Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

medicines of the first kind are for certain, obvious, as in bread’s
allaying hunger and water’s quenching thirst. [So is the case with
the effect of quinine compounds for fevers, of the salicylates for
rheumatism, and of the vaccinations, serums and antibiotics and
sulfonamides for bacteria. Inoculation for smallpox was
discovered in 1197 [1782 A.D.]. Ibni ’Âbidîn ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’
says in the 215th page of the fifth volume: “It is fard to eat and
drink as much as the amount needed to perform salât standing
and not to die of hunger. It is a grave sin not to eat as much as
that limit. If a person does not take medicine (although he is ill)
and then dies, he will not be sinful (for not taking medicine). For,
medicine will not certainly work a cure.” This comes to mean that
it is fard to take medicine with a definite curing effect. It is
written in the 182nd letter by Muhammad Ma’thûm Farûqî
‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’, and also in detail in the 343rd page of the
book Hadîqa that it is wajib to hold to means with a definite
effect, and it is sinful to expose oneself to sheer harm by not using
them.] And so is the case with extinguishing a fire with water. It
is not tawakkul but it is idiocy and harâm not to use these
medicines and the like, the effect of which is for certain.
The effect of medicines of the second kind is not for certain,
nor predictable. Only, they may be useful. Examples of these are
incantation, that is, using substances that have not been
experimented scientifically and meaningless pieces of writing that
are not from the Qur’ân al-kerîm, cauterizing and using things
that are supposed to be useful. Having tawakkul requires not
using these things. As is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf, using them is
a sign of too much trust in causes. Of these three, the one with the
most probable use is cauterizing [a healthy person]. [There is
detailed information about fortune-telling at the end of the
booklet Bey’ wa Shirâ.]
Medicines of the third kind are between the first and the
second kinds. Their use is not for certain, but strongly
predictable. Examples of these are bleeding, cupping, taking
purgatives, and using medicines [which are selling in the
hundreds today], effects of which are doubtful. It is not harâm not
to use them. But, it is not one of the conditions of tawakkul,
either. For many people it is better to use them. Yet sometimes it
is better not to use them. We have said that having tawakkul does
not require giving up these things. For, our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam’ stated: “O you who are Allah’s slaves! Use
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