bad blood. During menstruation period, her blood circulation becomes at the apex of activity. When woman reaches her menopause stage, her menses ceases and she becomes subject to the same conditions of man who reaches the age of twenty-twenty two. Thus she enters a new physiological phase leading to psychological and physical changes paving the way to the rise of various diseases such as high blood pressure, coronary insufficiency and diabetes, and the like. In this situation, cupping becomes inevitable and there is no other alternative for it. It makes woman returns to her normal psychological and physical case. If she refuses to perform the simple cupping operation, her body becomes a pasture for maladies and prone to diseases.

Timing of Applying Cupping operation To Apply Cupping operation you have to consider four appointed times:

1- The annual time: The Messenger (cpth) said: “How good the wont in cupping is!” Thus, it is usually performed from year to year for both the healthy and the patient. It is a prophylaxis for the healthy and a medicine (treatment) and a protection (prophylaxis) for the patient.

2- The seasonal time: The Messenger (cpth) said, “Relieve yourselves from the intensity of heat by cupping.” Therefore cupping must be performed before the summer season because heat is most intense at this time of the year. Hence the best season is the spring. Cupping must be performed every year in the spring season, namely in April and May (In Syria and other countries around it). Before giving the scientific interpretation of this appointed time (its physiological effect on our bodies), we must give a simple glimpse about the function of the blood in regulating the animal heat. As it is known that water constitutes the maximum proportion in the blood, (90%) of its plasma. Since water has basic properties that differentiate it from other liquids known in nature, these properties make water the best assistant liquid to help regulating the animal heat in a living being. This property has a high faculty of storing heat than any other liquid or solid material. Therefore it stores the heat it receives in its passage through the more active and warm tissues and carries it to other tissues of less warmth in its movement through the various parts of the body. Therefore blood has (the proportion of water in its formation and its round trip in the tissues of the body) a high faculty in transmitting heat higher than any other faculty of various tissues in the body. Therefore blood is the first recipient and the first main influenced tissue by the outside heat (of all the body tissues) which is effective on the body. It sucks heat from the body tissues to transport it to the less warm ones, and vice versa it sucks coolness from the body tissues to transport it to the warm ones. In view of the continuous blood circulation, it acts in regulating the animal heat by warming the cool parts or cooling the warm parts until the animal heat remains constant. The chance for cupping is realized two times in the year, i.e. in April and in May, and perhaps a third time in late of March if the warmth comes at the end of it with only the decrease of the crescent. In this time of the spring, we trace the lunar month until it becomes the 17th day of it, and then one can undergo cupping operation in one of these days (from the seventeenth day until the twenty-seven day inclusive). If he misses the first month, the advent of the (17th) of the next lunar month (in which cupping is permissible), he can also make up for the chance. Naturally, there are some irregular years when April is also intensive in chilliness, then we must wait until May, or we could perhaps perform the cupping operation in April. If the (17) of the lunar month in April has cold weather, we wait until the weather becomes moderate and warm during the period of this lunar month (17-27) then we start cupping. Therefore, the matter is limited by the general rule which we cannot overcome for it is springtime (April, May and perhaps late of March and the early of June) from the seventeenth day until the twentyseventh day of the lunar month exclusively depending on the rise in temperature in March and the drop of it at the beginning of June if both changes occur along with the decrease of the lunar month. In this way, we get use of one-third of the year to perform the cupping operation.

3- The Monthly Time: The Messenger of God (cpth) said, “Cupping is most detestable at the beginning of the crescent, but it is curing when the full moon begins to decrease.” Therefore, we must follow up the recommendation of the

Messenger (cpth) on the lunar month when the time of the annual cupping comes (springtime in its two months, April and May). For example, when April comes we follow up the progression of the lunar month which comes in this month (April), and when the seventeenth day of the lunar month comes, it will certainly be the first day for performing Cupping. Therefore, cupping starts from the seventeenth day (inclusive) until the twenty-seventh day (inclusive).

