Prophet's Medicine

Prophet's Medicine

HYDERABAD: Young Rubina eats figs and dates to shed the extra fat in her body while middle-aged Abdul Kareem takes black cumin seeds to keep his cholesterol under check. Elderly looking Zaheeruddin takes syrup made of pure honey to control his abdominal problems while his daughter-in-law Fathima treats her son's throat infection using vapors of incense.

Practitioners of traditional Tibb-e-Nabawi or Prophet's medicine have prescribed all these medications. It is fast becoming a rage in Hyderabad. Sensing growing demand, many pharmaceutical companies are marketing beauty creams, hair oil and ointments based on the 1,500-year-old system of medicine. At least a dozen Tibb- e-Nabawi clinics are functioning in the city and books on this medicine are selling like hot cakes in the city's bookshops.

"The efficacy of the Tibb-e-Nabawi pharmacopoeia has been proved scientifically by dozens of research organizations including the Food and Drugs dministration," says eminent physician Dr Fakhruddin Muhammad. Most of the prescriptions are based on natural herbs and food products. "It is a lifestyle management system," says Dr Muhammad.

Practitioners of the system prescribe commonly available herbs and fruits (raw or extracts) such as grapes, pomegranates, citrus, honey, henna, dates (specially of the ajwa variety), olive, methi (fenugreek), aloe vera, rosewater, hibiscus, miswak, black cumin (kalonji), sweet basil, ginger, Indian incense (Ud-al-Hind), watercress, squash, melons and figs to cure various ailments. They are used to treat ailments ranging from cardiac problems to pleurisy, obesity to malnourishment, respiratory troubles to anemia and even for healing wounds. Dr Fatemeh Mojtahedi, with an MBBS degree, uses preparations from Tibb-e-Nabawi medicine in her Avicenna Clinic to treat obesity.

Interest in the system increased after the International Institute of Medicine and the South Asian Medical Associations of North America jointly held a conference a few years ago on Tibb-e-Nabawi. Many enthusiasts of the system have abandoned toothbrushes in favor of the Miswak stick, which not only cleans teeth but also improves digestion.

Hakeem Zaheer Ahmad prescribes black cumin (kalonji) to treat asthma, control of sugar in blood and urine, psoriasis, hypertension and skin diseases. He is now studying the effect of black cumin seeds in the treatment of cancer. It also has other benefits. "Kalonji oil has spurred my hair growth and has improved my skin texture," says Rafique Ahmad, a resident of Charminar in Hyderabad city. [Source: The News International]