Psoriasis, Eczema, and Prophetic Medicine

SERIOUS DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and this is not a substitute for medical advice. Do not implement anything of the following without consulting your doctor, or a suitably qualified professional.

Every now and again, I get emails regarding psoriasis and eczema. People ask whether they may be symptomatic of magic or the evil eye, and of course the answer is 'maybe'. Like a whole host of other symptoms, including headaches, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, and many others, there is an overlap between genuine medical conditions that have no other-worldly cause, and those that are caused by the jinn and related things. To the experienced raaqi, there is a difference, but it is very subtle and easy to get wrong. Essentially, we are looking for signs that the illness is way outside of the standard medical pattern, particularly after detailed medical investigations have taken place. If a doctor is left mumbling under his/her breath that it 'just doesn't make sense', and if the person is getting passed from department to department, and specialist to specialist, then the raaqi's interest starts to pique. Of course, it may be a simple misdiagnosis, or an underlying problem that remains undiscovered. However, I would suggest that it is at least possible that the underlying problem is not a medical one, but a jinn-related one.

There is, of course, a simple solution to this, and one put forward by the likes of Ibn-ul-Qayyim (may Allāh have mercy on him) and others before him: treat the sickness with regular medical treatments and Islamic treatments together. After all, both were given to us by Allāh as a means of seeking a cure, and there's a lot less contradiction (or contraindication) between the two than you would first imagine. Could a doctor rightly claim that 45 minutes of reciting the Qur'an every day is considered a contraindication to any sort of modern medicine? As a raaqi, I rarely have any problem with people getting medical help in addition to ruqyah treatment. Sure, there are some times when I end up at loggerheads with a particular medical professional regarding someone's treatment, usually when strong medication and/or rooms with heavy locked doors are used to pacify a patient that they don't know how to treat; but all things considered, we don't disagree as much as people would think.

There is something else to be aware of as well, namely medical treatments taken from the Sunnah. These are a sort of halfway house, since they are intrinsically medical in nature, and aren't intended to bypass the medical cause-and-effect, in the way that ruqyah does. While modern medicine may come in the form of little white pills, those little white pills often come from plant-derived and other natural compounds, the difference being that the little white pills are 'evidence-tested'. I would argue that the Sunnah is far more evidence-tested than the pills are, but that's an argument for another day, and there's no doubt that there is quite a bit of trial and error in using prophetic medicine, according to whether a certain medicine is mentioned in a specific or general way, and the detail involved.

Back to the topic of today, namely psoriasis and eczema. I have been sent two different treatments for the aforementioned ailments, and have sent them on to several people with generally good results, so I thought I would share them here for the benefit of everyone. Once again, I will emphasise that your mileage may vary and that I'm not a doctor, so please do consult a medical professional before using these treatments.

Please don't email me as to where you can get the ingredients from; instead, let me google that for you.

May Allāh reward those who sent these to me with the best of this world and the next.

Treatment One

Combine these dry ingredients in ground powder form:

• 25g of Henna Leaf Powder, also known as barg-e-hina.
• 10g of Black Seed Powder, also known as kalonji.
• 10g of Senna Leaf Powder, also known as sana makki.
• 10g of Marine Costus, known in Arabic as al-Qust al-Bahri, and also known as qast-e-shirin.

Boil all of the dry ingredients together for 15 minutes either in 500ml of raw organic apple cider vinegar, or in 250 ml olive oil, according to the note below. The liquid will have a strong smell if using the apple cider vinegar, but that is normal. Store the liquid in a glass bottle. You may either sieve it, or let the solids settle at the bottom of the bottle. Put on eczema spots twice a day.

Use apple cider vinegar if the eczema is red like pimples, wet, watery, or bleeding; or olive oil if the eczema has dry white skin peeling off. Apple cider vinegar seems to be more effective in both eczema and psoriasis, including scalp psoriasis. In both cases, it is likely that the ointment will sting the cut & broken skin. With regular use that will subside, in shā' Allāh. The eczema patches should start to dry up and sting less within one week. Use the ointment for 6 months at a stretch, once or twice daily, depending on the severity of the disease. Can be used on all body parts including the scalp & face, but not the eyes.

Separately, try a warm jug of water and add 2 tablespoons olive oil and pour on the body after each bath, then apply the ointment; this helps to reduce the stinging.

Treatment Two

• 1 cup Sidr Powder.
• 3 cups Mehndi.
• 1 cup Himalayan Salt.
• 1/2 cup Black Seed Powder.
• 1/2 cup Hyssop Powder.
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil.
• 5 tsp Halal Gelatine.
• 1/2 cup Honey.
• One Tin Coconut Milk.
• 1/4 cup Epson Salts.
• 1 cup Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, optional.
• 5g Saffron, optional.

Make a rub out of these ingredients by mixing them together to form a grainy mixture. Use once per week to start, and more if needed. Each time you use it, keep adding more oil to the mixture. Put on skin for 4 hours and wrap the affected area with cling film (also called plastic wrap). Wash the skin clean with water, ideally ruqyah water, after the 4 hours is up.

Tweets by @muhammadtim