Medicine Men

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Introduction

‘Anyone who practices medicine but is not known as a practitioner, and injures a person or inflicts harm on him, will be held liable.’  This statement, purportedly referred to as a Prophetic ḥadith has been circulated widely of late.  Several have asked about where it has been reported as well as its authenticity.  Against the backdrop of society becoming one of an increasing medical tyranny, it is not a surprise that this has sparked some interest.

In Bulugh al-Marām, al-Ḥāfiz mentions this tradition in the book of offences [no. 1195, p. 362] providing his summary comment thereafter:

وعن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده رفعه قال من تطبب ولم يكن بالطب معروفا فأصاب نفسا فما دونها فهو ضامن

أخرجه الدارقطني وصححه الحاكم وهو عند أبي داود والنسائي وغيرهما إلا أن من أرسله أقوى ممن وصله

From ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather who raised it, he said: Anyone who practices medicine but is not known as a practitioner, and injures a person or inflicts harm on him, will be held liable.

It is reported by al-Dāraquṭni, Ṣaḥīḥ by al-Ḥākim.  And it is (reported by) Abu Dāwud, al-Nasā’i and other than them, except that its mursal form is stronger than its connected channel.

The judgment of al-Ḥāfiz here is insightful: the mursal (loose) narration is stronger in reporting than the connected channel.  The mursal adith by its nature is considered aef (weak) and in this instance, as will be set out, does not appear to be supported through other alternate or attesting lines of reporting.  As Ibn Ḥazm succinctly argued, neither the mursal nor the mawquf (halted) adith can be utilised as proof by themselves [al-Muḥalla Vol. 1, pp. 72/74, Issue 93].  In other words, as a standalone narration, its evidential value would have the classification as being weak [Ibn Ṣalāḥ, Kitāb Ma’rifa Anwā’ Ulum al-adith, Vol. 1, p. 53].

Narrations

Aside from Bulugh al-Marām, the narration is recorded in the following collections of ḥadith:

  • Sunan al-Dāraquṭni
  • Sunan Abu Dāwud
  • Sunan al-Nasā’i
  • Sunan Ibn Mājah
  • al-Sunan al-Kubra of Bayhaqy
  • Mustadrak of al-Ḥākim

An appendix is included below with the full listing.  Each of the lines of reporting in these collections has al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrating from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather.  Echoing al-Ḥāfiz, al-Dāraquṭni confirms this also with the citation of this tradition (and one preceding variant) in his Sunan:

ثنا محمد بن عبد الله بن إبراهيم ثنا محمد بن بشر بن مطر ثنا محمد بن عبد الرحمن بن سهم ثنا الوليد بن مسلم ثنا عبد الملك بن عبد العزيز بن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم  من تطبب ولم يكن بالطب معروفا فأصاب نفسا فما دونها فهو ضامن

لم يسنده عن بن جريج غير الوليد بن مسلم وغيره يرويه عن بن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب مرسلا عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم

Muḥammad ibn Abdullah ibn Ibrāhim narrated to us Muḥammad ibn Bishr ibn Maṭar narrated to us Muḥammad ibn Abdar-Raḥman ibn Sahm narrated to us al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated to us Abdal-Malik ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul-Aziz ibn Jurayj narrated to us from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, that the Prophet peace be upon him said: Anyone who practices medicine but is not known as a practitioner, and injures a person or inflicts harm, will be held liable.

[al-Dāraquṭni said] It is not connected from Ibn Jurayj by other than al-Waleed ibn Muslim and other than him; it is narrated from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb as mursal from the Prophet peace be upon him.

The singularity of the reporting line is further confirmed by the statement of Abu Dāwud who presents this tradition in his Sunan:

حدثنا نصر بن عاصم الأنطاكي ومحمد بن الصباح بن سفيان أن الوليد بن مسلم أخبرهم عن ابن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال من تطبب ولا يعلم منه طب فهو ضامن

قال نصر قال حدثني ابن جريج

‏قال أبو داود هذا لم يروه إلا الوليد لا ندري هو صحيح أم لا

Naṣr ibn ‘Aāṣim al-Anṭāki and Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ ibn Sufyān narrated to us that al-Waleed ibn Muslim reported to them from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, he said the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said: Whoever practices medicine when he is not known for that, he is liable.

Naṣr said: Ibn Jurayj narrated to me  Abu Dāwud said: This has been transmitted by al-Waleed alone. We do not know whether it is Ṣaḥīḥ or not.