The Relation between the Moon and Cupping What secret it was that made the Messenger (cpth) apprise of the time of cupping to be in the springtide with the progression of the lunar month from only the seventeenth day until the twenty-seventh day of it! We know that the moon has a pull effect on the earth despite its little diameter (3478 km), and its mass constitutes one part out of (80) parts of the mass of the earth, and the distance of it from the earth is a distance of (385.000 km), this short distance makes its pulling force have a great cupping starts from the seventeenth day of lunar Month influence on the oceans where they rise to form the tide, even the earth's crust is never free from these effects. The crust of the North American continent heaves up to fifteen centimeters when the moon interposes its sky. The moon has also another effect which helps sap to rise in its circulation in the high trees. The two French professors (Jubet and Galieh de Fond) noticed that the moon has an effect on animals from its birth as a crescent until it becomes a full-moon. The sexual activates increase gradually in animals, poultry and birds. They also noticed that poultry give more eggs in this period more than the period of senility when the moon begins its gradual atrophy to hunchback phase, then to the last lunar quarter, and to waning. According to special notice, it is found that there is a period of activity and much energy in animals connected with the lunar stages. They also noticed that poultry and some domesticated animals, and fishes, animals and lobsters of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea produce more eggs in certain periods of the moon faces. The moon reaches the climax of its effect when it is fullmoon. It affects blood pressure producing higher level of pressure and in stimulating the blood circulation, so the sexual craving is excited. Also some western countries suffer much from the increase in the rate of crimes and assaults in nights and days of the full-moon. During the first days of the lunar month, i.e. from the first day until of the fifteenth day, blood-flow is stimulated and it reaches its maximal limit and eventually it pokes all the blood residues and impurities which precipitated along the walls of the deep and superficial and in all the ramifications of the blood vessels in the tissues (exactly as, in turn, it - as a big spoon- stirs the water of the seas so as the salts in them don't precipitate). Likewise, when the moon begins to decrease from (17 – 27), the blood can carry these residues and impurities to the calmest parts of the body where they settle in the shoulder blades area. The tide of the seas due to the lunar pull begins to weaken from 17 to 27 of the lunar calendar. Since the cupping operation is performed in the morning after sleep and rest for the body and the blood circulation, and the moon is still rising despite the sunrise in the morning. The moon will have a little tidal effect during the performance of cupping. This situation is very good for our work for the moon still has the effect of pulling the blood from inside to the outside (the inner blood of the peripheral blood and the peripheral blood surrounding the opening of the cup). This situation has an excellent effect in performing a successful and profitable cupping operation to release the body from its impure blood. If the cupping operation is performed in the middle of the lunar days (12-13-14-15), the strong pull of the moon stimulates the blood, and the blood will lose much of its young corpuscles, the Merciful God does not wish that for his servant-mankind. But the first days of the moon (crescent) do not let it do its job in carrying the blood residues and impurities from the inside to the outside in order to gather in the upper part of the back as it has been mentioned before.

4- The Daily Time: The cupping operation is usually performed in the early morning after the sunrise, but the time of stopping it in each day is pointed according to the heat level of the weather. If the weather stills moderate during the day, we continue applying it until noon; such timing is permissible but not desirable. It is better for cupping to be performed at the first hours of the day (because cupping must be performed while the person is still without having breakfast). If a person remains without having breakfast for late hours of the day, he becomes tired and dizzy for the delay of having his breakfast and having performed the cupping operation. In order to avoid all these problems and to perform a correct useful cupping operation, we must hasten to perform it in the early hours of the day from seven o’clock till ten o’clock, and in a needful situation when the time is the last day (27 of the lunar calendar) of performing it and the weather is still moderate and not intense in heat, in The cupping operation is usually performed in the early morning after the sunrise this case you can perform the operation until eleven o’clock or more before the noon. When we delay the operation until (midday), we certainly walk, move and work. This motivates the blood circulation a little and scoops with it the harmful precipitations (such as cell ghosts and dead of red blood cells ...) which temporary precipitate under the shoulder blades, eventually the benefit from cupping is not complete.

