Fatwa ID: 02715

Answered by: Moulana Imran Mughal

Question:

Assalamualaikum

Is hijama/cupping beneficial?

What happens to the body after one gets hijama done?

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Answer:

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,

Hijamah is an extremely beneficial remedial act encouraged by the Prophet (peace be upon), he says: “The best of the medicine you take is Hijamah.”[1]

The process of Hijamah-known in English as cupping- is to create a vacuum within a cup that is placed on the body, the vacuum sucks blood towards the surface of the skin and thereafter the cup is removed and a slight incision is made on the body, the cup is replaced on that part in order to draw out the “bad” blood and other toxins.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim writes in his book “The Prophetic Medicine” the following:[2]

Puncturing of each of the veins usually has a special benefit. For instance, puncturing of the basilic vein (the large vein running on the inner side of the upper arm) is useful against the rest of the liver and spleen and various blood-related tumours in these two organs. It is in addition useful for tumours of the lungs (emphysema), arterial pulsation, pleurisy and all blood-related diseases of veins in the lower part of the knee to the hip.

Further, puncturing of the median vein helps against the various swellings that appear throughout the entire body, especially when the swelling is blood-related, and contains spoiled blood in general. In addition, puncturing of the arm's vein helps against the ailments in the head and neck that result from excessive amounts of blood or from septic blood. Puncturing of the jugular vein helps against the ailments of the spleen, asthma, thoracic cavity and forehead pain.

Cupping the upper section of the back helps against the aches of the shoulder and the throat. Further, cupping the two jugular veins helps against the ailments of the head, face, teeth, ears, eyes, nose and throat, if these ailments were caused by the excessive presence of blood, soiled blood or both.

"The Messenger of Allah(peace be upon) used to apply the cups for cupping on the two jugular veins and the upper part of the back."[3]

In addition, it is narrated in the Sahih that the Prophet (peace be upon) used cupping on his head when he was in a state of Ihram due to a headache.[4]

And Allah SWT alone knows best.

Written by Maulana Imran Mughal

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham