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: +44 (0) 1530 249230 Website: www.kubepublishing.com Email: info@kubepublishing.com © 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 – Immunorejuvenation
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 only when we fall into the notion that we need to control everything. This very fear and hopelessness disappears when we finally realize that things are not in our hands but in Allah’s hands. It is time to take that burden off our shoulders ‒ that stress, worry and the need to control everything ‒ and leave it to Allah. We are not meant to carry all the burdens of the world on our shoulders. With true tawakkul, true trust in Allah, we need to shift our attention from what we can’t control to what we can. Our everyday actions are under our control. The decisions we make today are in our control. Allah decides what will and won’t happen in the future. It is time to surrender our worries and fears to Allah. When we surrender to Him, we let go of fear and hopelessness and bring in hope and healing. It is only when we let go, that we can truly be empowered to heal.
Alhamdulillah, Allah Guided my Heart I know what I am talking about when I say that it is only when we let go, that we can truly be empowered to heal. I was there. I felt like I was being swallowed alive by fear. I was a new resident, a new mom and a new wife all at the same time. I was far away from my family and I had to face this new reality all by myself. My husband and I both worked 80 hours per week. With a new-born baby to look after, lack of sleep, constant stress, eating whatever I could get my hands on, very little self-care ˗ I suffered. My joints and body hurt, I was constantly fatigued, I was dealing with severe digestive issues, acne, eczema; I was diagnosed with thyroid problems and then with lupus. I was getting constant colds, coughs and I even had shingles! Old people get shingles! I started asking myself: why was my body falling apart at such a young age? But I continued on my hamster wheel, oblivious to my everyday decisions. Then, one day, my hamster wheel came to an abrupt stop! I walked into the infant day-care room and a mother’s worst nightmare played out in front of me. I found my ten month old baby, my gift from Allah, almost
suffocating to death. The receiving blanket that tied down his arms and legs was now wrapped around his mouth and nose. His face swollen, the pacifier still in his mouth, his eyes blood shot, and glistening with tears, I rescued my child and ran out. The day when Allah saved my child was the first day of my life. I made a promise to take care of this child the best way I knew. But how could I take care of him when I was falling apart? I was literally falling apart in my 20s; I was getting viruses and illnesses that others got in their old age. With constant viral illnesses and my body trying to kill itself, I had to take charge of my health and look for answers. I studied, read, and educated myself night and day to find answers on how to get better health and optimize my immune system. During my exhaustive research, I was given very little hope in anything other than pharmaceutical options. I was told there was nothing I can really do except to “sit back and let the disease take its course”. Let this disease take its course! I had a disease that could either kill me or force me to take medications with side effects that could lead to death! Surely, there had to be another way! Filled with fear and hopelessness, I turned to Allah. Allah’s answered my duʿāʾ and guided my heart. He guided me to integrative, holistic and functional medicine. Holistic and functional medicine addresses the root cause of why we feel the way we do using all the effective tools at the disposal of physicians in addition to something else. With the approaches of complementary, alternative and integrative medicine combined with conventional treatments, unconditional love and hope, we can help restore balance to any sick body, thereby allowing it to work better and optimize its immune system. I was not alone. With colleagues and siblings in different medical specialties, I realized that medical doctors are not taught a single class about nutrition and very little about stress management. Conventional medicine is amazing for acute care, but it is incomplete when it comes to chronic care. In conventional chronic care management, most physicians simply alleviate the symptoms without looking at their root causes. We were not taught to ask why; why people get sick in the first place?
Why do we suffer? Why are our immune systems weak? Finding out why and how is what we will address in this book. We will reflect on what is going on with our world, why people are suffering and dying, and what we can do to increase our resilience so we don’t get sick, or when we do, we can limit the severity of the symptoms. This will not solve all the world’s problems (that is in Allah’s hands), but it will help us build resilience. When we give our bodies what they need, they will take care of us. This planet is filled with viruses, parasites, bacteria and fungi. We need to improve our immune systems in order to lower our susceptibility to any type of infection and become more resilient to whatever is thrown at us. That is what I did, and now alhamdulillah I don’t take any medications, and I no longer suffer from any of the chronic conditions that consumed half of my life. I cannot thank Allah enough!
