The Qur'an and Ahadeeth: Cure in Honey
The Qur'an
Surah An-Naĥl (or the Bee) 16:68-69 (the interpretation of the meaning):
وَأَوْحَى رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ أَنِ اتَّخِذِي مِنْ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا وَمِنْ الشَّجَرِ وَمِمَّا يَعْرِشُونَ
wa·aūĥa rabbuka ila annaĥli ani attaķhi*ī min aljibali buyūtan wamin ashshajari wamimma ya`rishūna
68. And thy Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men's) habitations;
2097. Auha: wahyan ordinarily means inspiration, the Message put into the mind or heart by Allah. Here the Bee's instinct is referred to Allah's teaching, which it undoubtedly is. In xcix. 5 (Az-Zalzalah Surah 99:5 )it is applied to the earth; we shall discuss the precise meaning when we come to that passage. The honey-comb, itself, with its hexagonal cells, geometrically perfect, is a wonderful structure, and is well called buyut, homes. And the way the bee finds out inaccessible places, in the hills, in the trees, and even among the habitations of men, is one of the marvels of Allah's working in His Creation.
ثُمَّ كُلِي مِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ فَاسْلُكِي سُبُلَ رَبِّكِ ذُلُلاً يَخْرُجُ مِنْ بُطُونِهَا شَرَابٌ مُخْتَلِفٌ أَلْوَانُهُ فِيهِ شِفَاءٌ لِلنَّاسِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَةً لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
ŧhumma kulī min kulli alŧhŧhamarāti fāslukī subula rabbiki *ululan yaķhruju min buţūniha sharābun muķhtalifun
alwānuhu fīhi shifā·un linnāsi inna fī *alika la·āyatan liqaūmin yatafakkarūna
69 Then to eat of all the produce (of the earth), and find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought.
2098. The bee assimilates the juice of various kinds of flowers and fruit, and forms within its body the honey which it
stores in its cells of wax. The different kinds of food from which it makes its honey give different colours to the honey, e.g., it is dark-brown, light-brown, yellow, white, and so on. The taste and flavour also varies, as in the case of heather honey, the honey formed from scented flowers, and so on. As food it is sweet and wholesome, and it isused in medicine. Note that while the instinctive individual acts are described in the singular number, the produce of "their bodies" is described in the plural, as the result of their collective effort.
2099. Zululan: two meanings are possible; (1) ways easy and spacious, referring to the unerring way in which bees find their way from long distances to their combs; and (2) the idea of humility and obedience in them.
Surah Muhammad 47.15 (the interpretation of the meaning):
مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ فِيهَا أَنْهَارٌ مِنْ مَاءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ لَبَنٍ لَمْ يَتَغَيَّرْ طَعْمُهُ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ خَمْرٍ لَذَّةٍ لِلشَّارِبِينَ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ عَسَلٍ مُصَفًّى وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ كَمَنْ هُوَ خَالِدٌ فِي النَّارِ وَسُقُوا مَاءً حَمِيمًا فَقَطَّعَ أَمْعَاءَهُمْ
maŧhalu aljannati allatī wu`ida almuttaqūna fīha anhārun min mā·in ĝhaīri ·āsinin wa·anhārun min labanin lam
yataĝhayyar ţa`muhu wa·anhārun min ķhamrin la**atin lishshāribīna wa·anhārun min `asalin muşaffan walahum
fīha min kulli alŧhŧhamarāti wamaĝhfiratun min rabbihim kaman huwa ķhalidun fī annāri wasuqū mā·an ĥamīman
faqaţţa`a am`ā·ahum
15 (Here is) a Parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised: in it are rivers of water incorruptible; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink; and rivers of honey pure and clear. In it there are for them all kinds of fruits; and Grace from their Lord. (Can those in such Bliss) be compared to such as shall dwell for ever in the Fire, and be given, to drink, boiling water, so that it cuts up their bowels (to pieces)?
