Fake Doctors, Pay Attention!

Explanation of Hadees

Fake doctors, pay attention!

Nasir Jamal Attari Madani

The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم stated: ‘مَنْ تَطَبَّبَ وَلَمْ يُعْلَمْ مِنْهُ طِبٌّ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ فَهُوَ ضَامِنٌ’. Translation: ‘Who ever provides treatment while not having the knowledge of medicine is liable.’ (Ibn-e-Majah, vol. 4, p. 103, Hadees 3466)

The Interpretation of the statement of the Prophet of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم is that the one who has not studied the rules and principles of medicine but still perceives himself to be a doctor in front of others and provides treatment, and then somebody dies or is harmed due to the treatment he provided, then that fake doctor will be liable for Diyyah^[1] (blood money). (Is’aaf-ul-Hajah, p. 579, under the Hadees 3466; A’laam-ul-Anaam, vol. 4, p. 79)

Treatment is a necessity for every living being, be it an animal or a human. As the human being is the greatest of all creations, the importance of its honour and respect is also more emphasised, and adopting the necessary means to maintain the health of a human life has been declared extremely important. As well as treatment being available, it is also necessary for the doctor to be an expert for the protection of human health. A good doctor plays a role of a saviour in the human society. However, this is only possible if the doctor fears the Creator, Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ. Otherwise, he uses his patients as money making machines, and this greed sometimes forces him to do things that endanger human life.

This happens in those cases in which the doctor or homeopath is an expert, but due to greed or negligence, he ends up doing something harmful. Even more disgraceful are those who gain only a little knowledge about medicine and become so called doctors, and then they subject their patients to further harm due to inexperience. Sadly, there are a few groups like this that do exist in our world. Let us go through some reasons for individuals providing treatments as fake doctors.

1.   Seeking fame leads a person to commit many things. Since successfully treating a person is also a great means of becoming famous, so this hunger for fame can encourage a person to share remedies to gain praise from people. Such a person begins to lie and make false claims; sometimes he falsely advertises that he has cured thousands of people in order to impress people and not only this, such people even use their fake degrees and certificates to attract people to their clinics/medical centres.

2.   Greed for wealth also encourages people to do the same. Especially those rundown areas in which there is no hospital, or the hospital is too far from there, are like gold mines for these fake doctors. They destroy many lives in such places due to their inexperience.

3.   Some individuals just love to stick their nose into everything and dish out free advice. Due to force of habit, such people just wander around giving remedies for illnesses, and sometimes they even insist that their method of treatment should be adopted. Sometimes they share such ‘remedies’ that intensify the illness instead of curing it, and only with the passing of time does one realise how wrong their advice was. Only an intelligent and wise person can escape the advice of such an untrained adviser.

4.   Some people even share made-up remedies just as a joke, as a result of which, people’s lives are endangered. Such people should take heed from the blessed Hadees mentioned above.

5.   Some people tell the patient to take the wrong medicines out of malice and spite for the patient, and then they are pleased on seeing the negative effects of the medicine taking form.

6.   Some people just like to experiment on other people; so in order to find out the benefits and side-effects of the medicine, they experiment on simple people. Some request medicine for an illness from a medical store and the store worker (due to his fondness for experimentation) gives them medicine without the prescription of a doctor, the horrific results of which can manifest in an increase in pain or even the loss of life.

Fake doctors are in actual fact a result of mercilessness, a vengeful attitude, and other similar reasons. Therefore, we should remember that Islam commands us to be merciful. It is stated in a Hadees Qudsi that Allah Almighty states, ‘If you want My mercy, then be merciful to My creation.’ (Makarim-ul-Akhlaq, lil Tabarani, p. 326, Hadees 41) The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم stated: ‘Undoubtedly, Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ has mercy on His merciful servants.’ (Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 434, Hadees 1284) Islam stops us from being insensitive and merciless, just as our Beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم stated: ‘Whoever is not merciful to people, Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ will not show him mercy’. (Muslim, p. 957, Hadees 2318)

The expression of mercy to the ill is through abstaining from giving them incorrect advice regarding remedies, and instead, referring them to an expert doctor. In this regard, as far as possible, we should also remove any financial difficulties that ill people may have. All of this should be done without using words that would hurt them; rather we should approach them in such a kind manner that leads them to a good doctor and being treated successfully. By acting in this manner, we can become a cause for a decrease of fake doctors, اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه.