The Pandemic Prescription: Restoring Hope from the Qur'an, Sunnah and Science

By Madiha Saeed and Abdullah Oduro

“… Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change their inner selves.” (Qur’an 13:11)

We tend to live our life worried, fearful, anxious and stressed. We are always seeking ways to be in control yet the reality is that we can’t control the future and we can’t change the past. We can however, control ourselves. Allah (SWT) has given us the chance to change what is within us. The current pandemic has forced us to change our lifestyle, our pace of life and this is the time when we should truly reflect. Think about what we can change, how we can improve and what we can control – our everyday decisions and actions.

It’s time to empower ourselves by strengthening our bodies, our minds and our hearts, thereby strengthening our immune systems and increasing our resilience – and the secret to optimal health and resilience lies in the Qur’an and Sunnah! SubhanAllah!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kube Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Feb 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781847741585

Madiha Saeed

Madiha Saeed, MD, also known as HolisticMom, MD on social media, is a practicing board certified family physician in the USA, health influencer, international speaker and a best-selling author. Her best-selling book The Holistic Rx: Your Guide to Healing Chronic Inflammation and Disease, a best-selling children’s book series, Adam’s Healing Adventures (one of Dr Mark Hyman’s favorite pics), The Quranic Prescription: Living Quran and Sunnah to Optimize Health Healing and Save Our Future and The Holistic Rx for Kids: Parenting Healthy Children to Save Our Future empowering the world towards healthier living. Dr Saeed is the director of education for Documenting Hope and KnoWEwell. She sits on multiple medical advisory boards including Nagamia Institute of Islamic Medicine and Sciences, Mamapotamous and Wellness Mama, who was named one of the 100 most influential people in health and wellness. Dr Saeed and her children speak internationally in the most prestigious holistic conferences, summits, radio and newspaper. She is a regular on the international Emmy winning medical talk show the Dr. Nandi Show. Dr Saeed's children host "The Holistic Kids' Show" podcast with interviewing the biggest names in the functional, holistic and integrative medicine world, helping kids empower and educate other kids. They speak internationally igniting the world with their energy and passion to ignite a healing revolution to save our future.

Book preview

The Pandemic Prescription: Restoring Hope From the Qur’An, Sunnah and Science Edited by Madiha Saeed, Foreword by SH. ABDULLAH ODURO

THE PANDEMIC PRESCRIPTION

RESTORING HOPE FROM THE QUR’AN, SUNNAH AND SCIENCE

MADIHA SAEED, MD

FOREWORD BY SH. ABDULLAH ODURO

The Pandemic Prescription: Restoring Hope from the Qur’an, Sunnah and Science

First published in England by

Kube Publishing Ltd,

Markfield Conference Centre,

Ratby Lane, Markfield,

Leicestershire, LE67 9SY,

United Kingdom Tel: [phone]

Website: www.kubepublishing.com

Email: [e-mail]

© Dr. Madiha Saeed 2021 All Rights Reserved.

The right of Dr. Madiha Saeed to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patent Act 1988.

Cataloguing in-Publication Data is available from the British Library

EISBN 978-1-84774-158-5

Typesetting: LiteBook Prepress Services

Cover Design: Inspiral Design

And We send down of the Qur’an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss (Qur’an 17:82)

CONTENTS

Disclaimer

Dedication

Foreword by Shaikh Abdullah Oduro

Introduction

Allah Gives Us Hope and Healing

Change Starts with You! Give Up Fear

Alhamdulillah Allah Guided my Heart

Allah Heals, Allah Cures

Hope and Healing Come with Education

How to Navigate through this Book

Part 1: The Qur’an, Science and the Balance of the Immune System

Chapter 1 Colliding Pandemics

Who Are the Most Vulnerable?

Inflammation

How COVID-19 Works

Our Lifestyles Are Literally Killing Us

A Tayyib Diet/Lifestyle Can Reinstate Hope and Healing

Is this pandemic a punishment from Allah? The Answer depends on you!

Chapter 2 Balance for an Optimal Immune System

The Power of Your Immune System is in Your Hands

What is the Immune System?

