Cupping

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

CUPPING

i Excerpted, with modifications, from: Muhammad Kamil `Abdus-Samad’s “Scientific Miracles of Islam and Sunnah”

ii Bukhari

iii Tirmidhi

O Allah (The Exalted) send him to the Most Praised Station thereby advancing his nearness, comforting his eyes, and making him the envy of those who came first and those who came last.

Cupping means letting out bad blood that is beneath the skin as a kind of medical treatment. Modern researches have concluded in the result that cupping is one of the most effective and safe therapeutic methods. It has proven effective for most of the contemporary illnesses. In addition, it represents a natural way of treatment that is free from side effects found in case of treatment with drugs. However, extreme measures of sterilisation are to be taken so as to evade the slightest possibility of infection. This involves that the ware used in the process should be personal and used once.

The modern scientists have discovered that bloodletting can cure some types of heart diseases, blood problems and some types of liver diseases. When the lungs get congested due to decline in heart beating, when all means of medication such as dieresis, tying up of hands and legs to reduce the inflow of blood towards the heart fail, then letting blood out by the medical process in question may prove effective curing the decline in heart beating.

Moreover, in case of sudden increase in blood pressure that may be accompanied by semi comma condition, it is bloodletting that is needed. Some cases of liver diseases, such as liver damage that does not respond to other medication measures, can be cured by bloodletting. Some blood diseases such as increase in the quantity of the haemoglobin1 may require treatment by bloodletting so as to avoid any side effects. It is important to mention that the numbers of red cells increase with those who live in high mountainous areas where there is some shortage of oxygen. It may be caused also by high temperature in which state sweat glands begin action and this leads to the increase in the numbers of red cells. Therefore to restore the number of haemoglobin, bloodletting measure is adopted. No wonder thus that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) says: “How good is medication by bloodletting.”

1 A substance contained within the red blood cells and responsible for their colour.

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Healing is in three things: in the incision of the cupper, in drinking honey, and in cauterising with fire, but I forbid my Ummah (nation) to use cauterisation.” ii

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) says, “How good the cupper who relieves the person from bad blood, dries up the swelling and makes sharper and brighter one’s eyesight.” iii