Islamic Medicine And Its Influence On Traditional Hausa Practitioners In Northern Nigeria

The author of this text argues that, although the Islamic and the pre-Islamic Hausa medical systems have much in common, their theoretical and conceptual frameworks are different. They operate from different understandings of the causes of disease and misfortune, and of the appropriate methods to be employed to restore health or alleviate suffering. The book also discusses another significant difference between the Islamic and non-Islamic Hausa medical systems: the mode of preserving and communicating medical knowledge. The early history of Islamic medicine is also described, and its theories, concepts and historical developments are explored.

In Nigeria, for quite a long time, many medical scholars have advocated that attention should be given to traditional medicine as an alternative or complementary system of medicine for example, in the early 60ís, Prof. Adeoye Lambo, saw the need to integrate some aspects of traditional medicine into the country's health care system. Despite the growing interest in traditional medicine as an integral part of health care delivery, the bulk of it still remain unregulated. This observation may account for the contempt and distrust existing between the traditional healers and their orthodox counterparts, with each group claiming supremacy and relevance over the other. In Nigeria modern medicine continues to remain costly, heavily bureaucratised and elitist-oriented with large parts of the populace continuing to visit traditional clinics and healing homes in order to find succour and solace in the hands of the uncurbed and poorly regulated traditional healers. It is the view of the author of this book that some form of regulation between the two systems is necessary, to begin the debate the following questions are addressed here: What constitutes traditional or modern medicine? What are the criticisms against them and how are they refuted? How do you identify the beneficial, neutral, harmless and harmful aspects of the practice of indigenous medicine? What aspects of these, should or should not be integrated? What are the modifications the orthodox practitioner has to make? What are the problems and prospects of integration?

Sakkiya is a Hausa word, which has its origin from the Hausa culture, and it means the act of using hot pointed metallic tip to puncture bodily swelling with the aim of achieving a curative effect. The Hausa culture is one of the three most popular cultures in Nigeria. The Hausas are predominantly located in the northwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria, predominantly working as farmers. The majority of the Hausa people practice the Islamic religion. Encounters from the medical setting with cases of complications arising from failure of Sakkiya treatment, where some patients did not survive this treatment made investigation into this form of alternative medicine a paramount issue. In order to fill the void of information and literature on Sakkiya treatment, the authors embarked on a literature search and field studies resulting in this book. The authors found a lack of historical evidence concerning the old traditional Sakkiya practice, and therefore urge archaeologists, anthropologists, sociologists and historians to investigate into the historical evolution of Sakkiya practice in northern Nigeria.Kehinde Kanmodi, BDS, ACIPM, AISQEM is a dental surgeon, lecturer, multidisciplinary researcher, and manager affiliated with Cephas Health Research Initiative Inc, Ibadan (head office), Community Health Officers Training Programme, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, National Teachers Institute, Department of Political Science of the National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigerian Institute of Management, Abuja, Chartered Institute of Project Management, Lagos, and Dental Clinic, Kebbi Medical Centre, Kalgo, Nigeria.Joav Merrick, MD, MMedSci, DMSc, born and educated in Denmark is professor of pediatrics, child health and human development affiliated with the Division of Pediatrics, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Mt Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel, Kentucky Childrens Hospital, University of Kentucky, Lexington, United States and professor of public health at the Center for Healthy Development, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States, the former medical director of the Division for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, Jerusalem and the founder and director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Israel.

Our health is our most important asset. Health and the provision of healthcare is fundamental to the welfare of any nation. The desire to have and sustain good health cuts across national, cultural, geographic, and political boundaries. Every region of the world has had one form of traditional medicine at some stage in its history. Traditional medicines have been a part of human history all over the world, with knowledge being transferred from generation to generation. It refers to diverse health practices, knowledge, and skills based on ancient indigenous experience that are used to maintain health as well as to cure, diagnose, or prevent illness. This book focuses on ten most popular traditional medicines around the world. It is a valuable source of guidance and direction for organizations and individuals interested in traditional medicine. It provides an introduction to traditional medicine so that beginners can understand it, its increasing importance, and its developments in contemporary time. It is a must-read book for anyone who cares about traditional.

This handbook generates new insights that enrich our understanding of the history of Islam in Africa and the diverse experiences and expressions of the faith on the continent. The chapters in the volume cover key themes that reflect the preoccupations and realities of many African Muslims. They provide readers access to a comprehensive treatment of the past and current traditions of Muslims in Africa, offering insights on different forms of Islamization that have taken place in several regions, local responses to Islamization, Islam in colonial and post-colonial Africa, and the varied forms of Jihād movements that have occurred on the continent. The handbook provides updated knowledge on various social, cultural, linguistic, political, artistic, educational, and intellectual aspects of the encounter between Islam and African societies reflected in the lived experiences of African Muslims and the corpus of African Islamic texts.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a global movement with more than half a million Ghanaian members, runs an extensive network of English-language schools and medical facilities in Ghana today. Founded in South Asia in 1889, the Ahmadiyya arrived in Ghana when a small coastal community invited an Ahmadiyya missionary to visit in 1921. Why did this invitation arise and how did the Ahmadiyya become such a vibrant religious community? John H. Hanson places the early history of the Ahmadiyya into the religious and cultural transformations of the British Gold Coast (colonial Ghana). Beginning with accounts of the visions of the African Methodist Binyameen Sam, Hanson reveals how Sam established a Muslim community in a coastal context dominated by indigenous expressions and Christian missions. Hanson also illuminates the Islamic networks that connected this small Muslim community through London to British India. African Ahmadi Muslims, working with a few South Asian Ahmadiyya missionaries, spread the Ahmadiyya's theological message and educational ethos with zeal and effectiveness. This is a global story of religious engagement, modernity, and cultural transformations arising at the dawn of independence.