Cupping played a large role as part of Islamic medicine. Prophet Muhammad had hijama performed on him and he was informed of its effectiveness as a remedy by the angels during the night journey. It is Wet Cupping that has a relation to Islam; it is one of the remedies from the Sunnah of the Prophet . It is also the best form of cupping.
The following are some of the Islamic narrations regarding Cupping Therapy:
- Narrated Anas bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah said: I did not pass by an assembly of Angels on the night that I was taken on the night journey (Lailatul Israa), except that they said: Oh Muhammad, order your nation with Cupping (to use cupping as a treatment) .
- Narrated Jabir when he returned to Muqanna’ he said: I will not leave until you treat yourself with Cupping. For indeed I heard the Messenger of Allah saying: Indeed there is a cure in it (in Cupping).
- Narrated ibn Abbas , the Prophet said: There is a cure in three things: in the slash of the cupper or drinking honey or cauterization with fire, and I forbid my nation from cauterization.
- Narrated Jabir that Umm Salamah (wife of the Prophet ) sought permission from the Messenger of Allah to have Cupping performed on her. So the Prophet ordered Abu Taibah to cup her. He said: I assumed that he was her brother from breast-feeding or he was a boy under the age of puberty.
Cupping points mentioned in the narrations of the Prophet (SAW)
- Narrated Anas , that the Prophet used to get treated with cupping on the two jugular veins and the upper part of the back (this area is referred to as Kaahil in Arabic). He used to get treated with cupping on the 17th and 19th and the 21st.
- Narrated Jabir that the Prophet fell off from his horse onto a trunk (of a tree), so his foot became dislocated. Waki’ said: meaning that the Prophet was treated with Cupping on it because of a contusion.
- Narrated Jabir that the Messenger of Allah was treated with Cupping on his hip because of a sprain/bruise he suffered from.
- Narrated Salma , the servant of the messenger of Allah : “There was no one who complained to the Messenger of Allah of a headache except he would say to him: Get treated with Cupping. And neither a pain in the legs except he would say: dye them (with Henna).”
