In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate
"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"
Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with
Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah
guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one
can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness
that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
Fever : A Blessing in Disguise
Fever wipes out ones sins and rids his body from dead substances and germs. It
is a blessing in disguise.
The Prophet said: “When a believer gets sick or feverish, it is like metal
when put on fire, the bad is gone and the good remains.” [Al-Bayhaqi]
He also describes the intensity of fever by saying: “Fever is coal from hell,
get rid of it by using cold water.” [Ibn Maajah]
The Prophet forbade the cursing of fever by saying: “Do not curse a fever
because it abolishes sins like fire abolishes dirt from iron.” [Ibn Maajah]
A bacterial or viral infection usually raises the temperature of a person,
antibiotics are useless with viral infections, such as the influenza and the
common cold, although the patient might sweat and have a very high fever.
Then what is the cure ?
The Prophet tells us to reduce the fever with water. The same is still applied
today. Putting cold pads on a patients forehead is still used in a lot of
hospitals and by doctors even though fever reducing medicines are abundant,
like aspirin, paracetamol (or acetaminophen, which is the active ingredient in
Tylenol) and others.
Using water to reduce fevers is not limited to using cold pads. Drinking a lot
of fluids is also helpful. This is also understood from the wordings of the
Prophetic narration: “cool it with water.” Water is either what the patient
drinks, what is given intravenously or what the patient puts on his face or
body to cool the fever.
We have seen a lot of patients where fever reducing medicines (antipyretics)
were not effective with their rising fever. At the same time, cold water had an
immediate effect. Thats why pediatricians advise parents to take a childs
clothes off and give a lot of fluids if a fever occurs. An antipyretic might
also be give like paracetamol. Aspirin has been banned for children under 12
years of age.
What is fever ?
Fever occurs when the body temperature rises above normal (37 C). There is an
area in the brain (an area that lies over the pituitary gland in the front of
the head) which is a temperature regulator.
When a germ enters the body, it starts secreting toxins. Toxins affect the
temperature regulator causing its temperature to rise. The substances that
cause this rise in temperature are called pyrogens. Pyrogens are caused not
only by germs but also by the ruined tissues in the body after being affected
with germs.
When the temperature rises in the temperature regulator, the rest of the body
has to comply. It increases its temperature in response. Soon, the whole body
feels feverish and the patients temperature rises. This explains the saying of
the Prophet when he described the believers in their kindness and affections
like the body. If a part of it suffers from a germ or a virus, like
inflammation in the respiratory pathways or inflammation of the urinary tracts
and others, all of the body suffers from fever and restlessness.
Yes the whole body suffers. The whole body has a rise in temperature and not
only where it is affected. When the inflammation worsens, the germs increase
and consequently ruin the tissues. The germs and the pyrogens will find the
body’s defense system ready to attack and eat the by-products of the germs and
rid the body of them. While doing this, it releases to the body fluids a
substance called leukocyte pyrogens or endogenous. Therefore the fever remains
while the body is cleansing itself from the by-products.
Didn’t the Prophet say, when a man cursed the fever: “Dont curse it because it
abolishes sins like fire abolishes dirt from iron.”
It is a cleansing of our sins, a cleansing of dead substances such as dead
tissue and the by-products of the germs, like fire cleans the dirt from iron.
The Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wa sallam, said: “For every ailment, there is a
cure. If the cure reaches the ailment, it is cured by the will of Allaah.”
[Muslim]
That explains the known phenomena that aspirin does not reduce the temperature
of a normal person who is not feverish. That is because he does not have these
endogenous in his body to work on the hypothalamus.
How do chills occur and why ?
The temperature level in the temperature regulator rises suddenly form its
normal level to a higher level, due to damage in the tissues, due to the
release of temperature generating substances or due to dehydration. When this
happens, the body temperature rises within a few hours to attain the new
temperature.
During this period, the patient shivers and feels cold, even though the body
temperature is high, because blood vessels in the skin contract. The chills
remain until the body temperature reaches the new level set by the temperature
regulator.
When the body temperature reaches that level, the chills stop and the patient
feels neither warm nor cold. As long as the infection continues and the reason
for the rise in temperature continues, the body temperature remains at this new
level until Allaah permits recovery.
http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/archive/article.php?lang=E&id=136101
Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, to
post on Internet sites and to publish in full text and subject title in
not-for-profit publications.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveIslam_LiveIslam/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
