ISLAMIC MEDICINE

(Edited by Shahid Athar , M. D.)

Islamic View Of The Well-Being Of Man

Ala' Eddin Kharofa


Dear brothers and sisters,

First of all I would like to thank my brother, Dr. Zikria, Chairman of the Conference, for inviting me to talk on this occasion, on the topic of the "Islamic View of the Well-Being of Man." I feel embarrassed indeed to talk to you on this subject, because you are more qualified than me to talk about it, since you are experts in the science of the body of man.

Brothers and sisters, the view of Islam of the well-being of man is to abstain from everything that it has forbidden, and to do everything that it has commanded him to do.

If anyone studies in detail the science of Jurisprudence, he will amazed how Islam takes care of man, not only his childhood, but even before he is born.

Let us begin with the first stage of human being, the fetus. Islam considers fetus a human being who has right in inheritance. Islam gave the fetus part of the inheritance to be kept until it is born.

After birth and during childhood if the parents are separated, Islam recommends that the child is to stay with the woman, to be suckled and raised by a woman, and not by a man at this age. I mean from the day he is born until the age of 7 or 9 - according to the opinion of different scholars, he is to stay with a woman. It is obvious that the woman is more patient than the man in this regard. She will suckle and raise the child happily. We see mothers spending days and nights, raising their children and they do so without any complaint, It is a secret of Allah (S.W.T.).

Islam recommends parents to be patient with the child and raise him according to the teachings and principles of Islam. Parents should teach the child prayer, and should order him to pray at the age of seven and to study religion. Then Islam ordered the children to obey their parents totally and blindly, since they cannot have any better well-wishers than them.

Islam urges its followers to acquire knowledge. God says in His book:
ARE THOSE EQUAL, THOSE WHO KNOW AND THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW? IT IS THOSE WHO ARE ENDUED WITH UNDERSTANDING THAT RECEIVE ADMONITION. (Zumar. 39:9)

In another verse, God Says:
THOSE TRULY FEAR GOD, AMONG HIS SERVANTS, WHO HAVE KNOWLEDGE: FOR GOD IS EXALTED IN MIGHT, OFT- FORGIVING. (Fatir. 35:28)

GOD WILL RAISE UP: TO (SUITABLE) RANKS (AND DEGREES), THOSE OF YOU WHO BELIVE AND WHO HAVE BEEN GRANTED KNOWLEDGE. (Mujadila. 58:11)

Knowledge in Islam is very important. Its importance can be grasped by the fact that the very first word of Wahi (=Revelation) is "lqra" (=Read!). And one chapter of the Divine book (chapter 68), bears the title "Qalam," which means "the Pen" the implement of writing, and writing is the art which has preserved all knowledge for man. Its first verse reads:

NUN. BY THE PEN AND BY THE (RECORD) WHICH ANGELS WRITE.

At the very beginning of Quran, we read in Sura Baqr about the angels, who expressed their reservations about Adam's fitness to be God's vicegerent on earth. God convinced them that Adam had this fitness, because he had knowledge of the names of the things which they (the angels) did not have. The angles had to concede that Adam was superior to them, because he had knowledge, and he was, therefore, worthy of being Gods vicegerent on earth.

Quran Majid has repeatedly made reference to the
(=men who are well - grounded in knowledge),

and has told the people to defer to them in the event of any difficulty.

Our Prophet, Mohammed (S) himself equated knowledge with "nur" (=light), and a blessing of God, and all his life, he urged his Sahaba and his umma to acquire it.

Brothers and sisters: Islam is responsible to protect his body as well as his soul, and let us see how it protects the body.

First to protect the mind of man which is part of the body, Islam legislated the prohibition of liquor. I am not going to read the verses about liquor so that I can save some time. If a man is going, to drink liquor, he is going to lose his mind. Then he is going to commit crimes. In addition to this, liquor is hurting the body of human beings. Therefore, Islam has forbidden the consumption of all kinds of liquor. You know only too well the damage that liquor does to the body and mind of man.

To protect the whole body of human being, Islam has legislated capital punishment for the intentional killer. Allah says:

NOR TAKE LIFE - WHICH GOD HAS MADE SACRED - EXCEPT FOR JUST CAUSE. AND IF ANYONE IS SLAIN WRONGFULLY, WE HAVE GIVEN HIS HEIR AUTHORITY (TO DEMAND QISAS OR TO FORGIVE): BUT LET HIM NOT EXCEED BOUNDS IN THE MATTER OF TAKINGLIFE; FOR HE IS HELPED (BY THE LAW). (Bani Israel. 17:33)

In another verse God says:
IN THE LAW OF PUNISHMENT THERE IS (SAVING OF) LIFE TO YOU, 0 YE MEN OR UNDERSTANDING: THAT YE MAY RESTRAIN YOURSELVES. (Baqrah. 2:179)

And our Prophet, Mohammed (S) said:
THIS HUMAN BEING IS A BUILDING OF GOD ON THIS EARTH, AND GOD IS GOING TO DESTROY ANYONE WHO IS GOING TO DESTROY THIS BUILDING.

