رَبَّنَا أَنزِلْ عَلَيْنَا مَآئِدَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاء تَكُونُ لَنَا عِيداً لِّأَوَّلِنَا وَآخِرِنَا وَآيَةً مِّنكَ وَارْزُقْنَا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ

Prophet's Guidance on treating diseases of heart

فَصْلٌ فِي هَدْيِهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ في علاج المفؤود

Guidance of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم for Treating Someone with Heart Affliction

رَوَى أبو داود فِي سُنَنِهِ مِنْ حَدِيثِ مجاهد، عَنْ سعد، قَالَ: مَرِضْتُ مَرَضًا، فَأَتَانِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَعُودُنِي، فَوَضَعَ يَدَهُ بَيْنَ ثَدْيَيَّ حَتَّى وَجَدْتُ بَرْدَهَا على فؤادي، وقال لي :إنّك رجل مفؤود فَأْتِ الحارث بن كلدة مِنْ ثَقِيفٍ، فَإِنَّهُ رَجُلٌ يَتَطَبَّبُ، فَلْيَأْخُذْ سَبْعَ تَمَرَاتٍ مِنْ عَجْوَةِ المدينة، فليجأهنّ بنواهنّ ثم ليلدّك بهنّ

Ibn al-Qayyam wrote : Abu Dawud recorded in his “Sunan” from the narration of Mujahid, from Sa’d, who said: "I fell ill, and the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم came to visit me. He placed his hand between my chest until I felt its coolness on my heart and said to me, 'You are a man with an afflicted heart. Go to Al-Harith ibn Kaldah from Thaqif, as he is skilled in medicine. Let him take seven dates from the dates of Madinah, crush them along with their seeds, and administer them to you.'"

An afflicted heart (المفؤود) refers to a person whose heart is affected, making him feel pain, similar to someone with a stomach ailment who suffers from stomach pain. The remedy prescribed (اللَّدُود) is something that is administered to a person by mouth on one side.

أخرجه أبو داود في الطب «فليجأهن بنواهن» يريد ليرضعهن، والوجيئة: حساء يتخذ من التمر والدقيق، فيتحساه المريض

Abu Dawud documented it in his section on medicine: "Let him crush the dates along with their seeds," meaning to soften and make a mixture, which refers to a broth prepared from dates and flour, which the ill person takes.

Dates, especially those from Madinah—and more specifically the ‘Ajwah’ dates have a remarkable property for treating this ailment. The specification of "seven" dates has an additional unique quality that is understood through divine revelation. In Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from the narration of ‘Amir ibn Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, from his father, he reported that the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Whoever eats seven dates from Al-‘Aaliyah in the morning will not be harmed that day by any poison or magic.”

مَنْ أَكَلَ سَبْعَ تَمَرَاتٍ مِمَّا بَيْنَ لَابَتَيْهَا حِينَ يُصْبِحُ، لَمْ يَضُرَّهُ سَمٌّ حَتَّى يُمْسِيَ

In another narration: “Whoever eats seven dates from between the two lava fields of Madinah in the morning will not be harmed by any poison until evening.” (Sahih Muslim 2047a)

Dates are considered hot in the second degree and dry in the first degree; some say they are moist. Others describe them as moderate. They are an excellent food that maintains health, especially for those who are accustomed to eating them, like the people of Madinah and others. Dates are one of the best foods for both cold and hot climates with moderate heat in the second degree. They are more beneficial for residents of warmer regions due to the coolness of their inner organs, while the warmth within the bodies of people from colder regions is more balanced.

Thus, the people of Hejaaz, Yemen, Taif, and other similar areas consume hot foods like dates and honey at a level uncommon to others. We have observed them adding quantities of pepper and ginger to their food about ten times more than others and consuming ginger as others would eat sweets. I have even seen some carrying ginger with them as if it were a snack, and this diet suits them without causing harm due to the coolness within their bodies and the outward flow of heat, similar to how well water is cool in the summer and warms up in the winter. In the same way, the stomach digests rich foods in the winter that it would not be able to process in the summer.

As for the people of Madinah, dates for them are almost equivalent to what wheat is for others; it is their staple food and main source of sustenance. The dates from Al-‘Aaliyah are among the best varieties of their dates, as they are firm in texture, delicious in taste, and genuinely sweet. Dates serve as food, medicine, and fruit, and they are suitable for most bodies, strengthening one’s innate warmth. They do not produce the harmful residues that other foods and fruits might, but rather, they prevent humors from becoming corrupted and spoiled for those accustomed to consuming them.

This Hadith is a form of guidance intended specifically for the people of Madinah and their neighboring regions. There is no doubt that certain locations have a unique capacity to enhance the benefits of particular plants, foods & medicines in that place compared to others. Thus, a remedy that grows in one location may effectively treat an ailment there, but not provide the same benefit if grown elsewhere, due to the influence of the soil or the air, or both. The land has unique properties and characteristics that vary similarly to human natures. Many plants are edible food in one region but poisonous in another, and some medicines benefit certain people while being ineffective for others, even causing harm. Medicines beneficial for specific diseases in one group may serve as remedies for different illnesses in another, and medications suitable for the people of one area may not be suitable or beneficial for those elsewhere.

