Tuesday 16 June 2009

I suffered 16 years of Illness & Pain... before I came across Hijama Therapy


"I suffered 16 years of Illness & Pain... before I came across Hijama Therapy..."

"... and I was so impressed with the results that I myself learnt the therapy, and now provide it at my clinic in London, England, as well as teach it to others!" - by Anisa Kissoon of Natural Health Nature's Finest

The following article is taken and adapted from http://www.islamicgarden.com

Hijama Therapy:


“After experiencing my own personal illness and pain for 16 years, I had a Hijama treatment and it helped me to the extent that I could lead a normal life. This made me passionate about it and I wanted to bring it to the rest of the world.” These are the words of Anisa Kissoon who was responsible for having Hijama treatment legally acknowledged and registered with the Association of Complementary Medicine in the UK.

What initially caught Kissoon’s attention was the fact that something so simple was so effective. She was also moved by it having a religious basis and she wanted to have the blessing of reviving a Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

What Is Hijama?

Hijama is a therapy that comes from the Arabic root – sucking; vacuum. This therapy works with the body’s condition and balances it. The body may be suffering from sluggish organs, or be in need of detoxification, and either way Hijama is an effective treatment. Hijama therapy is even known to have helped women ovulate and thus, fall pregnant. As Hijama therapy directly removes a small amount of blood from the patient it also detoxifies the blood, stimulates the body’s immune system and helps blood to flow more freely. It is known to relieve pain including migraine and back ache and is also the best preventive treatment available.

How and When Is Hijama Therapy Performed?

In other alternative medicines Hijama is also known as cupping or bloodletting, but the difference between these and Hijama is that with Hijama only the surface of the skin is scratched and then glass cups are placed on the specific spot and a vacuum is made to gently draw the blood out. Kissoon commented, “We sent some samples of blood that were taken during Hijama treatment to a non-Muslim laboratory and the doctors there commented that the blood was highly toxic and unsuitable for a human being.”

According to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) there are certain places on the body that should have this treatment even if the individual is well, as a preventive medicine. There are also recommended times to perform Hijama and other times when Hijama should not be performed unless there is necessity. According to the Sunnah it is recommended to have Hijama performed on the 17, 19, and 21 of the Islamic calendar, but if it is necessary it is permissible to do it. It is not recommended to have Hijama on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Wednesday. Also, according to the Sunnah, Hijama should be done at the back of the neck, and between the two shoulder blades as this connects the brain to the rest of the body and it brings oxygen into the brain and helps the body to repair itself. This is also the place where toxins accumulate. Moreover, it strengthens the lymphatic system. Some Syrian groups do Hijama on the two shoulder blades as opposed to the back of the neck, however, traditional Chinese medicine, as well as other ancient medicine, refer to the back of the neck.

Islamic Basis of Hijama

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Cupping is the most helpful procedure for human beings to cure themselves.” (Al Bukhari, 5357, and Muslim 1577)

He (peace and blessings be upon him) also said, “If there is any good in your medical treatments, it is in the blade of the cupper, drinking honey…..” (Al Bukhari, 5356, and Muslim, 2205)

Success Stories

There have been many success stories with Hijama therapy. Kissoon had a cancer patient in the UK who was bedridden and the doctors had given up on her and she had come home to die. The doctors were about to send a doctor to her home to cut her spinal cord to stop her pain but this would mean that she would be paralyzed. After Hijama therapy this woman could stand up on a frame and the pain was much less. “This poor woman gained pain relief and immense strength,” says Kissoon, “and her husband and carers were amazed. Of course the doctors were amazed too!”

Another woman could not get pregnant for five years and was thinking about IVF or fostering a child but after one Hijama treatment she got pregnant after just one month.

Why Certification in the UK?

“Getting certification in the UK was very difficult,” commented Kissoon, “but I did it because I didn’t want it to be illegal as it is in other parts of the world.” Kissoon’s intention initially was to teach Hijama therapy to people and spread its benefit but when she delved a bit deeper she found that in the UK, cupping therapy is categorized under acupuncture and there were laws soon to be passed to make it illegal. Her struggle has been to change Hijama therapy from being categorized under ‘cupping’ therapy, to being a therapy in its own right.

“If this law had been passed,” says Kissoon, “a person could only have learnt it if he practiced acupuncture and this would have forced it underground.”

“The UK Acupuncture Foundation was very helpful,” commented Kissoon. The initial move to put Hijama therapy under Acupuncture was because there were people were who were doing it only for money and they were not doing it properly. Kissoon convinced them that it is a therapy of its own, and that it has its own laws that are based on the lunar calendar and that it is different from cupping. “After three years the Acupuncture Foundation helped me get certified,” says Kissoon happily. Now, the Association of Complementary Medicine sees Hijama therapy as an authentic medicine.

The next battle was with insurance companies to make sure that therapists are medically insured under Hijama therapy in its own right, and not under Cupping therapy. After some struggle NHNF finally managed to get the correct cover from a reputable insurance company.

