Benefits of Black Cumin
In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) stated as follows:
إِنَّ فِي هَذِهِ الْحَبَّةِ السَّوْدَاءِ شِفَاءٌ مِنْ كُلِّ دَاءٍ إِلاَّ السَّامَ
“There is healing in black cumin for all diseases except death.”1
The term “all diseases” in Arabic is used to grammatically lay emphasis on the amount. Yet, if black cumin is subjected to a thorough analysis and serious research is made, who knows, it can turn out to be a cure for many diseases.
In the blessed hadith, the Messenger of God emphasizes two points:
- First: The healing aspect of the black cumin.
- The second: The black cumin not being a remedy for death.
Let us refer to the analysis of the issue in the scientific plan to the experts of that field and try to focus on a few points that come to our attention:
Abundant protein is important in diseases, especially during recovery. However calorie amount, vitamin richness, and easy digestion are equally important. I believe these are the things that doctors recommend during an illness; what the patient will eat should have plenty of protein, many calories and must be easy to digest, so that the patient does not have difficulty in digesting while gaining the power he lost.
Scientific research on the curative aspects of black cumin (Nigella sativa), which has seen an exponential growth in recent years, has proven today that all these features are present in the black cumin. A single search of black cumin or Nigella sativa at the database of the National Institutes of Health returns about 400 scientific publications, and more have been published every year on different aspects of black cumin and health, from diabetes, cancer, asthma, obesity, and so on. Such research supports the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace and blessings be upon him) advice in this hadith. As always, scientific recoveries endorse the knowledge put forward by the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) many centuries ago.
