رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ
Prophet's Guidance on Vomiting as a remedy
روى الترمذىُّ فى "جامعه" عن مَعدان بن أبى طلحةَ، عن أبى الدرداء: أنَّ النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم قاءَ، فتوضَّأ فلقيتُ ثَوْبان فى مسجد دِمَشق، فذكرتُ له ذلك، فقال: صَدَقَ، أنا صَبَبْتُ له وَضُوءَه. قال الترمذى: وهذا أصح شىء فى الباب
Tirmizi reported that a person narrated that Abu Ad-Dardaa' Radi Allaho Anh said, "Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam once performed Wadhoo (ablution) after he vomited. I met Thau'ban in the Masjid of Damascus and mentioned what Abu Ad-Dardaa' narrated to him and he said, "True". I poured water for the beloved Prophet". Tirmizi then commented that this Hadith is the most authentic on this subject.
Vomiting is one of the five methods used to disgorge septic substances from the body. They are cleaning the stomach with laxatives, vomiting, cupping, the passing of air or wind and sweating. The Sunnah has mentioned these five types. As for diarrhea, we mentioned the Hadith that states,
خيرُ ما تداويتُم بهِ اللدودُ والسعوطُ ، والحجامةُ ، والمشْيُ
"Cleaning the stomach is the best of your remedies". We also mentioned the Hadith about Senna.
As for getting rid of septic substances by sweating, it does not usually involve puncturing of the veins. The body naturally rids itself of these substances through the skin when sweat departs from the body through skin pores. Vomiting involves throwing up the harmful substances through the upper part of the stomach. An enema and medicines that instigate disgorging artificially through the lower parts of the stomach are of two types, one that occurs naturally and one artificially instigated. The naturally instigated vomit should not be prevented, except when it becomes excessive and becomes unsafe. In this case, one should take the medicines that stop vomiting. The second type of vomiting is used for medicinal purposes, in the proper time and under proper conditions. There are ten reasons for vomiting :
The first: Excessive amounts of bile that float in the stomach and seek an exit out of the body.
Second: Excessive amounts of phlegm in the stomach that seek a way out of the body.
Third, when the stomach is weak and unable to completely digest the food and the partially digested food seeks an exit out of the body.
Fourth, vomiting occurs when a harmful substance enters the stomach and causes a disruption in the digestion process.
Fifth, when one eats excessive amounts of food or drink, more than the stomach can bear. In this case, the stomach wilt not be able to tolerate these excessive amounts of nourishment and will seek to throw them out.
Sixth, vomiting occurs when the food or drink consumed is not suitable for the stomach, which then throws them out.
Seventh: When the stomach suffers from a condition that spoils the food and drink which then seeks an exit.
Eighth, Nausea might cause vomiting.
Ninth, depression, sadness and anguish cause disregard for the needs of the body and its necessities of food, including the need to mature and digest the food. The stomach gets rid of this undigested food. In addition, vomiting may occur under the pressure of various physiological conditions, because the body and the psyche both affect each other profoundly.
Tenth, one might feel nauseous and then vomit upon seeing other people vomit.
Once, a doctor informed me that he had a nephew who was good at applying Kuhl (antimony, a black powder used for the eyes) and when his nephew would apply Kuhl to a person who was suffering form conjunctivitis, he himself would later catch conjunctivitis. When this was repeated several times, his nephew stopped this profession. I asked the doctor about the cause of his nephew’s condition and he said that his nephew’s body reacted to the condition of the men he was treating by catching the same ailment they suffered from. He said that he knows of a man who saw a benign growth (an abscess) on someone’s body and that he started to scratch the same part on his body. Later on, he had a growth in the same area.
I say that this proves that the psyche affects the body in such a way that when certain powers in the body are idle, it suddenly becomes active without a reason.
Vomiting is suitable as a remedy in hot weather and hot climates
In hot areas and hot weather, certain harmful substances are light and thus prone to float, and this is why vomiting becomes a proficient way to discard these mixtures. On the other hand, certain harmful substances in cold areas and in cold weather become thicker and are harder to extract from above. In this situation, getting rid of these harmful mixtures is better done by cleaning the stomach (with laxatives such as Senna).
Getting rid of harmful mixtures is done by pulling them from the farthest exit or by extracting them from the nearest exit. For instance, there are various mixtures that are not stable and seek to either ascend or descend. If the mixture tends to ascend, then discarding it from below is better. If the mixture tends to descend, then pulling it from above is better. When the mixture becomes stable, then discarding it from the nearest exit is better. When the mixture starts to harm the upper organs, it should be pulled down through the lower parts, and vise versa. When these mixtures become stable, they should be discarded from the nearest exit.
This is why Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam had Hijamah (cupping) sometimes on KAHIL (between the shoulders), sometimes on his head and sometimes on the top of his foot, so that the spoiled blood is discarded from the nearest possible exit.
Vomiting cleanses the stomach from harmful substances
Vomiting strengthens the stomach, sharpens the sight, and relieves the headaches, ulcers, and infections in the kidneys and the prostate. Vomiting relieves and soothes chronic illnesses, such as leprosy, dropsy, partial paralysis, or trembling.
A healthy person should instigate vomiting once or twice a month each time vomiting two times, so that the second vomit rids the body of the substances that remained after the first one. Excessive vomiting harms the stomach and weakens its protective layers. It also harms the teeth, the sight and hearing along with causing headaches. In addition, those suffering from swelling in the throat, weak chests, those who have small windpipes, or those who find it difficult to vomit intentionally or those prone to spitting up blood should not vomit intentionally.
Those who have the bad habit of filling their stomachs with food and then instigate vomit will find that this method accelerates old age and leads to many harmful diseases, along with making vomiting habitual.
In addition, instigating vomiting while suffering from dehydration, weak or defective intestines, senility, or general weakness in the body is dangerous for the health. The best time to instigate vomit is during summer and spring, not winter or autumn. When vomiting intentionally, one should cover his eyes, wash the face with cold water when finished and should then drink apple juice with some mastic and rosewater if possible. Vomit should be expelled through the mouth or pulled from below in the form of diarrhea. Hippocrates said, “Vomit during the summer should be (naturally) expelled from above more than by using medicine, while in winter it should be pulled from below using medications.