Lesson 4 of 6 · The tradition never asked you to choose
The answer to a question about permission
This one deserves its own step because of what the bedouins were actually asking. They asked whether they should treat their sick. They were asking permission.
The answer, in Tirmidhi, graded sound: yes, servants of Allah, use remedies, for Allah did not make a disease without making a cure for it. The one exception named is old age. The same exchange is in Abu Dawud, in a shorter sentence: make use of medical treatment, for Allah has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of one disease, namely old age. Two collections, both sound, and you can check either.
So the shape of the exchange matters as much as the words. A community asked whether seeking treatment was allowed, and were told to go and do it. That is not a licence granted reluctantly. It is an instruction.
Qur’an and Sunnah
The shape of this exchange matters as much as the words. They asked whether they should treat their sick, which is asking permission, and the answer came back as an instruction to go and do it.
Usamah bin Sharik said:"Some Bedouins asked: 'O Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) shall we treat (our ill)?' He said: 'Yes, O worshipers of Allah! Use remedies. For indeed Allah did not make a disease but He made a cure for it' - or - 'a remedy. Except for one disease.' They said: 'O Messenger of Allah (s.a.w)! What is it?' He said: 'Old age
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2038graded sound, albanithe Arabic and its grading
The same exchange in a second collection, in a shorter sentence. Both are sound, and you can check either.
Narrated Usamah ibn Sharik: I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and his Companions were sitting as if they had birds on their heads. I saluted and sat down. The desert Arabs then came from here and there. They asked: Messenger of Allah, should we make use of medical treatment? He replied: Make use of medical treatment, for Allah has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of one disease, namely old age
Sunan Abi Dawud 3855graded sound, albanithe Arabic and its grading