As for the significance of the number seven, it has been ordained both in destiny and in divine law. Allah, the Almighty, created the seven heavens, the seven earths, and seven days of the week. The creation of a human is completed in seven stages. Allah ordained for His servants to perform seven circuits of *Tawaf* (circumambulation around the Kaabah), to walk between Safa and Marwah seven times, and to throw seven pebbles at each Jamrah during *Hajj*.

Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “Instruct your children to pray at the age of seven.”

قَالَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ «مُرُوهُمْ بِالصَّلَاةِ لِسَبْع (أخرجه الإمام أحمد وأبو داود)

 Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم also instructed that in his illness, water be poured over him from seven water skins. Allah subjected the wind to the people of ‘Aad for seven nights, and the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم prayed that Allah help him against his people by sending upon them a drought similar to the seven years of drought during the time of Prophet Yusuf Alaih as-Salam.

Allah, the Exalted, likened the charity of a donor to a seed that grows seven ears of grain, with each ear bearing a hundred grains. The seven ears of grain were also seen in the dream by Yusuf’s companion, and the years of cultivation during Yusuf’s time lasted seven years. Charity is multiplied up to seven hundred times and even beyond that. Moreover, seventy thousand from this nation will enter Paradise without being held accountable.

Physicians also place great importance on the number seven, especially in their understanding of diseases and their remedies. Everything in this world is structured in seven parts. There are seven days of the week, and seven stages in a human’s life: the first being infancy up to seven years, followed by childhood up to fourteen, then adolescence, youth, adulthood, middle age, and then old age until the end of life.

Allah knows best the wisdom, laws, and decrees behind choosing this particular number. Whether it is for this reason or for others, the significance remains.

The unique quality of this specific number (seven), combined with dates from this particular region, serves as a protection from poison and magic, preventing harm from befalling a person. This is one of those unique properties that, if stated by Hippocrates, Galen, or other physicians, would be readily accepted by the medical community with trust and adherence, despite their claims being based on intuition, conjecture, and speculation. How much more, then, should the words of one (Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) who spoke with certainty, proof, revelation, and absolute truth, be accepted without question or objection.

Sometimes, antidotes for poisons work based on their inherent qualities, and other times, they work due to their unique properties, similar to the distinctive qualities found in many stones, minerals, and precious gems. And Allah knows the best.

It is possible that the mentioned dates provide protection from certain poisons, making the Hadith a general statement with specific application. It could also be due to the unique properties of that region and soil, offering protection from every poison. However, there is an essential point to clarify: for a patient to benefit from a treatment, they must accept it and believe in its effectiveness. When the body accepts a remedy, it helps resist the illness. Often, treatments are effective due to the patient's positive belief, acceptance, and full reception of the remedy. People have observed remarkable examples of this effect, as a strong sense of acceptance can energize the body, strengthen its natural defense, and stimulate its innate warmth to help ward off harm.

Conversely, many medicines that are inherently effective for a condition may become ineffective if the patient doubts their benefit or does not accept them, as this prevents the body from responding positively. The medicine, therefore, has no effect.

Consider this principle with the greatest remedy and most effective cure for hearts, bodies, livelihoods, and the Hereafter: the Qur'an. It is a healing for every disease, yet it does not benefit hearts that lack faith in its healing and effectiveness; instead, it only adds to their illness. There is no cure more effective for hearts than the Qur'an. It is the complete and perfect remedy that leaves no ailment within the heart but heals it and preserves its health, providing full protection against anything harmful.

Despite this, most hearts turn away from it (the Qur’an) and do not hold a firm, unwavering belief in its healing power. They neither use it as a cure nor rely on it, preferring instead to turn to remedies created by humans. This lack of conviction and habitual turning away has obstructed them from healing through it. Customs have prevailed, and the turning away has intensified. Chronic illnesses have taken hold in the hearts, and patients and physicians alike have been raised on treatments made by others of their kind and on what their elders and those they venerate have prescribed. As a result, the affliction has worsened, and the ailment has become deeply rooted. Complex diseases and chronic conditions have developed that have proven too challenging for them to cure. The more they attempt to treat diseases with these newly developed medicines, the more severe and entrenched the conditions become, while the reality cries out to them:

وَمِنَ الْعَجَائِبِ وَالْعَجَائِبُ جَمَّةٌ ... قُرْبُ الشِّفَاءِ وَمَا إِلَيْهِ وُصُولُ

"Among the wonders—and there are many—is that the cure is near, yet they cannot reach it,

كَالْعِيسِ فِي الْبَيْدَاءِ يَقْتُلُهَا الظما ... والماء فوق ظهورها محمول

Like the camels in the desert, dying of thirst while they carry water on their backs."