Analysis

Scholarly disagreement exists regarding the reporting of ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather.  Notably, Ibn Ḥazm didn’t accept this giving the reasoning that ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb is narrating from a book of his grandfather’s without directly hearing it [see al-Muḥalla, Issues: 498, 504 and 640].  Tirmidhi summarises this view in his collection in the book of prayer, Abu Esa said: ‘Those who criticised the narrations of ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb only considered him weak because he narrated from a book of his grandfather’s, so it is as if they thought that he did not heard these narrations from his grandfather.  Ali ibn Abdullah said: It has been mentioned from Yaḥya ibn Sa’eed that he said: ‘The ḥadith of ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb is very weak to us.’ Although al-Tirmidhi has an earlier comment from al-Bukhāri noting that Aḥmad and Isḥāq generally accepted such narrations as proof, that channel of reporting is not utilised in his Ṣaḥīḥ, nor in the Ṣaḥīḥ of Imām Muslim.

That aside, al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrating from Ibn Jurayj does not appear as a well-established line of reporting from him.  Even where he narrated from established channels like al-Awzā’i. scholars were alert to him either dropping weak narrators and placing it on the authority of al-Awzā’i [see: al-Ḍu’afā wal’Matrukin, by al-Dāraquṭni, p. 187, no. 632].  As a narrator, al-Waleed ibn Muslim is regarded as thiqa (trustworthy), but as al-Ḥāfiz records in Taqrib al-Tahzeeb [No. 7456, p. 584] and as is widely recognised by the community of scholars, he does have a lot of Tadlees (misrepresentation in reporting) and of concern for this matter, Tadlees al-Taswiya [essentially, concealing of weak narrator(s) usually higher in the isnād between two narrators, giving the impression the chain of reporting is connected and sound].

No further independent lines are reported in the Sunan collections of al-Nasā’i, Ibn Mājah and Bayhaqy, as well as the Mustadrak of al-Ḥākim for this tradition, so it is essentially it is one channel of narration – all being reported from al-Waleed ibn Muslim reporting from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather.  The only other narratives which appear similar in wording are not through this isnād, for example in the Muṣṣanaf of Ibn Abi Shayba:

حدثنا أبو بكر قال حدثنا حفص عن عبد العزيز بن عمر قال حدثني بعض الذين قدموا على أبي قال قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إيما طبيب تطبب على قوم ولم يعرف بالطب قبل ذلك فاعنت فهو ضامن قال عبد العزيز أما إنه ليس بالنعت ولكنه قطع العروق والبط

Abu Bakr narrated to us he said Ḥafṣ narrated to us from Abdul-Aziz ibn Umar, he said: Some of those who came to my father narrated to me that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Any doctor who is providing medical care for a people, and he did not know about medicine before that, he is consequently liable.

حدثنا أبو بكر قال حدثنا أبو أسامة عن هشام عن الحسن قال إذا جاوز الطبيب ما أمر به فهو ضامن

Abu Bakr narrated to us he said Abu Usāmah narrated to us from Hishām from al-Ḥasan he said: ‘If the doctor exceeds what he prescribed, then he is liable.’

Abu Dāwud has this in his Sunan too, carrying an additional sentence: ‘Abdul-Aziz said: Here physician does not refer to a man by qualification. it means opening a vein, incision and cauterisation.’  The narration of Abdul-Aziz ibn Umar though is ḍaef since it is disconnected from the Prophet peace be upon him, further compounded by being narrated on the authority of unknown persons.  The latter, though not raised to being a Prophetic statement, is a judicial opinion or rather judgment from the famous successor of Kufa, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣri [d. 728 CE].

The Reported Text

In terms of the matn (wording of the reported text), this doesn’t appear strikingly problematic at first glance, it is also quite straightforward in meaning.  In the absence of being a known practitioner of medicine, any injuries or harm arising, the individual will be held responsible.  Although the text should not be read to construe or suggest that a known practitioner can escape liability altogether.  Before the professionalization or rather the institutionalisation of medicine, physicians would be known in the community as having knowledge of this area in order to provide or dispense treatment.  In the modern era, this is done through study, examination and professional bodies.

While the reported narrations are considered singular and aef, the general Sharī’ah rules concerning liability and harm would in any event apply.  Thus, as a judicial ruling from the general Islamic evidences, this would be fine.  However, it cannot be said though with any reasonable degree of certainty that this is in fact a Prophetic statement.  Rather, the evidences in the round would seem to indicate that it is more probably a judicial statement or opinion that has been inadvertently lifted to the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Postscript

One should always be wary though of any profession, medicine included, where its practitioners are captives to either promoting an insidious government position, or who are at the behest of the monopolist pharmaceutical corporations, whose influence and corruption at times often surpasses that of the military industrial complex.  It has not gone unnoticed that within Muslim intellectual circles this is an area strangely that seems to have escaped adequate scrutiny, some even shying away from it altogether.