The Physiological Condition of the Body The cupping operation must be done before the breakfast. The Messenger of God (cpth) said, “Cupping before breakfast is optimal, and it has cure and benediction.” It is forbidden for a person to be cupped to take in any morsel whatsoever in the morning of cupping, but to remain fasting until it is performed upon him. He is permitted to drink a cup of coffee or tea for the sugar it contains is little and it does not need complicated digestive operations which stir the blood, activate the blood circulation, affect the blood pressure, and the heart beats. Also this little quantity of tea or coffee contains a simple nerve stimulant which makes the person undergo cupping in a wakeful case. For this reason the Prophet (cpth) prohibited eating before applying cupping for it activates the digestive system and the blood circulation in order to recompense the digestive operations which lead to the increase in heart beats, blood flow, and a high blood pressure. This case will move the precipitated residues of the sluggish and retired blood in the superficial and deep blood vessels and capillaries in the region of the upper back (these unwanted materials of blood gather during sleeping). Also blood flow is activated during the distribution of the digested nutrients in order to feed the body tissues. Such a situation does not fit cupping. If cupping is performed in similar condition, the blood isn’t filtered by this operation (Cupping), so the withdrawn blood is the working blood (not the spoiled blood which is full of impurities as dead red blood cells and R.B. cell ghosts …) and we have lost the expected benefit from cupping. In this case, the cupped person will also suffer from slight vertigo or syncope as a result of the insufficient quantity of blood which irrigates the brain.

What should the person to be cupped do on the day of Cupping? The person to be cupped can eat a kind of food that is easy for digestion such as vegetables, fruits and candies. It is usually offered to the cupped-person a dish of vegetable salad mixed with bits of toasted bread, and sprayed with olive oil and vinegar. The dish is known by the name of (Fat’toosh) known to the Damascenes; and a dish of olives may be added to the meal.

The cupping operation and its psychological aspect The Damascene erudite Mohammad Amin Sheikho explained this point by saying: “Cupping is the prophets' advice”. For the whole fact, and in implementing this wholesome therapeutic art, which was recommended for application by the most honored prophets such as our masters Moses, Jesus and Mohammed (cptt)4, and their followers as the savant Mohammad Amin Sheikho, the soul of the cuppedperson tends to follow up those great physicians, the Physicians of the heart (soul), the inclination of the cupped-person’s soul towards them while their insights are staring incessantly at the Almighty Curing God, and there is no cure except Him, this inclination makes his soul immersed in the Almighty's Light, therefore the cupped-person’s soul is cured by the Godly Light forwarded on the prophets. Yes, cupping cures psychic ailments and ignoble characteristics and changes them into the properties of perfection. And because of detestable statuses, and before performing cupping, the cupped-person may have 4 (Communication with Al’lah and Peace are through them) contracted some diseases so as that his heart is to be cured by resorting himself to God in order to attaining the recovery. Since he has followed the teachings of God as iterated by His Most Honorable Messenger; and his soul has directed itself unconsciously to its Creator. His soul has improved and his heart has eavesdropped to the teachings of God. After that there is no need for a disease that may protect him from the evils of his spirit and of the acts for his heart has become virtuous. If the heart is reformed, the whole body becomes immuned against diseases. This psychological advantage has a great effect on recovery according to the tendency towards God. If it is strong, the cupped-person is acquitted of all diseases, and all diseases abstain protectively from attacking him. If the tendency towards God is feeble, the improvement is relative, but the benefit must be realized whatsoever. Cupping is all helpful. There is no harm at all in applying it. And I think the experiments on cupping for the elapsed century is enough to approve; there is no resulting harm to any person at all from applying it according to its precise rules. Former experiments are the best proof for certainty.

TREATMENTS POINT FOR HIJAMA (CUPPING) SUNNAH POINTS There are total 9 points of the body where Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam were performed hijama. These are the sunnah points of Hijamah.

In Ghazwah Khyber while our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w was poisoned, he took Hijamah at 3 points on the KAHIL, we feel that a cup was applied behind the heart (at the left of KAHIL), & the third was either a little bit lower to this point OR on the right side of KAHIL, Allah Knows the best. . Abdul Razzaq narrated that, “A Jewish woman brought to Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam a roasted sheep that she had poisoned, while he was in Khyber. Our beloved Prophet asked, „What is this, She said, a gift, being careful not to say that it was from charity so that he would not eat it. Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam and Sahabah (his companions) ate from the sheep, then our beloved Prophet said, “Stop eating”. He said to the woman, „Did you poison this sheep?‟ She said, “Who told you that”? He said, this bone,‟ meaning the ewe‟s leg that he had in his hand. She said, “Yes”. He said, „Why?‟ She