The lslamic view of the crime of killing is absolutely the best. However, time does not allow me to elaborate on it.

To protect the wealth of a human being, Islam has legislated the chopping off of one's hand. God says in verse 41 of the fifty chapter (Al- maida):

AS TO THE THIEF, MALE OR FEMALE, CUT OFF HIS OR HER HANDS: A PUNISHMENT BY WAY OF EXAMPLE FROM GOD. FOR THEIR CRIME: AND GOD IS EXALTED IN POWER.

This type of punishment, seems very severe; but I would like to emphasize that this punishment should not be practiced unless the society is practicing Islam completely, and the thief does not find it necessary to steal.

Kbalifa Umar bin al-Khattab (R) did not cut the hands of four theieves who had stolen because of their hunger and need, when there was an acute famine in Arabia.

Islam is very much interested in establishing a society that is pure, that is free from the filth of sin and crime, a society in which men and women would live in total freedom from fear of all kinds, including fear of crimes and violence. It, therefore, wishes to build that society on foundations of piety, fear of God, and absolute justice, in which each person would respect the rights of other people and would not trespass on them.

We are living in this country, and we are suffering from the threat of insecurity, because of the number of the crimes in this society. I think it is not out of place to mention here the average rate of crimes in this country, and do not be shocked:

one murder                                        every 27 minutes
one larceny-theft                                every 5 minutes
one motor-vehicle theft                         every 33 seconds
one violent crime                               every 31 seconds
one forcible rape                               every 8 minutes
one robbery                                      every 78 seconds
one aggravated assault                             every minute
one burglary                                      every 10 minutes
We as Muslims, have to feel the need of Islamic medicine, "the punishment," more than anyone else. since we know the influence of the punishment on the society, and we believe in it, and it was prescribed to us by Allah.

I am quite sure that if this country changes its policy of punishment, you will see another result and another situation. The punishment according to the scholars, has to be severe, and stronger than the crime per see in order to do its job.

Now let us come back to man, and how Islam protects him.

The dignity of human being is protected by Islam and I shall not go into any details explaining this kind of punishment in order to save time.

To help human beings live in happiness and tranquility, Islam has legislated marriage. The ideal life, according to Islam is that a man has to live with his wife, and the ideal life for the woman also is to live with her husband. Islam has recommended that one lives with the society and cooperate with others, and to keep brotherly relations with all. Islam has recommended that the whole community works together. The well-being of man in Islam consists in working together with the community, and not in working alone. he is a member of a team, and must put the team-spirit ahead of him. He is under a moral obligation to safeguard the interests of the 'team' at all times. he must work and live as if the existence of the team depended upon him along. Our Prophet (S) said:

HE WHO DOES NOT CARE FOR MUSLIMS, WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED ONE OF THEM.
If we had followed these teachings, we would not have faced the problems that we had to face in endless, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Philippines and lastly, Iran and Iraq.

Brothers and sisters,
What I have told you so far, related to the well-being of the body of man. Now I would life to talk to you briefly about the well-being of the soul of man.

There is one word in Quran that is the key to the well being of the soul of man, and that word is "taqwa," which means "fear of God." When a Muslim commits a sin, he repents before God, and asks for His forgiveness.

If he is sincere in his repentance, and will never repeat the error, he is to be considered good. God in His mercy, might forgive him. But the condition of forgiveness is the man's sincerity. If he is going to repeat his errors, his repentance will not mean anything.

A Muslim knows that his life on this earth is temporary, and he also knows that he is here on "probation" therefore, he does not attack too much importance to wealth, power, rank, position, children etc. If, through a reversal in fortunes, he loses these, be is not overwhelmed with sorrow. He is not crushed. He never surrenders to despair. He is always full of hope, and knows that adversity might be a test of his faith. He, therefore, puts his trust in God's boundless mercy, and accepts whatever befalls him, without any gripe. He never doubts that things, no matter how bad at the time, would work out for him in the end. His faith in God's infinite mercy remains unshaken through thick and thin. He always remembers the saying of Allah:

THAT YOU MAY NOT GRIEVE OVER WHAT IS LOST TO YOU, NOR EXULT BECAUSE OF THAT WHICH HE HAS GIVEN TO YOU. AND ALLAH LOVES NOT ANY SELF-CONCEITED BOASTER. (Hadid. 57.23)

Brothers and sisters: Allow me please to repeat what I have said in the beginning:

"Islam's view of the well-being of man is to abstain from everything that it has forbidden, and to do everything that it has commanded him to do"
if anyone is going to follow these teachings, he or she will be happy here, and happy in the Hereafter.

I hope that Allah will help us all to do so.

Thank you for your courtesy and your interest.

Wassalaam,

Dr. Ala'Eddin Kharofa
Director, Muslim World League
New York, N.Y.

TOP INDEX HOME