Prohibition of Treatment with Ḥarām Substances
Written by: Imran Ayub Lahori
◈ Treatment with Ḥarām is Prohibited
➊ Ṭāriq ibn Suwayd al-Ju‘fī (رضي الله عنه) asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about preparing medicine with wine. The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
«إنه ليس بدواء ولكنه داء»
“It is not a cure; rather, it is a disease.”
[Muslim: 1984, Aḥmad: 4/311, Tirmidhī: 2046, Abū Dāwūd: 3873]
➋ Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) narrated:
«أن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم نهي عن الدواء المخبيث»
“The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade the use of impure (evil) medicine.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Mājah: 2785, Ibn Mājah: 3459, Abū Dāwūd: 3870, Tirmidhī: 2045, Aḥmad: 2/305]
➌ Ibn Mas‘ūd (رضي الله عنه) said:
«إن الله لم يجعل شفائكم فيما حرم عليكم»
“Allah has not placed your cure in that which He has prohibited for you.”
[Bukhārī: 5614, Ibn Abī Shaybah: 5/38, Fatḥ al-Bārī: 11/210]
◈ Clarification
These aḥādīth are not contradictory to the narrations in which the Prophet (ﷺ) prescribed camel urine for treatment.
[Bukhārī: 5686, Muslim: 1671, Abū Dāwūd: 4364, Nasā’ī: 7/93, Tirmidhī: 1845, Ibn Mājah: 2587, Aḥmad: 3/107]
- Camel urine is not najis (impure) and not ḥarām.
- Even if assumed to be ḥarām, the general prohibition can be understood as restricted (ʿĀm–Khāṣ principle), i.e., the general rule is that harām substances cannot be used for treatment, but camel urine is an exception.
[For details see: Nayl al-Awṭār: 5/288, al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 2/492]