said, I thought that if you were a liar, the people would be relieved from you. However, if you were a true Prophet, it would not harm you.‟ Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam then used HIJAMAH (cupping) thrice on the KAHIL (upper part of his back) and commanded that his Companions do the same. Yet, several of them died.” Narrated by Ibn Majah, on the authority of Ali Radi Allaho Anh that angel JIBREEL advised Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam for Hijamah at Akhda‟ain (posterior jugulars) and KAHIL (upper back ~ between the shoulders). Reported by Abu Kabshah Al Anmari Radi Allaho Anh that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam took Hijamah on Haamah & between the shoulders (which is KAHIL). [Narrated by Abu Dawood & Ibn-e-Majah] Reported by Abdullah Bin Bujainah Radi Allaho Anh that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam took Hijamah on the center of his head (Yafookh) and he was in Ehraam while his journey to Makkah. (Name of the place where they stopped is mentioned as Lahyi Jamal)

“Use Hijamah (wet cupping) on the Qamahduwah (above the nape cavity), for it cures seventy two kinds of ailments”. [Narrated by Tabraani]”.Abu Dawood narrated that Jabir Radi Allaho Anho said that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam used Hijamah (wet cupping) on his hip because of a debilitation he suffered from. Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam also took Hijamah on the hip & top of his foot, which explains that Hijamah at the painful area is also recommended by Tibb-eNabawi. Reported by Anas Radi Allaho Anho that (while in Ehraam), Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam took Hijamah on the top of his foot due to the pain in that area. [Narrated by Abu Dawood]

OTHER TREATMENT POINTS

The circles with their respected numbers, marking the body in their respected areas, are where cups should be placed for the treatment of the respected ailment for cureing.

PROPHET’S sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. GUIDANCE USING HONEY, HIJAMAH (CUPPING) AND CAUTERIZING AS REMEDIES

Bukhari narrated that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam said: "There is cure in three substances, a drink of honey, incision with a knife used for Hijamah (cupping) and cauterizing by fire. And I forbid my Nation from cauterizing by fire". Abu Abdullab Al-Maziri said, "Plethoric (excessive substances) conditions are either sanguineous (bloody), bilious (phlegm), or melancholic, and curing sanguineous plethora entails extracting the blood. If plethora was from the other three types, its cure is in softening the stool as warranted for each disease. Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam has indicated that honey is used as a laxative and that cupping is used to extract [septic] blood. Some people said that when the slash by a cupping knife does not work, the last resort is branding by fire (cauterizing). Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam mentioned branding by fire as a last resort when the body has a strong resistance against medicine, rendering it ineffective. Our beloved Prophet then said: "I forbid my Ummah (Muslim Nation) from branding by fire (cauterizing)", and in another narration, "I do not like to be branded by fire". Cauterizing by fire should be the last resort and only used when warranted. The fire should not be the first choice because of the intense pain it causes, which can be more severe than the pain with which a patient is already suffering. Some doctors said that diseases related to the temperament are either material or non-material. The material types are either cold, hot, wet or dry or a combination of these conditions. The four conditions, hotness and coldness are effected; while the other two, wetness and dryness are usually affected When one of the two effective temperaments is stronger than the other, one of the affected temperaments usually accompanies it. Every type of temperament in the body has two parts, effective and affected. Temperamental ailments are usually caused by whichever effective condition is stronger, hotness or coldness. Our beloved Prophet’s statement directs us to the origin of ailments, hotness and coldness. If the ailment was hot, the cure entails extracting the blood by cupping or puncturing the veins, both of which help extract the septic matter, cooling the temperament. If the ailment is cold, we treat it with heat, such as by taking honey. If we need to extract the cold material that has caused the ailment, honey helps in this case because it leads the various substances to maturity along with its other qualities of cleansing, softening, soothing and purging the affected organs. In this case, the septic material will be gently extracted while saving the body from the abuse of using strong laxatives. Physical ailments are either acute, not needing cauterization, because they would soon be neutralized, or chronic ailments, for which cauterizing the proper organ is the best remedy after extracting the septic substances. Chronic diseases usually result from thick, cold septic substances residing in the affected organ, ailing it, spoiling its constitution and, thereby, inflaming the parts of the body that are directly connected to the affected organ. Therefore, cauterizing should be used to dissipate and extract the septic substances in the affected organ with fire. The Hadith explains treatments for all type of physical ailments, just as we learned the treatment method for all simple ailments (accompanied by fever) from the Hadith, "The heat of the fever is a breath of the Hell Fire; cool it with water".