Allah Heals, Allah Cures Alhamdulillah, when I gave my body what it needed to thrive, I improved. I feel better now than I have ever felt in my life. And I am not the only one that this has happened to. Over the last eleven years of practising integrative holistic functional medicine as a family physician, Allah continuously showed me the healing power of our lifestyles and that it is in our hands. The decisions we make can either improve our health or cause us sickness. Through Allah’s will, all my patients have improved, healed or achieved remission from their chronic conditions, including rare autoimmune diseases, like pityriasis rubra pilaris, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, digestive problems, skin issues such as acne and, eczema, psoriasis, neurological issues, such as migraines, psychiatric issues such as autism, PANDAS, depression and anxiety, and vague symptoms such as fatigue, allergies, sinus issues and chronic pain. We can optimize our health to become resilient to COVID. Even the after effects of COVID can be detrimental to our health unless we are able to restore balance to our bodies. Recently, I had the honour of meeting a young family physician who unfortunately had COVID in March 2020 and
continued to suffer from its symptoms for eleven weeks. Debilitated, she took a medical leave from work, and returned to her parents. We worked together to address the root causes of her condition and I helped her restore her body’s balance. Slowly, she started to improve. Before we had met, she suffered from severe headaches, dizziness, eye pain and redness, chest tightness, racing heart, shortness of breath, night sweats, palpitations, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, epigastric pain, loose stools, black stools, poor appetite, weakness, fatigue and excess sleep. A month after we met, she regained 99% of her strength and continues to improve daily. The power of healing did not lie in pharmaceutical remedies, it was rather in her hands and it had all to do with her lifestyle. Despite being a medical physician, she continued to educate herself, and hope and healing came with that education.
Hope and Healing Come with Education He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good. And none will remember except those of understanding. (Qur’an 2:269) “My Lord! Increase me in knowledge...” (Qur’an 20:114). But how do hope and healing come with education? How am I able to empower my patients to achieve life-altering optimal health even when they suffer from “irreversible” conditions? The answers to these questions first require understanding the immune system: the body’s best health defence system. The immune system protects and heals us, but only when we take care of it does it take care of us. When we destroy our bodies with artificial foods like processed foods, sugar and starch, increased stress, lack of sleep, negativity and increased exposure to toxins, this can affect the proper working of the immune system. Statistics have shown that the patients who suffer from more serious complications of the Corona virus are those who already have chronic health conditions, such as obesity, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes or old age, i.e. lifestyle-based diseases. Currently,
He only orders you to evil and immorality and to say about Allah what you do not know. (Qur’an 2: 169) And when it is said to them, “Follow what Allah has revealed,” they say, “Rather, we will follow that which we found our fathers doing.” Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided? (Qur’an 2:170) The example of those who disbelieve is like that of one who shouts at what hears nothing but calls and cries cattle or sheep - deaf, dumb and blind, so they do not understand. (Qur’an 2:171) O you who have believed, eat from the pure things which “We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship.” (Qur’an 2:172) Allah (SWT) paints a picture of people standing next to the Hellfire, with multiple regrets (hasarat) over their blind following of social norms, wishing that they had dissociated themselves from the people they followed in this life. After painting this picture, Allah points to how this can be prevented. Allah (SWT) could have enjoined us to pray more, read the Qur’an more or fast more, instead He said, “O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy. (Qur’an 2: 168). Then in verse 170, Allah (SWT) says, if you tell the people to follow what Allah (SWT) has revealed, they will say, we are going to continue doing what our forefathers have done, even though we know more now. Then Allah (SWT) says these people are following herd mentality like cattle. They are deaf, dumb and blind, they will never understand. Is this not what is happening now? Are we not seeing that people who are obese, diabetic or have lifestyle-related diseases are dying? We are following herd mentality, gripped by fear, hopelessness and stuck in our ways despite all the evidence around us. We have more knowledge about the causes of some diseases than our forefathers, but we are stuck because we are not using our brains. If a commercial advert informs us that a certain food or product is good, that we need it to help us cope with what is going
