There are certain traits and characteristics that distinguish a Muslim doctor from others. These traits affect his way of treatment and dealing with his patients as a whole and must be sought after by every Muslim doctor, nurse or practitioner.

I will list 10 of these Must Have characteristics in this article and then InshAllah (God-willing) expound upon them one by one in my later posts. So lets begin..

1.  Intention and seeking reward from Allah alone.

2.  Honesty and proficiency in his field of work.

3.  ‘Ihsaan’ or trying to seek perfection and understanding ‘Muraqabah’ that Allah is watching over him. We will expound upon these two words later insh’Allah.

4.  Purification of the self and ‘Muhasabah’ or taking account of oneself.

5.  Constant seeking of knowledge.

6.  Good manners and outstanding character:

• Humbleness
• Truthfulness
• Compassion
• Justice

7.  Cooperation with others and a love of helping others and wanting good for them.

• Modesty
• Patience and endurance

8.  Respecting the rights of the patient.

9.  This is particularly an important one: Having knowledge of the fiqh (rulings) of medicine in Islam, in general and especially in the doctor’s particular field of knowledge.

10.  Giving each individual his or her rights.

Related posts:

1. The Key Ingredient of All Medicine

Deeds are according to their intentions:

Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.” [Surah al-An'aam (6):162]

[1] From ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) who said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) say, ‘Actions are but by intentions and every man shall have only that which he intended. Thus he whose migration (Hijrah to Madeenah from Makkah) was for Allah and His Messenger, his migration was for Allah and His Messenger, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated.’” [al-Bukhaari (no. 1) and Muslim (no. 1907)]

[2] Abu Hurayrah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said, “In every living being there is reward.” [al-Bukhaari]

Benefits

• A condition for deeds to be accepted by Allah, the Most High, is a sincere intention for His sake alone and that it is according to the guidance of His Messenger (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam).

• Kindness is shown toward every creature in respect of its life, and human beings are from the most deserving. Excluded from this are animals and people that Allah has ordered us to kill, such as certain dangerous animals…

Based on Tuhfatul-Attibaa’ min Kalaam Khayril-Anbiyaa’ (Al-Arba’een at-Tibbiyyah) (p. 3) by Shaykh Waseem Fathillah.

So from this we can conclude that the key ingredient which is the right intention can be applied to the doctor giving the medicine as well as the patient who will be receiving it, if any one of them have a false intention to gain worldly wealth or honor etc. then the medicine might bring benefit but its reward is lost.

Another important point is that in every action that a Muslim performs lies some kind of reward, even giving and receiving medicine can bring reward if it is done for the sake of Allah and that is the right intention that is being mentioned here. This can also in-turn determine the effectiveness of the medicine as cure and disease are both from Allah alone.

Related posts:

1. 10 Distinguishing Characteristics of a Muslim Doctor
2. Food as Medicine – 19 Part Video Series with Jerry Brunetti
3. Cupping in Islam