HADITH ON HIJAMA As for Hijamah, lbn Majah narrated in his Sunan that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam said: "During the night of lsraa (the overnight journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and then to the heavens), every company (of angels) that I passed by would say, "O Muhammad! Order your Ummah (nation) to use Hijamah (wet cupping)". In addition, in the Sahihain, it is narrated that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam once had his blood cupped (medically) and paid the person who applied the Hijamah (cupping). Furthermore, in the Sahihain it is narrated: Abu Taybah cupped Allah’s Messenger, sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. who then ordered that Abu Taybah be paid one Sa’a (a measure pertaining to food) of dates and ordered his masters to reduce his tax (as he was a slave and had to pay a tax to them). Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam then said: "Hijamah (Cupping) is among your best remedies". In Tirmizi, it is narrated by Abbaad Bin Mansoor that he said: I heard Ikramah saying that Abdullah Ibn Abbas Radi Allaho Anh had three slaves who were Hajjaam (a person who performs cupping), two of them used to work for him & his family (probably at his garden & to carry the grains & load to his house) & one of those slaves performed cupping. Abdullah Ibn Abbas Radi Allaho Anh reported that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam said : "The best of slaves is HAJJAAM (one who performs Hijamah ~ wet cupping), Hijamah takes out the blood, & removes the pain from the back & enhances the vision". Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam said "The best dates for Hijamah are 17th, 19th & 21st of the lunar month" and he also said "The best among your treatments is Sa'oot (taking medicine through the nose), Ladood (taking medicine by mouth), Hijamah (Wet Cupping) & Mashee (cleaning the stomach). The benefits of cupping include cleansing the exterior parts of the body more than puncturing the veins, or puncturing the veins, is better when used to extract blood from the internal parts of the body. Cupping entails removing blood from the various parts of the skin. Using either Hijamah (cupping) or Fasd (puncturing the veins) depends on the time of year, the area, the age and state of the ailing person. For instance, cupping is more beneficial than puncturing the veins in warm areas, warm weather and hot tempered people, whose blood is near to maturity (concerning the septic substances in the blood). In this case, the septic, maturing blood will collect near the skin. Cupping extracts the septic blood more efficiently than puncturing the veins. This is why using cupping for children and those who cannot bear puncturing the veins is better and more useful. Doctors affirm that Hijamah (cupping) is better used in warm areas than puncturing the veins and that cupping is preferred in the middle of the month or soon after, especially in the last quarter of the month. In the beginning of the month, the blood will have already become irritated (thus carrying septic materials that need to be cupped). In the end of the month, the blood will be idle, unlike the case in the middle and last quarter of the month when the blood is agitated and sufficiently produced. The author of Al-Qanoon said; Cupping is not preferred in the beginning of the month, because the body’s various conditions will not be agitated then, nor is it preferred in the end of the month, because by then the conditions would have decreased. Cupping is preferred in the middle of the month when the substances (of the constitution or condition) accumulate and become agitated. It was reported that the Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam said: "Cupping and puncturing the veins are your best remedies". This Hadith is directed at the people of Hijaaz and warm areas in general, for their blood is delicate and circulates closer to the surface of the skin, while the pores on their skin are wide and their strength is weakened (i.e., during summer). Puncturing the veins is harmful for them. Puncturing of each of the veins usually has a special benefit. For instance, puncturing of the basilica vein (the large vein running on the