Your Lifestyle Controls your Immune System – Immuno-rejuvenation

Chapter 3 Imbalanced Lifestyle Leads to an Imbalanced Immune System

The Consequences of an Imbalanced Life

How a Tayyib Life Rejuvenates the Immune System

The Four Big S’s : Our Pure Internal Environment at Peace

Part 2: Practical Tips to Rejuvenate the Immune System

Chapter 4 A Pure Diet Optimizes the Immune System

Tayyib Foods Are the Key to Optimizing the Immune System

Why Eat Tayyib Foods?

Fasting and the Immune System

Nutrients Needed for the Immune System

Foods that Weaken the Immune System: Khabith Foods to Avoid

Foods to Limit/Avoid

Specific Immune Boosting Nutrients

A Recap

The Pandemic Diet Prescription- Optimizing Our Defences with Tayyib Food

Chapter 5 A Tayyib Life Strengthens the Immune System

Lower Toxins and Optimize Detoxification

Stress Destroys the Immune System

Sleep Rejuvenates

From Being Socially Distanced to Being Socially Connected

Time to Get Back to Being a People of Alhamdulillah - Gratitude Heals

The Pandemic Detox Prescription

The Pandemic Stress Prescription

The Pandemic Sleep Prescription

The Pandemic Social Prescription

The Pandemic Spiritual Prescription

Conclusion: From Fear to Empowerment: Time to Reinstate Hope and Healing to Humanity

You Have COVID? Now What?

Post COVID Syndrome

From Fear to Being Empowered and Educated!

Change Starts with Us! We Can Change Together!

Start with what is Tayyib

Appendix

Recipes

About the Author

References

Disclaimer

This book should only be considered as a reference guide. It is not intended as a medical manual, and the data presented in it are meant to assist the reader in making informed choices regarding wellness. It is not a replacement for treatment that the reader’s personal physician may have suggested. If the reader believes he or she is experiencing a medical problem, professional medical help is recommended. Mention of particular products, companies or authorities in this book does not entail their endorsement by the publisher or author.

Dedication

To my parents and children, Abdullah, Zain, Emaad and Qasim who work with me to inspire and educate the world.

I can’t thank Allah enough for gifting me with the most loving and supportive family.

I love you all so much!

FOREWORD

All praise belongs to Allah; and may His peace and blessings be upon His final Messenger Muhammad.

As we subconsciously acknowledge, our lives are a blessing from our Creator. But one of the main characteristics of this life is that it is temporary. Allah has made us the most noble of His creation when he says: karramna bani adam," (Quran 17:70) and this nobility includes a healthy mind, body and soul. The question that poses itself is: how do we feed these three essential elements of this noble creation?

That which is consistent has the most promising potential to effect change. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said on the authority of A’ishah: The acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are done continuously, even if they are small. (Muslim)

We all know that eating is, and will always be, a consistent practice that every living being must engage in in order to survive. But is this natural, consistent action to our benefit or detriment? How do we want to live?

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) continuously supplicated for good health for himself and his family in different ways:

‘O Allah, I ask You for pardon and good health in this world and the next...’

Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be well pleased with him) narrated, ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate, saying:

O Allah! I seek refuge in You from the withholding of your favour, the decline of the good health You have given, the suddenness of Your vengeance and from all forms of Your wrath. (Muslim)

This duʿāʾ reminds us that good health is given to us by Allah as a trust (Amanah). And if that is the case, we should remember that if we neglect this trust, it will be detrimental to us in this life and the next.

Just as we make duʿāʾ for good health and a good living which is a manifestation of Allah’s favour, we should know that the healthy natural foods that Allah has placed on this earth are also favours from Him. This is exactly what Allah orders us to eat from when He says:

O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and pure and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy. (Qur’an 2:168)

This was also what one of the sleepers of the Cave (Kahf) was ordered to get when they woke up from their long slumber which lasted more than three hundred years:

…They said, "Your Lord is most knowing of how long you remained. So send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the city and let him look to which is the best of food and bring you provision from it and let him be cautious. And let no one be aware of you. (Qur’an 18:19)

The best of food here has been understood to mean the purest of foods, not the most extravagant.

I was elated to meet Dr. Madiha. When speaking to her, one realises that she is passionate about healthy lifestyles and consuming wholesome foods! As she put it: I feel that I was created to do this!. This is clearly apparent in this book as well as in her demeanour.

