Western medicine alone, and for more than two centuries, was deemed worthy of serious consideration. Non-Western systems were viewed as primitive and inferior. The 19th-century British envoy to a big Asian country made himself famous by remarking that he had never felt the need to learn that Asian language because he knew that those people had nothing worthwhile to say [Walsh, 1996]. Westerners’ common assumption is that there is only one system of thinking that is real and describes “the truth”, which is theirs’, while other competing models are false. Western scientists generally have rejected Eastern approaches, for example in health and healing practice, without a fair trial and have regarded them as little more than muddled and fuzzy religious system [Goleman, 1988]. Though complete systems and natural ways of life, exit and had dominated one day, and for extended centuries of unprecedented human civilization, the arena of both political and scientific development, however, only very little is known about them. An orthodox and flagrant example of this sort of cultural elimination, ignorance or even purification to the other is the way the West used to look at the Islamic ideology. What is rather known is the front-page distorted picture the media makes about Islam as a source of tension and terror in the world, despite the real fact that Islam and Muslims are victims and not a cause of terror and tension. It is in this century of global absence and withdrawal of Muslims’ and Islamic political and social governance, hence the absence of the Divinely guidance of such an amazing and problem-solving book like the Holy Qura’n, it is in this terrible and unique century that we have seen more blood shed and suffering than in all and any other in the long and tortous history of the human race. It is the dominating, and not the weak, powers that should be blamed for this injustice, tension and terror that led to these massive blood sheds! It is also the responsibility of this dominating power to look for alternative solutions for its own-hands-made problems.
The predominant feature in the intellectual scene as we approach the end of the 20th century is the increasing conviction that the dualistic-materialistic paradigm that has dominated world through for several centuries is not the solution of the world’s devastating health status, if not contributing to its worsening. This dualistic-materliastic paradigm is, in fact, showing rapid decline -even collapse- [Sing, K., 1996]. Debate is going now at the intellectual health and medical scene: there is need for a conceptual revolution, and there is quest for a holistic vision of human life and human health.
The reach and penetration of the Islamic faith into dimensions of private and public life has not yet been investigated. It is too extensive and profound to be easily ignored; and it has a lot to say and to do and to play in solving the formidable problems facing the health of the whole humanity. In contrary to the Western approach of dismissal and rejection to the other, inherent in the Islamic approach is the desire for cooperation with the other, assimilating and synthesizing with what is good and wholesome and abandoning what is harmful and unwholesome, guided in all that by Heavenly Scriptures.
Contents
1. Introduction
- 1.1 Health & Healing: Western ethnocentricity or “Ancient Wisdom”
1.2 Human Health: a devastating portrait
1.3 Adverse statistics
1.4 The future
1.5 Crucial questions of Public Health & our research questions
1.6 Methodology
2. Origins & Evolution of Public Health 3. Emergence of Health Promotion 4. An introduction to the religion of Islam
2.2 The “Biomedical” model: a Western Science
2.3 Non-Cartesian alternatives at a glimpse
3.1 Health promotion or the “New Public Health”: The turning point
3.2 The Alma Ata Conference: Health for All
3.3 The Ottawa Charter: the first international on health promotion
3.4 The following international conferences on health promotion4.1 Starting points
4.2 The ideological foundations of Islam
- 4.2.1 Humans’ power of reasoning
4.2.2 What are then the characteristics and nature of the Creator?
4.3 Revelation & Prophethood
4.4 The Qura’n for a non-Muslim: an amazing book
4.5 Testing the credibility of the Qur'an
4.6 The first pillar of Islam: the Testimony or “Shãhaddah”
5. Islamic Towhid: How inspiring is it in stimulating scientific and intellectual progress?
- 5.1 Islam from their words
5.2 Islam and the search for truth
5.3 Free access for learning and education
5.4 Intellectual progress: a crucial Islamic obligation
6. The Holy Qura’n and the promotion of human health
- 6.1 Health status of pre-Islamic Arabia: historical background
6.2 The Qura’n & the Sanctity of life
6.3 Faith: the backbone of health
6.4 Healthy effects of mere listening to recited Qura’n
6.5 Justice as a central prerequisite to promote human health is a central goal of the Qura’n
6.6 Honoring women in the Qura’n
6.7 Rituals as means of promoting health and preventing disease
- 6.7.1 Wadu - Ablution -
6.7.2 Prescribed Prayers - Salaat -
6.7.3 Fasting Ramadan
6.7.4 Charity or paying Zakat
6.7.5 Pilgrimage to Mecca - Hajj -
6.8 The Qura’nic concepts of Halaal (wholesome) and Haraam (unwholesome) and the relationship between health, nutrition and behavior
- 6.8.1 Nutrition
6.8.2 Types of food with special emphasis in the Qura’n
6.8.3 Breast milk
6.9 Haraam (un-wholesome) food, drinks & lifestyles and health protection
- 6.9.1 Alcohol & drug abuse: the present scene and the Qura’nic wisdom
6.9.2 Qura’n prohibits eating dead meat, blood, meat of strangulated and violently killed cattle and swine flesh
6.9.3 The Qura’n and the prohibition of adultery
7. Health in the Prophetic Tradition
- 7.1 “Sunnah” : a commentary on the Qura’n and supplementary to it
7.2 Essence of the Prophetic medicine or “Tibb Nabawi”
7.3 What is this Prophetic healing art about?
A. 7.4 Sunnah and the structural & policy issues
- A. 7.4.1 The Muslim Ummah
A. 7.4.2 Shuura or the “mutual consultations
A. 7.4.3 The Hisba system
A. 7.4.4 The system of pious endowments or “Waqf”
B. 7.5 Sunnah and the health promotion of individuals
- B. 7.5.1 The healthy day of a Muslim
B. 7.5.2 Sunnah’s control measures against contamination
B. 7.5.3 Other physical purification activities of the Sunnah
B. 7.6 Eating habits and the Sunnah
B. 7.6.1 Over-eating and gluttony
B. 7.6.2 Eating etiquette in the Sunnah
B. 7.6.3 Sunnah prohibits harmful food and drinks
B. 7.7 Other important health aspects of Sunnah
B. 7.8 Curative aspects of Sunnah
- B. 7.8.1 Healing through supplication
B. 7.8.1 Healing through prescription
7.9 Reported outcome of the Prophetic care system!
8. Contribution of Muslims to human civilization and their historical record role in medical & health sciences
- 8.1 Islamic civilization: the hidden achievements
8.2 Factors that led to the rise of Muslim civilization
8.3 Muslims master-scholars in medical and health sciences
- 8.3.1 Sources
8.3.2 Systematization and synthetization of health care
8.4 Role of Muslim women in health care
9. Conclusion: an Islamic model for health - “Waves”
10. Summary
Downlaod
The Art of Healt Promotion in Islam & The Contemporary Public Healt Challenges