inner side of the upper arm) is useful against the heat of the liver and spleen and various blood-related tumours in these two organs. It is in addition useful for tumours of the lungs (emphysema), arterial pulsation, pleurisy and all blood-related diseases of veins in the lower part of the knee to the hip. Furthermore, puncturing of the median vein helps against the various swellings that appear throughout the entire body, especially when the swelling is blood-related, and contains spoiled blood in general. In addition, puncturing of the arm’s vein helps against the ailments in the head and neck that result from excessive amounts of blood or from septic blood. Puncturing of the jugular vein helps against the ailments of the spleen, asthma, thoracic cavity and forehead pain. Cupping the upper section of the back helps against the aches of the shoulder and the throat. Further, cupping the two posterior jugular veins helps against the ailments of the head, face, teeth, ears, eyes, nose and throat, if these ailments were caused by excessive presence of blood, soiled blood or both. Anas Radi Allaho Anh said: "The Messenger of Allah sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. used to apply Hijamah (wet cupping) on Akhda'ain (the two posterior jugular veins) and KAHIL (the upper part of the back). [Abu Dawood, Al-Tirmizi, Ibn Majah, Abmad and Al -Hakim]. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. used to apply Hijamah (wet cupping) on three areas, his upper back area and the two posterior jugular veins". [Bukhari and Muslim]. It is narrated in the Sahih that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam used Hijamah (wet cupping) on his head when he was in a state of lhram due to a headache. In addition, Abu Dawood narrated that Jabir Radi Allaho Anh said that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam used Hijamah (wet cupping) on his hip because of a debilitation he suffered from. Narrated by Ibn Majah, on the authority of Ali Radi Allaho Anh that angel JIBREEL advised Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam for Hijamah at Akhda'ain (posterior jugulars) and KAHIL (upper back ~ between the shoulders).

HIJAMA ON THE NAPE CAVITY Some doctors approved this type of cupping, saying that it helps against exophthalmoses, the abnormal protrusion of the eyeballs, the heaviness in the eyebrows and the eyelids and against eyelid mange. A Hadith states: Use Hijamah (wet cupping) on the nape cavity, for it cures seventy two kinds of ailments". Further, it was narrated that when Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal needed cupping on the nape cavity, he did it on the two sides of the nape but not on the cavity itself. The author of Al-Qanun disliked cupping the cavity of the nape saying that it causes forgetfulness just as our Prophet Muhammad has stated. This is because the back of the brain is the location of the memory power and cupping it affects that power. Other people did not approve of his opinion though, saying that the Hadith that he referred to is not authentic. They said that even if the Hadith is authentic; cupping at the nape weakens the brain if cupping occurs without a necessity that warrants it. When warranted, cupping the nape cavity is medically and religiously useful against the pressure of the blood on the cavity. Authentic narrations have stated that the Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam used cupping in many areas on the back of his neck and in other areas of his body as much as was needed. Hijamah under the chin helps against toothache, face ailments and throat infections when used at the proper time; it cleanses and purifies the head and the jaws. Further, cupping on top of the foot substitutes for the puncturing of the Saphena, which is a vein on the heel. This kind of cupping helps against the ulcers that occur on the thighs and legs, the interruption of monthly periods and skin irritation on the testicles.

Cupping on the lower part of the chest helps against spots, sores and mange on the thigh. It also helps against gout, haemorrhoids, elephantiasis and itchiness on the back.

