There are two kinds of medicine: Material medicine, and spiritual medicine. For curing all sorts of illness, giving alms and saying prayers are spiritual medicines. The hadiths, “Cure those among you that are ill by giving alms!” and “Reciting istighfar (saying ‘astaghfirullah’ = ‘Oh my Allah, forgive me!’) frequently is the medicine that cures any illness whatsoever.” There are quite a number of material medicines. They are learned through experiments. Use of spiritual medicine is helpful in finding material medicine as well. So is the case with attaining the blessings of the next world. Allahu Taala made disbelief and ignorance poisons fatal to the heart and soul, and laziness makes the soul sick; if medicine is not used, the soul will become sick and die. The one and only medicine for disbelief and ignorance is knowledge (marifa). The medicine for laziness is the performance of salat and every kind of ibadat. In this world, if a person takes poison and says, ‘Allah is Merciful and protects me against the harm of poison,’ he will become ill and die. If a person with diarrhea drinks castor oil [or if a diabetic eats sugar or starchy food], he will get worse.