Furthermore, Kissoon has started a distance learning course on Hijama therapy that both Muslims and non-Muslims as well as professional and non-professional people are taking part in. “We are looking for individuals who are sensitive and caring. Hijama is not just a physical practice but the practitioner also has to deal with people’s emotions, trauma and various needs,” says Kissoon. The course is done through distance learning to make it easy for people overseas, those who have full time jobs and mothers. It includes emergency first aid, and covers information from the definition of Hijama therapy to customer care, how to deal with patients, code of ethics and the anatomy of the body. Kissoon comments, “The intention behind this six-month course is that the practitioner will have knowledge about how the body detoxifies and how the blood works so they can do Hijama therapy properly”.

Final Thoughts

“I hope that Hijama therapy will become mainstream and available in hospitals and alternative medicine clinics. I’d also like to see blood donors having a treatment before giving blood because one of the main benefits of Hijama therapy is cleansing the blood, so the results of blood transfusions will be better. I’d like to see it merged into mainstream medicine so everyone can benefit,” comments Kissoon.

FEATURED HIJAMA THERAPIST:
Anisa Kissoon of
Natural Health Natures Finest

LOCATION
Croydon
London

CONTACT DETAILS:
Tel: 0207 060 7166
Email: info@nhnf.co.uk
Website: www.nhnf.co.uk
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Our thanks to Anisa Kissoon, a female hijama therapist from London, England for sharing the above post. If you have any questions for Anisa or indeed have been treated by her and want to leave her a testimonial(!), then please do so via a comment* below.

If you are a hijama therapist or patient and are happy to share your knowledge or experience via a guest blog-post like the one above, please send me an email to: hijama.mail@gmail.com.

*Comments are moderated to prevent spamming so may take some time to appear

Monday 1 June 2009

A hijama experience from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia


A hijama experience from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia- By Tara Umm Omar

This is a guest-post in the form of a written interview with Tara Umm Omar, a hijama patient in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

- What condition did you suffer from?
I experienced recurrent pain in the small of my back.

- Where do you live and where did you go for the hijama therapy?
I live in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. My friend cupped me in the privacy of her home.

- What did the treatment involve?
She cupped me in 9 hijama points: 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 20, 21, 22, and 23.

- What was the result?
There was a point when I think my iron got low because I felt nauseous and as if I would faint. My friend stopped and reminded me to recite the Shahada, Surah Al-Ikhlas, Surah An-Nas, Surah Al-Falaq, Ayat Al-Kursi, the last 2 ayat of surah Al-Baqarah. I started to feel better immediately and this confirmed the healing power of the above soorat and ayat alhamdulillah. The next day I was energetic and have not experienced back pain until recently. The time between hijama and the returning pain was a little more than one month. However its not as painful as it was before and not continuous.

- What was your overall impression of the therapist and her practice?

I was satisfied with the way my friend conducted herself throughout the procedure. She was always attentive to my needs, often asking me how I was. My cuts healed nicely within a week masha'Allah.

- How did your friend get to learn hijama therapy (was it a course she attended or was it something handed down from generation to generation in her family)?
She attended a course and learned from her mother and aunt.

- How long has your friend been practicing this therapy, and is it a service she provides to all who need it or is it only for family and friends?
She practiced a long time ago in Jakarta, Indonesia but only for those who needed and believed in hijamah. She only performs it upon her family and friends.

- How long did the treatment last and how much did it cost?
Two hours. My friend refused to take money even after I insisted because she did it feesabillah.

- Overall impression of the therapy?
I loved it and my only regrets is that I had waited so long to get it done. I can't wait until I get cupped again insha'Allah.

The last two questions have been answered by three people as I am only a recent patient in hijama therapy and wouldn't be able to provide details...


- What is the overall prevalance of hijama therapy in Saudi Arabia? Is it available in hospitals and clinics as a valid alternative / sunnah therapy or is the official government policy to try and ban it (you sometimes hear conflicting reports!)?
- If you know of any clinics / hospitals that provide hijama therapy in Saudi Arabia (and particularly Makkah and Madina), then where would you recommend people to go for this therapy, especially when they go to perform Umrah?

Fatima Jada: As far as I am concerned, there are special clinics for hijama. My mum and sister went to a hijama clinic in Makkah recently and alhamdulillah were very satisfied with the treatment. They compared the clinic to most international clinics with modern medical equipment accompanied by a clean sanitary environment. I don't think the government would ban such an important Islamic therapy approved in the Sunnah. I know of clinics in Makkah, Madina and the Qaseem area and would recommend it to anyone interested in trying this alternative therapy, insha allah.

Labeebah Sabree: There are several clinics in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh that provide Hijama and it is considered a valid and recommended medical practice. I am sure there are clinics that provide this service in Makkah and Madina but it is not recommended to do it while performing Hajj or Umrah since bleeding would invalidate their ihram (state of purification). They would only do this after performing their rituals outside of Hajj or Umrah as it is too busy during these times.

Hanan Umm Ahmed: I know that some people do it out of their homes or yes there are some clinics which offer this. As far as clinics or government trying to get rid of this, well, I doubt that as it's a known sunnah of the Prophet. I have not heard anything about this however I do know that many regular doctors who are brought up in the traditional medicine theory do not open up for such ideas.
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Our thanks to Tara Umm Omar from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for sharing the above post. If you have a question for Tara or if you have had experience of hijama therapy in Saudi Arabia, then please share it via a comment* below.

If you are a hijama therapist or patient and are happy to share your knowledge or experience via a guest blog-post like the one above, please send me an email to: hijama.mail@gmail.com.

*Comments are moderated to prevent spamming so may take some time to appear