WHEN CUPPING IS PREFERRED ? Anas Radi Allaho Anh related from Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam that he said: "The Messenger of Allah used to have cupping on the jugular veins and the upper part of the back on the seventeenth, nineteenth or twenty-first (day of the month)". (Al Tirmizi) Anas Radi Allaho related from Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam that he said: Those who intend to have cupping; let them do that on the seventeenth, nineteenth or twenty first (of the month); to prevent the septic blood from causing death to one of you". (lbn Majah) In addition, Abu Dawood narrated that Abu Hurayrah Radi Allaho Anh related from Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam that he said: "Those who have cupping on the seventeenth, nineteenth or twenty first will be cured from every disease". (Every disease mentioned in the Hadith means the bloodrelated diseases). Both of the last two Ahadith are weak. These Ahadeeth conform to the position taken by doctors that cupping is preferred in the latter half of the month and (he third quarter, rather than the beginning or the end of the month. However; if Hijamah is necessary, it will be useful during any part of the month including the beginning and the end. It was reported that Imam Ahmad lbn Hanbal used to practice Hijamah (cupping) during any part of the month when the spoiled blood became agitated. The author of Al-Qanoon said, "Hijamah / Wet Cupping is preferred during the day, the second or the third hour and after one takes a bath, when warranted, one should take a bath then rest for an hour or so and then use cupping". Cupping is not preferred when the stomach is full, for it might cause various ailments, especially after taking a heavy meal. It was said that cupping on an empty stomach is a cure, and when ones stomach is full is a disease, and when it is done on the seventeenth of the month, it becomes a remedy. Choosing the best time for cupping preserves good health and helps prevent harm from attacking the body. However, when the illness intensifies, cupping becomes warranted and needed whatever the circumstances, for our beloved Prophet said: "Be aware, so that the septic blood does not cause death to one of you". We stated before that Imam Ahmad used to take Hijamah during any time of the month if cupping was medically warranted. As for the best days of the week to have cupping, Al-Khalil said that Imam Ahmad was asked about the days when cupping is not preferred, and he said, "Wednesday and Saturday". In addition, Al-Khalil narrated that Imam Ahmad was once asked about the days when cupping is disliked and Imam Ahmad answered, "Saturday and Wednesday", and in addition Friday was also reported However, all the hadith that state the time when the cupping is either preferred or disliked are weak, according to the scholars of Hadith. The previous Ahadeeth we mentioned state that seeking the cure by Hijamah instead of Fasd is preferred. In addition, cupping is done in the part of the body that needs it the most. Those who have Ihram (during Hajj or Umrah) are allowed to use cupping, even if it involves cutting some hair and they do not have to pay a penalty. Further, it is allowed for those who are fasting to use cupping as Bukhari narrated that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. took Hijamah while he was fasting.

There are several Ahadeeth that state that Hijamah breaks the Fast. The only Hadith that appears to contradict this ruling is the Hadith that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam had cupping while fasting. In this case, for the Hadith to mean that cupping does not break the Fast, it should satisfy one of the following four conditions: First, Fasting should have been obligated by the time the incident in the Hadith [narrated by Al-Khalil above] occurred. Second, it should be proven that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam was not traveling [when he had cupping]. Third, that our beloved Prophet sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. was not suffering from an illness that warranted cupping. Fourth; that this Hadith came after our beloved Prophet sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. said, "Those having cupping and those who do it have both broken their fast". If these four conditions are satisfied, only then we can say that cupping does not break the fast, relying on the Hadith that Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe wasallam took Hijamah when he was fasting. Otherwise, the Fast mentioned in the Hadith might have been a voluntary fast that too is allowed to break when cupping is warranted. Or it could have occurred during Ramadan but while the Prophet was traveling. Or the Hadith might be talking about a compulsory Fast during Ramadan but that it was necessary to have cupping due to an illness. Or, cupping could dove been done during Ramadan and without a necessity that warrants it, but before our beloved Prophet sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. issued his statement that cupping breaks the Fast of those involved in it. There is no proof that any of the four conditions we mentioned above wore satisfied, so how about all four of them? In addition, the Hadith proves that one is allowed to hire a doctor for a certain purpose and then pay him for his services without a service contract. The Hadith (that our beloved Prophet sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam. paid the person who performed cupping for him) indicates that some people are allowed to make Hijamah (wet cupping) their profession. Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam gave the man who performed cupping some money and that person spent that money on his necessities. Finally, the Hadith proves that one is allowed to collect reasonable taxes from his slave and that the slave is allowed to use whatever is left after paying the tax. Otherwise, if the master is going to take all the money anyway, it will not be called a tax any more. Therefore, whatever is left with the slave beyond the required tax is his property and he can do whatever he wishes with it.

PDF PUBLICATIONS ONLINE

The Hijama booklet is the third in a serise of booklets, all about the Sunnah ways, of various health related topics. The blue booklet, being the first and major booklet contains all the principals, including the essential topic of Dawah. The next being Nutrition booklet is about the subject in detail, as is Hijama, as both these subjectsa are mentioned in the first booklet ( blue ). Also within the first booklet is an introduction to the author. These booklets are currently veiwable through google drive, and on google+ via Yasmin Azar Profile. Any comments are welcomed, and any ammendments welcomed. InshaAllah more in depth subjects will be covered. Contact : [email protected]