Prevention is better than cure is the famous adage, but when disease has already made its presence felt, then the race to find a remedy is the only recourse. This is relevant more than ever to the Covid19 times that we are living in. Laboratories all across the world are working around the clock to find a vaccine, while the rest of those uninfected are practising prevention diligently.
Medicine has been defined most commonly as prevention and treatment, diagnosing the malady and its prognosis, and maintaining and restoring health. Rasulullah SA mentions that, “The stomach is the house of illness and abstinence is the most important medicine.” However above it all, is a person’s faith in his doctor’s expertise and a willingness to follow his orders. Medicines lose their efficacy if trust and obedience is lacking. Rasulullah SA had once called on a feverish old man to inquire of his health, and informed him that, “fever is purification.” The man chose to contradict Rasulullah SA ungraciously, saying that instead the fever will lead him to his grave. Rasulullah SA left with these words, “if you think so, then so be it.”
Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin RA enigmatically expanded today on this ayat, “and everything has been gathered in Imam e Mubeen” The Imam AS has been endowed with the knowledge of all things. He does not forbid you to study any knowledge. However sometimes a doctor may forbid a patient from consuming certain kinds of food, only to prevent illness, or to stop it from getting worse. There are illnesses of the body as well as the soul.
In this context, Maula RA spoke of a mumin in the era of Syedna Abdullah Badruddin RA, who had read quite a few kitabs without permission and pamphlets; some in English, which had left him confused and agitated. Syedna RA asked Maulana Taher Saifuddin RA to treat him. Maula RA told the mumin that his treatment was conditional on his acceptance of whatever he would be told to do. When he agreed, he was told to first stop reading anything and just go to sleep. Total abstinence of a kind. Eventually he was cleansed and his mind was put at rest.
Different ages abound with distinct physical maladies; some controllable and treatable and some unfathomable. Mental illnesses and moral decay abound to an even greater degree, but remain concealed and even unknown at times. We are indeed lucky to have amongst us, a person who holds the treatment for all the malaises that inflict the world and beyond, but the condition of trust and obedience remain, without which a cure would be futile. Syedna Aali Qadr Mufaddal Saifuddin TUS has forever implored us towards ma’tam and tears on Imam Husain as a treatment for all such ailments. It is a cure as well as a preventative measure against succumbing to them. May Allah keep him in good health and happiness till the day of judgement. Ameen
