I am one of those people who is always seeking natural medicine. Since childhood I have been suffering from Asthma. At a later age I started suffering from Diabetes. The amount of medicine I have taken terrified me knowing about all of the side effects and risks of these medications. A natural medicine seemed to be the best alternative. After all, natural is safe, right? Not necessarily. Natural products have their own chemicals too. What works for me, can as well, not work for someone else who is suffering from the same symptoms. Some herbs may cause an allergic reaction to few or cause damage to your body if taken excessively for an extended period let alone causing death in some cases.
I am not claiming that I won't try an advice or two. Hot tea with a twist of lemon always worked for me when I had cold. Raw potatoes worked on my ulcer and practically cured it. I also tried a natural pill to reduce the sugar level in my blood and it sure worked, reducing it from 320 to 110.
I couldn't however but notice the labeling when a certain company says something about their natural product to the extent of "Those statements are not endorsed by the FDA". Why would the Food and Drug Administration need to certify or endorse a natural product? I am definitely not a huge fan of FDA as I know how some medication got approved just to be pulled off the markets after a while due to their risks and damaging effects on health. I cannot deny though that the FDA prevented many fake products to reach the market. FDA however, or its alternatives in the developed world, do not exist in developing countries.
I would certainly blame those money hungered traders who have no ethics, for pumping thousands of fake medicine to Africa for example. However, are they to be blamed for the usage of local grown herbs? There is a responsibility on the local governments to control the issue. There is a responsibility on the one prescribing the herbs and other natural combinations, and there is for sure a responsibility on the individuals seeking such a therapy by knowing who they are dealing with.
I know that Islam is a complete religion. It has rules for all aspects of life. So I decided to look further into the issue of medicine from an Islamic point of view. Although I was fascinated by some recipes for various illnesses, I was fascinated more by the rules of practicing Medicine in Islam. Long before FDA, and various medical boards, or committees to license practitioners, Islam made it sinful for someone to practice medicine for a non doctor, or someone who does not have the experience to do so. Why? For a very simple reason! If you prescribe a medicine (be it a natural herb or other) you can actually cause a damage to the person you are prescribing the medicine to, if you are not knowledgeable in the matter. Risking human life is not a light subject in Islam.
I did not go deep in researching the subject but the fact that Islam protects human life by making it sinful to practice medicine without the necessary knowledge is amazing by itself. The meaning of a saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is that "one who does not know the specifics of medications, the different status of illnesses in different times, is forbidden, religiously, to attempt curing illnesses by using herbs or such other means" This knowledge comes by learning it from those who know the nature of illnesses and medication. Hence it is sinful for someone to rely on reading books only, to practice medicine without learning from knowledgeable people in this field.
Don't get me wrong though! Medicine is not only about going to this or that Medical school and prescribing pills manufactured by this known company or the other. Long before those schools and before those pharmaceuticals, people used to get sick and used to have medications for their sicknesses. Some like to ignore the existence of Herbal remedy while others reject totally the need for contemporary medicine. Me, I prefer a combination of both. I take my inhaler when I feel an asthma attack, but I cannot deny that a couple of times when I took a spoon of natural honey, it stopped the attack as fast as the inhaler did.
So a brief message to all those who are seeking medication for their illnesses" Know who you are dealing with" and for those prescribing medication or herbal solutions left and right without the proper knowledge " You may get away with it in this life, but you will pay for it in the hereafter"
I published some articles about natural products (Fruits, Vegetables, etc... Not pills or such) that may help for one case or another, yet i am not claiming that they will work. I am not a medical doctor and i won't pretend to be. One recipe for Diabetes that i wanted to use proved that it could cause me ulcer, and i only knew that because i asked someone who knows about natural medication. I just share what friends and family share with me.
My website is dadaway.com, visit me and leave me a comment or two.
Wishing you a healthy life!