4833. In this description there are four kinds of drinks and all kinds of fruits; and the summing up of all delights in the "Forgiveness from their Lord". The four kinds of drinks are: (1) delicious, cool, pure water, not like earthly water, for it never suffers corruption; (2) milk which never turns Sour, whose taste is like that of fresh warm milk drawn from the udder; (3) wine, not like any wine on earth, for it leaves no headaches behind, and causes no intoxication, which is a kind of madness or poison, but is ever a joy to drink; and (4) honey, pure and clear, with no admixture of wax or any foreign substance. These drinks, will cool the spirit, feed the heart, warm the affections, and sweeten life.
4834. See n. 4671 to xliii. 73. (Surah Az Zukhruf 43:73)
4835. Forgiveness from their Lord: that is the covering up or blotting out of sin and all that was sad or unsatisfactory
in the lower life; the pure Light from the Countenance of Allah Most High: xcii. 20. ( Surah Al Lail 92:20)
4836. Cf. xxxvii. 66-67 (Surah As Saffat 37:66-67) and n. 4074. Just as the Bliss of the Blessed will penetrate their being through and through, so the agony of the condemned ones will penetrate their being through and through.
Ahadeeth
Volume: 7 Book of Medicine: 71 Number: 582
Narrated Abu Haraira (Radi Allah Anhu): The Prophet Muhammad Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, "There is no disease that Allah has sent down, except that He also has sent down its treatment.
Volume: 7 Book of Medicine: 71 Number: 584
Narrated Ibn Abbas (Radi Allah Anhu): The Prophet Muhammad Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, "Healing is in three things: cupping, a gulp of honey or cauterization (branding with fire) but I forbid my followers to use
cauterization (branding with fire)."
Volume: 7 Book of Medicine: 71 Number: 588
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri (Radi Allah Anhu) : A man came to Prophet Muhammad Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam and said, " My brother has abdominal trouble." The Prophet Muhammad Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam said to him "Let him drink honey." He returned again and said that I have done that but nothing changed. The Prophet Muhammad Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, "Allah has said the truth, but your abdomen has told a lie. Let him drink honey." So he made him drink honey and he was cured.
More Ahadeeth on Honey: Translation of Sahih Bukhari
Translated by M. Muhsin Khan
Sahih Bukhari is a collection of the sayings and the deeds of the Prophet Muhammad Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam also known as the Sunnah. The reports of the Prophet Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam's sayings and deeds are called the Hadith. Bukhari lived a couple of centuries after the ProphetSall Allahu alayhi wa sallam's death and worked extremely hard to collect his hadith. Each report in his collection was checked for compatibility with the Qur'an, and the veracity of the chain of reporters had to be painstakingly established. Bukhari's collection is recognised by the overwhelming majority of the Muslim world to be one of the most authentic collections of the Sunnah of the Prophet Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam.
Volume: 7 Book : 65 Number: 343
Narrated Abu Huraira (Radi Allah Anhu): I used to accompany Allah's Apostle to fill my stomach; and that was when I did not eat baked bread, nor wear silk. Neither a male nor a female slave used to serve me, and I used to bind stones over my belly and ask somebody to recite a Qur'anic Verse for me though I knew it, so that he might take me to his house and feed me. Ja'far bin Abi Talib was very kind to the poor, and he used to take us and feed us with what ever was available in his house, (and if nothing was available), he used to give us the empty (honey or butter) skin which we would tear and lick whatever was in it.
Volume: 7 Book : 71 Number: 586
Narrated Aisha (Radi Allah Anhu): The Prophet used to like sweet edible things and honey.
Volume: 7 Book: 71 Number: 587
Narrated Jabir bin Abdullah (Radi Allah Anhu): I heard the Prophet saying, "If there is any healing in your medicines, then it is in cupping, a gulp of honey or branding with fire (cauterization) that suits the ailment, but I don't like to be (cauterized) branded with fire."