on in the world right now, we believe it without thinking about the consequences. We move our mouths without using our brains and continue to eat like herded cattle. Allah (SWT) says, “Eat of that which is tayyib” then Allah defines tayyib for us, saying , “eat of the tayyib of what Allah has provided and be grateful to Allah, if it is indeed Allah that you worship” (Qur’an 2:172). We need to wake up from this dream, and start living reality and actually use our brains. We are allowing our terrible diets to slowly kill us, kill our planet, weaken our immune systems and allow this microscopic organism to kill us. The chemically-laden foods that we consume are destroying humanity and killing off our world. The toxins we use on our plants are being eaten by our animals as well as being dumped in our waters and this has led to the loss of over half of the livestock species and 90% of our edible plant species.3 Yes, the virus is a big deal, but if we don’t wake up to this virus, another pathogen, or our chronic diseases, will kill us. Despite all these frightening facts, we continue to follow herd mentality. We don’t reflect on what is going on. These chemically-laden foods are not part of our religion and should not be allowed in our mosques and homes. It is high time that we open our eyes, soften our hearts and use our knowledge and brains to make the right choices for us and for our families.
Picture 4.1 The Qur’anic Perspective on Food
Why Eat Tayyib Food?
Tayyib (pure/wholesome) foods have the ability to heal us, while khabith (impure/unwholesome) foods destroy us slowly, deplete our immune systems, make us sick, fat and age faster. Let’s briefly discuss which food should be included in our diets and which food should be excluded. The food we consume should fulfil the following: 1. They should be of pure quality: vegetables, clean protein, healthy fats, fruits, lentils. A diet rich in plant-based nutrients has high phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and fibre that help to downregulate an overactive immune system. These nutrient-rich foods also heal the gut, balance insulin levels and improve the immune system. 2. They should be in small quantities: eating less can help to regulate glucose, balance hormones, decrease insulin resistance and lower chronic inflammation. 3. They should be nutrient dense and diversified: Foods mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah should be added to our diets. These foods have many nutritional benefits and increase our antioxidant activity. Tayyib/pure foods contain biological instructions that promote health, balance hormones, reduce oxidative stress, increase antioxidant levels, optimize our gene expression, improve our gut immune system and function, balance inflammatory pathways and optimize the immune system.
Pure Foods and Our Gut – The House of the Immune System “The worst vessel the son of Adam can fill is the stomach…” (Tirmidhi, Ahmad) If we want our bodies to work for us and not against us, we need to first look after the digestive system. Our digestive systems house about 70-80% of our immune system. The gut is also the habitat for trillions of microorganisms (called the gut microbiome) that play an integral role in the function of our immune system and metabolism. It is of the utmost
importance to keep this key player nourished with beneficial nutrients to keep its reserve full. Gut bacteria are the main players in our survival. They play a role in many physiological functions. They manufacture neurotransmitters and vitamins we cannot produce otherwise. They also provide protection from infection, help in balancing blood sugar, regulating food absorption and our metabolism, and promoting normal gastrointestinal functions. The microbiome is the first line of defence between our internal and external world. It intimately interacts with the immune system, helps fight off colds, viruses and other infections, influences T cells, and assists in organizing the right level of response to an invader and even breaks down bacterial toxins. The absence of healthy gut bacteria leads to inflammation and an altered immune response. So the health of our immune system is directly linked to the health of our beneficial microbes that protect us from foreign toxins/proteins and even infectious agents that can seep into our blood streams. With infections like the one caused by COVID-19 and other viruses, the integrity of the gut microbiome may be disturbed, off-setting the balance between the good bacteria and the bad ones, which is called dysbiosis.5 A break in the intestinal wall (called leaky gut syndrome or increased intestinal permeability) allows food toxins and pathogens to pass into the blood stream, triggering an aggressive and often prolonged immune response.