Medical practitioners should also be mindful of their ethical and legal responsibilities to ‘do no harm,’ to ensure the risk of harm is reduced and that any preventive, diagnostic or other intervention is carried out with proper informed consent based upon adequate information.  Coercion because government or monopolist pharmaceutical corporations demand it is deeply abhorrent and unethical.

While there are some that consider medicine to be the field of the most talented and elite, medical practitioners often need reminding too of the unspeakable horrors that were unleashed in Europe during the Nazi era, as well as the ethical principles established at the end of the Second World War to prevent these from ever occurring again. ‘I was just following orders,’ ‘just doing my job,’ is not a valid defence, whether it is in a dock in an earthly court, or before the lord of all creation, Allah the exalted, on the day of judgement.

By the Day of Resurrection, and by the self-reproaching soul

Does man think We shall not put his bones back together?

In fact, We can reshape his very fingertips.

Yet man wants to deny what is ahead of him: he says, ‘So, when will this Day of Resurrection be?’

When eyes are dazzled, and the moon eclipsed; when the sun

and the moon are brought together, on that Day man will say, ‘Where can I escape?’

Truly, there is no refuge: they will all return to your Lord on that Day.

On that Day, man will be told what he put first and what he put last.

Truly, man is a clear witness against himself, despite all the excuses he may put forward.

[Qur’ān, 75: 1/15]

Appendix: Listed narrations

  1. Sunan al-Dāraquṭni [Vol. 2, no. 3402/3]
  2. Sunan Abu Dāwud
  3. Sunan al-Nasā’i
  4. Sunan Ibn Mājah
  5. al-Sunan al-Kubra of Bayhaqy [Vol. 8, no. 16530]
  6. Mustadrak of al-Ḥākim [Vol. 4, no. 7563]
  7. Muṣṣanaf Ibn Abi Shayba [Vol. 14, no. 28164/5]

سنن الدارقطني

ثنا أبو بكر النيسابوري ثنا عيسى بن أبي عمران الرملي ثنا الوليد بن مسلم ثنا بن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال من تطبب ولم يعلم منه الطب قبل ذلك فهو ضامن

Abu Bakr al-Nisaburi narrated to us Esa ibn ‘Imrān al-Ramli narrated to us al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated to us Ibn Jurayj narrated to us from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, that the Prophet peace be upon him said: Whoever practices medicine while he is not known for such before that, then he is liable.

ثنا محمد بن عبد الله بن إبراهيم ثنا محمد بن بشر بن مطر ثنا محمد بن عبد الرحمن بن سهم ثنا الوليد بن مسلم ثنا عبد الملك بن عبد العزيز بن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم  من تطبب ولم يكن بالطب معروفا فأصاب نفسا فما دونها فهو ضامن

لم يسنده عن بن جريج غير الوليد بن مسلم وغيره يرويه عن بن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب مرسلا عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم

Muḥammad ibn Abdullah ibn Ibrāhim narrated to us Muḥammad ibn Bishr ibn Maṭar narrated to us Muḥammad ibn Abdar-Raḥman ibn Sahm narrated to us al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated to us Abdal-Malik ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul-Aziz ibn Jurayj narrated to us from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, that the Prophet peace be upon him said: Anyone who practices medicine but is not known as a practitioner, and injures a person or inflicts harm, will be held liable.

[al-Dāraquṭni said] It is not connected from Ibn Jurayj by other than al-Waleed ibn Muslim and others; it is narrated from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb as mursal from the Prophet peace be upon him.

سنن أبي داود

حدثنا نصر بن عاصم الأنطاكي ومحمد بن الصباح بن سفيان أن الوليد بن مسلم أخبرهم عن ابن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال من تطبب ولا يعلم منه طب فهو ضامن

قال نصر قال حدثني ابن جريج

‏قال أبو داود هذا لم يروه إلا الوليد لا ندري هو صحيح أم لا

Naṣr ibn ‘Aāṣim al-Anṭāki and Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ ibn Sufyān narrated to us that al-Waleed ibn Muslim reported to them from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, he said the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said: Whoever practices medicine when he is not known for that, he is liable.

Naṣr said: Ibn Jurayj narrated to me.  Abu Dāwud said: This has been transmitted by al-Waleed alone. We do not know whether it is Ṣaḥīḥ or not.

حدثنا محمد بن العلاء حدثنا حفص حدثنا عبد العزيز بن عمر بن عبد العزيز حدثني بعض الوفد الذين قدموا على أبي قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أيما طبيب تطبب على قوم لا يعرف له تطبب قبل ذلك فأعنت فهو ضامن

قال عبد العزيز أما إنه ليس بالنعت إنما هو قطع العروق والبط والكى

Muḥammad ibn al-‘Alā narrated to us Ḥafṣ narrated to us Abdul-Aziz ibn Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz narrated to us some of those who came to my father narrated to me that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Any doctor who is providing medical care for a people, and he did not know about medicine before that, he is consequently liable.

