Skin care in the light of prophetic medicine . Part 1

As women we love our skins and the idea of an airbrushed skin being reality is the sometimes the goal for us. But mostly all these skin care and self-care industries lies in the hands of west, we hardly look into what our religion provided for us.We call Islam the complete way of life and yet fail to completely understand and implement its gems in our lives. Just like every woman mothers of all believers use to take care of their skin.
I was amazed to find how beautifully Islam has guided us in this department too. Going through books of prophetic medicine. I asked myself and now you Why use products full of long-horrible-
unpronounceable chemicals ( which are mostly inspired by natural ingredients e.g. jojoba, lavender
etc), when we can use natural ingredients.
Where prophetic medicine is a blend of herbs, righteous deeds, proper diet and the Islamic rituals, this article will focus mainly on the herbs/plants or a mixture of herbs used for skin care purposes. So if you want to know what some of umma hatul momineen skin regime was then keep reading

WARS/CORNEL TREE
Hazrat Ayesha has reportedly used Wars mixed in olive oil all her life at night time which cleared her
face up of any melisma and earned her the titled of Hamra (red) (this is a fabricated hadith though) . In the book Tibbe Nabvi by Dr.Khalid Ghaznavi , he mentions how he used wars mixed with olive oil for patients and it cleared their skin up from scars and moles.
Hazrat Umm-e-Salma also reported that women would sit in the water of wars after childbirth or
menstruation.

How to use it : Use wars and olive oil in a ratio of 1:12 , so with 1 teaspoon of wars , 12 teaspoons of
olive oil should be mixed, put it on a low flame for 3 minutes and then store it in a glass bottle for
usage.Apply 2-3 drops every night.

ALOEVERA

Umm-e-Salmah (R.A) used aloe vera for her face. Narrated by Abu Dawood, on the authority of Umm-e-Salamah (R.A) that she said

I had anointed my face with Sebir, and when Prophet Muhammad Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam came to me, he asked, O Umm-e-Salamah, what this is? I replied, it is Sebir (Aloe Vera) without perfume O Messenger of Allah (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam). He (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) said Sebir brightens the color of face, and you should use it only in the night .

The Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) disallowed using it on the face during the daylight.
In today’s age aloe vera is used in every other product, what we also learn from this is that it has to be
used at night time. It would be interesting to know if science in the future comes up the same fact of
using it only in the night time.

How to use it: Use aloe vera gel directly from the plant on the face or you can store it in the refrigerator for later use

HENNA
There is also a narration which states that Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wasallam) used to apply Henna
whenever or wherever he would have a thorn prick or any minor injury.

How to use it: Henna is used for various purposes widely. We should make an effort to plant Henna
tress at our home and be blessed by it .Pluck its leaves and makes a paste , apply it to your hair and get the most beautiful color , its not like the one we get from using henna powder from markets.Henna is also useful for excessive bleeding and discharges.

QIST-AL-BAHRI/INDIAN COSTUS
Studying prophetic medicines, Indian costus comes with numerous benefits. Prophet (PBUH) has stated its benefits for pleurisy and tonsillitis.
Today it is being widely used for many purposes, for treating face spots, for unwanted hair growth and to boost immunity. Indian costus has antibiotic properties and can help greatly for sore throat.

How to use it : ½ teaspoon daily for sore throat , apply dry powder immediately after hair removal and later mix it in water and apply to the area where hair has been removed to slow the hair growth , or to reduce acne .
So in light of above mentioned few herbs, we can see that hydration of skin was something that lays
common in skin care. Also self-care is crucial to our overall health.
I have barely covered the tip of the ice berg. There is so much research required in this department and to learn and implement in our lives. May Allah give us the right resources and knowledge to explore this side of Islam.