Fatwa ID: 05460

Answered by: Maulana Sibghat Ullah

Question:

When Hijama on the 2 jugular veins as mentioned in the Hadith, is it referring to the internal and external jugular veins or the internal jugular veins on each side of the neck?

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

Answer:

It is narrated from Hazrat Anas RA said that God’s messenger used to have himself cupped in the two veins at the sides of the neck and on the shoulder. Abu Dawud transmitted it, and Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah added that he used to have himself cupped on the 17th, 19th, and 21st.[i]

It is also narrated from Anas ibn Malik RA that:

“Allah’s Messenger used to have cupping performed between the two veins of the neck and in the upper back, and he used to undergo cupping on the seventeenth, nineteenth, and twenty-first days of the month.”[ii]

The above hadith did not specify the internal or external vein, but medically the incision is done on the skin at the top of the external jugular vein and not on the vein itself. The internal jugular vein is even deeper, so it is dangerous to do hijama on it.

In short, it is safe and better to do hijama on the skin at the top of the external jugular vein and not on the internal jugular vein.

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Sibghat Ullah

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

[i] Mishkat Ul Misabeeh, Book of Medicine and Spells, Chapter: Section 2

[ii] Al Shamail Mahmaoodiyah, Hajaamah (Cupping-Cautering) Of Sayyidina Rasoolullah