Abdul-Aziz said: Here physician does not refer to a man by qualification. it means opening a vein, incision and cauterisation.

سنن النسائي

أخبرني عمرو بن عثمان ومحمد بن مصفى قالا حدثنا الوليد عن ابن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من تطبب ولم يعلم منه طب قبل ذلك فهو ضامن

‘Amr ibn Uthmān and Muḥammad ibn Muṣaffa reported to me, they said al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated to us from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, he said the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said: Whoever practices medicine when he is not known for that, he is liable.

أخبرني محمود بن خالد قال حدثنا الوليد عن ابن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده، مثله سواء

Maḥmud ibn Khālid reported to me he said al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated to us from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather with a similar report.

سنن ابن ماجه

حدثنا هشام بن عمار وراشد بن سعيد الرملي قالا حدثنا الوليد بن مسلم حدثنا ابن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من تطبب ولم يعلم منه طب قبل ذلك فهو ضامن

Hishām ibn ‘Ammār and Rāshid ibn Sa’eed al-Ramli narrated to us they said al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated to us Ibn Jurayj narrated to us from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, he said the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said: Whoever practices medicine when he is not known for that, he is liable.

البيهقي السنن الكبرى

أخبرنا أبو سعد أحمد بن محمد الماليني أنبأ أبو أحمد عبد الله بن عدي الحافظ ثنا أحمد بن علي ثنا محمد بن عبد الرحمن بن سهم ثنا الوليد بن مسلم عن بن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من تطبب ولم يكن بالطب معروفا فأصاب نفسا فما دونها فهو ضامن

كذا رواه جماعة عن الوليد بن مسلم ورواه محمود بن خالد عن الوليد عن بن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن جده عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم لم يذكر أباه

Abu Sa’d Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Mālini reported to us Abu Aḥmad Abdullah ibn ‘Adi al-Ḥāfiz reports Aḥmad ibn Ali narrated to us Muḥammad ibn Abdar-Raḥman ibn Sahm narrated to us al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated to us from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, he said the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said: Anyone who practices medicine but is not known as a practitioner, injures a person or inflicts harm, will be held liable

Similarly, as transmitted by the group from al-Waleed ibn Muslim and transmitted by Maḥmud ibn Khālid from al-Waleed from Ibn Jurayj from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his grandfather from the Prophet peace be upon him without mentioning his father.

المستدرك على الصحيحين

حدثنا أبو زكريا العنبري وأبو بكر بن جعفر المزكي وعبد الله بن سعد الحافظ وعلي بن عيسى الحيري قالوا ثنا أبو عبد الله محمد بن إبراهيم العبدي ثنا سليمان بن عبد الرحمن الدمشقي ثنا الوليد بن مسلم ثنا ابن جريج عن عمرو بن شعيب عن أبيه عن جده قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال من تطبب ولم يعرف منه طب فهو ضامن

هذا حديث صحيح الإسناد ولم يخرجاه

Abu Zakariyā al-Anbari, Abu Bakr ibn Ja’far al-Mazki, Abdullah ibn Sa’d al-Ḥāfiz and Ali ibn Esa al-Hayri narrated to us, they said Abu Abdullah Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhim al-‘Abdi narrated to us Sulaymān ibn Abdar-Raḥman al-Dimishqi narrated to us al-Waleed ibn Muslim narrated to us Ibn Jurayj narrated to us from ‘Amr ibn Shu’ayb from his father from his grandfather, he said the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said: Whoever practices medicine when he is not known for that, he is liable

This ḥadith has a Ṣaḥīḥ isnād and it was not cited.

مصنف ابن أبي شيبة

حدثنا أبو بكر قال حدثنا حفص عن عبد العزيز بن عمر قال حدثني بعض الذين قدموا على أبي قال قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إيما طبيب تطبب على قوم ولم يعرف بالطب قبل ذلك فاعنت فهو ضامن قال عبد العزيز أما إنه ليس بالنعت ولكنه قطع العروق والبط

Abu Bakr narrated to us he said Ḥafṣ narrated to us from Abdul-Aziz ibn Umar, he said: Some of those who came to my father told me the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Any doctor who is providing medical care for a people, and he did not know about medicine before that, he is consequently liable.

حدثنا أبو بكر قال حدثنا أبو أسامة عن هشام عن الحسن قال إذا جاوز الطبيب ما أمر به فهو ضامن

Abu Bakr narrated to us he said Abu Usāmah narrated to us from Hishām from al-Ḥasan he said: ‘If the doctor exceeds what he prescribed, then he is liable.’

 

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