Treating Sciatica with a sheep tail in Hadith
In the traditions of Ibn Majah as was reported from Anas Ibn Malek the prophet (PBUH) said: “The cure of Sciatica is the tail of a desert sheep molten and split into three parts each is taken on an empty stomach for three following days” (Desert sheep: meaning sheep that graze in areas with grass growing naturally.)
Symptoms of Sciatica: Sciatica is a pain radiating along the sciatic nerve starting from the hips down the back of the leg and possibly to the foot.
The longer it remains the more it moves down the leg that becomes thinner, accompanied with numbness and weakness of the leg.
The symptoms may include a back pain and can be serious if are accompanied by bowel or bladder incontinence.
What causes Sciatica ? : Sciatica has various causes; most cases result from a herniated disc that leads to the compression of the nerve roots.
Infection by some enterobacteria causes the inflammation of the sciatic nerve and so Sciatica.
Scientific miracles in the hadith
1-The role of fats in the treatment of this illness:
The prophet (PBUH) mentioned that the treatment of Sciatica, in some cases, is the tail of a sheep, which is in fact fat.
Modern science says:
Lipid metabolism has three branches, each is related to the type of fat consumed in a big quantity, leading therefore to the formation of three different chemical compounds that have opposite effects from each other. These compounds, called the prostaglandins, resemble the hormones and have different effects on pains and inflammations in the body.
Prostaglandins type 1 prevent pain and come from the fatty acid called gamma linoleic acid GLA that belongs to the omega 6 fat group found on a limited basis in somewildplant .
Therefore medical products containing extracts of those two plants are expensive. Those products help people that do not have active enzymes to convert linoleic acid to gamma linoleic acid and then to prostaglandins type 3.
Type two prostaglandins, on the other hand, augment the pains. These are formed from omega 6 fat group as well, and mainly from linoleic acid found in margarines and cakes, as well as vegetal oils converted by the food industry to the solid trans fats, so that cakes, chocolates and sweets remain in the solid state in room temperature.
Type 3 prostaglandins are known for their calming action on the pains and inflammations. Those are formed from Alpha Linoleic Acid (ALA), which is converted to the two compounds EPA and DHA. Alpha Linoleic Acid is found in the oils of natural leaves and herbs, and so this is an advantage of the natural vegetal food eaten by humans and animals like the sheep living in a desert (oasis)
Oils that contain alpha linoleic acid are cheap. Those belong to the omega3 group known for its large benefits and are liquid in room temperature.
Some of the benefits of fats of omega 3class are:
– The decrease of cholesterol level,
– The protection from heart and brain strokes
– The protection from arterial hypertension, rheumatoid, eczema and cancers.
Furthermore it was proved that lipids of type sys have a role in decreasing the lipid amount in the body and so in weight loss.
Contrary to the fats of omega 3 class, saturated animal fats and hydrogenated vegetal fats which is converted in food industry to fats of type Trans, as well as fats of omega 6 class do not have all the benefits that omega 3 fat class has but have many harms.
This big variation in omega 3 fats benefits can be understood by showing the physiological effects of the principal fatty acids.
Fatty acids are involved in the formation of the tissues of the brain, the eye, the ear, the reproductive glands and the other glands’ tissues.
They are involved in the formation of the membranes surrounding all the cells in the body and acting to protect the cells.
Fatty acids have a role in repairing the nervous tissues as in the case of a herniated disk, one of the principal causes of Sciatica.
Science proved that Omega three fat group has important roles in treating the inflammation of nervous tissues, which is the second main cause of Sciatica. A book specialised in this field was edited in 1998, written by Joel Krimmer, the professor in medicine and the chief of the rheumatism division in the medical school in New York. The book is titled “The Medical Fats and Inflammation” and includes many details of the biochemistry of the inflammation treatment by the omega 3 fats.
2- The desert sheep live on natural herbs,rich in the omega 3 fats and from which scientists could extracted 700 medicines. The beneficial oils the sheep obtains from these herbs are stored in its tail.
3- The Prophet (PBUH) said that the tail should be melted first,and so the harmful bacteria and germs are killed by the heat.
4- It should also be taken in three days, not more,to avoid fat oxidation and rancidity.
5-It should be taken on an empty stomach:so that no other lipids compete with the lipids of the tail for absorption in the digestive tract at the vesicule and pancreas level in addition to the cellular level where the enzymes acting at the membrane convert those lipids of the omega 3 group to the beneficial type 3 prostaglandin that reduce the inflammations and the pain caused by Sciatica
Reference : Summary of the research work presented by Dr Zoheir Bin Rabeh Gerrami in the conference of the international Organisation for Islamic Miracles, Dubai, Ramadan 2004.