It is also very refreshing to read and hear her attributing all what we have heard or learned about wellness from experts to the Qur’an and Sunnah, for this can assist in nurturing Muslims’ religious convictions.

Lastly, although she is sympathetic to the current situation of humanity and our ummah regarding health and diet, she never fails to motivate her readers to transform their lives. She knows that this is not easy, but one feels that she is there with them when facing their challenges which is quite encouraging. Her positive energy and zeal leaves one with no other choice but to want to do something to improve the quality of one’s life

Sh. Abdullah Oduro

INTRODUCTION

We are living in an age like no other: we live in an age fraught with fear, hopelessness, loneliness, hunger, chaos, sickness, social isolation. We live with fear of being hugged or getting close to people, of losing our jobs, of going hungry, of getting sick, of the future, of the unknown and of being truly human. We are surrounded by fear; fear on the news, on social media, at the dinner table. Our lives are besieged by fear and hopelessness. It is as if we are spiralling down into an endless, dark abyss while we try to hold on to something. But in such a situation we need to eschew hysteria and embrace reason.

Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] has not yet come to you as came to those who passed on before you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said, Where is the help of Allah? Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near. (Qur’an 2:214)

Allah is near: these simple words should give comfort to our souls, bodies and minds. Allah is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim; Allah is the Protector, the Giver of Peace, the Helper and the Nourisher. During times of stress, or when we feel that everything is lost, we need to run back to the Creator; we need to turn back to the Qur’an.

Allah Gives Us Hope and Healing

And We send down of the Qur’an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss (Qur’an 17:82)

As the world continues to fall in its downward spiral, we Muslims have been taught to reflect. Long ago, when people felt that everything was lost, the Qur’an was sent as guidance for mankind. Allah, at that time, gave humanity hope just as He is giving it now. In a world with so much fear of the unknown, we need to hold on tighter to Allah’s rope.

And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favour of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided. (Qur’an 3:103)

Do not lose hope, nor be sad. You will surely be victorious if you are true believers. (Qur’an 3:139)

Through reading And hold firmly to the rope of Allah, we understand and become hopeful. Allah has all the solutions to the diseases and sickness that plague the world. He can save us. We just have to open our hearts and eyes to His guidance and healing.

And We send down the Qur’an that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss (Qur’an 17:82)

And when I am ill, it is He who cures me (Qur’an 26:80)

The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) said, There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment (Bukhari)

Allah cures, Allah heals, Allah is the best of planners, but how can we truly heal when we are constantly in fear and hopelessness? Fear keeps us paralyzed and stuck; it tethers us in such a way that we can’t act. Fear keeps our brains and hearts in chains. When we feel stuck, we just need to know how and where to start again.

It is easy to believe that the world is too big or too complicated to change, that we are too small to make a difference, or that a disease or virus is too serious to overcome, but Allah has given us the solution. We can change the condition of the people. It all starts with what we can control: our everyday decisions. The decisions we make today can either heal or hurt us, but it all starts with us! May Allah guide our hearts.

Change Starts with Us – Give Up Fear

... Verily Allah will never change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves … (Qur’an 13: 11)

Most of us have dreamt in childhood of changing the world. But as we start getting caught up in the vicissitudes of real life, we give up such dreams, believing we are too busy or too insignificant to make real change, especially during a pandemic.

But we can make a difference! We can be that drop in the ocean that can create a ripple effect to cause real change. But where do we start? Allah tells us that, in order to change the condition of people, we must start with ourselves. This sounds cliché, but it is true.

We can start with what we can control. Social distancing, masks and hand-washing are very important, but in order to overcome fear, we need to first understand that the future as well as the past are in Allah’s hands and that Allah has control over what is going on, for no disaster strikes except by His permission.

No disaster strikes except by permission of Allah. And whoever believes in Allah - He will guide his heart. And Allah is Knowing of all things. (Qur’an 64:11)

Every day, we ask Allah at least 17 times to guide us on the right path, over and over again. But how many of us really put our trust in Him?

Guide us on the straight path (Qur’an 1:6)

Fear and hopelessness develop