Summary of the Jummah Khutbah from Masjid Al Nabawi, Madinah (1st Safar 1442)

 His Eminence Sheikh Salah Bin Muhammad Al-Budayr, Imam and Khateeb of Masjid Al Nabawi delivered the Friday sermon at Masjid Al Nabawi on 1^st Safar 1442 corresponding to 18 September 2020,

"The Virtue of Medicine and Medical Doctors"

1. Imam Ash-Shafi said, "Knowledge is of two types: knowledge related to understanding the religion, and knowledge related to curing the body."

2. Recognize the virtue of medical doctors and nurses. Thank them for their efforts and sacrifice, for they have worked tirelessly and without complaint to protect people (by Allah's will) from death and from the attacks of the Coronavirus.

 3. Taking medicine is recommended. If leaving it will cause death, then it becomes obligatory

 4. To the sick patient, a harsh doctor is like a vicious hurricane that uproots what comes in it' way. He ruins good hopes. He terrifies the patient by giving him the shocking news of a serious disease without an appropriate introduction, making matters worse for him and making him even sicker.

5. It is not permissible for a person who is ignorant in the field of medicine or for an unskilled doctor to perform a medical procedure or operation. If he does so, then he is sinful and has committed a crime and an act of aggression. He is liable for all of his mistakes and their results.

6. It is prohibited to take advantage of the sick by performing unnecessary checkups and lab tests just to make money off of them. What a terrible profit this is, profiting from the pains of the sick! In reality, it is not a profit, rather, a great loss. 

7. Beware of fake doctors who open up suspicious clinics and accept patients without a license. They claim to have the ability to cure certain diseases, and they sell fraudulent concoctions.

Excerpts from the Friday Sermon

1. Medicine is one of the most virtuous and beneficial fields. Being skilled in this field is a source of honor and virtue. To reach a high level, a medical student must climb a long and arduous ladder, ascending step by step, until he reaches the top. Such a level cannot be reached except through hard work, due diligence, and perseverance.

2. It is reported that the medical doctor Ibn Masawayh read the following hadeeth, "The human does not fill a vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few bites of food which will sustain his body. If one must exceed this, then it should be one third for his food, one third for his drink, and one third for his breathing." Upon reading this, he said, "If people were to follow this advice, they would be cured of the disease, and hospitals and pharmacies would no longer be needed."

3. We warn Muslims from trusting non-specialists in the field of medicine; those who offer medical remedies on social media and sell fraudulent products. They are playing with sick people's lives and seriously harming the health of others.

 4. Remember the statement of our Prophet (praise and peace be upon him): "If it is destined for the servant (of Allah) to reach a high level in the sight of Allah, which he does not reach through his deeds, Allah tests him in his body, wealth., or child. Then he makes him patiently endure this (trial) until he makes him reach that level which Allah — the Most Exalted — had predestined for him." [Reported by Abu Dawud]