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| Saturday, 13 December 2003 |
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Egyptians turn to holy medicine By Lobna Sabry CAIRO, The mother of six-year-old cerebral palsy sufferer Saif had given up hope that modern medicine could improve his health when a centuries-old alternative practised by the Muslim Prophet Mohammad came to the rescue. "He became more alert, relaxed and the involuntary movements stopped," said Saif's mother Hoda Abdel Reheem. The treatment, called "hejama" in Arabic, involves evacuating air from cups placed on parts of the body, mainly on the back, to suck tissue and stimulate blood flow. The treatment is cited several times in a narrative, known as the "hadith", about the deeds and sayings of Mohammad, the founder of Islam who lived in 6th and 7th century Arabia. Some practitioners say it even dates back to Pharaonic Egypt. Egyptians are increasingly putting their faith in "the prophet's medicine", despite an official ban, to treat conditions which modern medicine has failed to cure. Although popular with both rich and poor, for Egypt's less well off the treatment offers an affordable alternative to private medicine and state-provided health care, which many think inadequate. Some scorn the practice. "It's like asking people to get rid of their cars and ride camels," Hamdy el-Saied, the head of Egypt's Doctors' Syndicate, told Reuters. He said the syndicate did not approve of alternative medicine. Doctors found using treatments which had not been scientifically proven would face a disciplinary council. The council could punish them by warning them or suspending their licences, he said. DEFYING THE BAN Following a caesarean operation, 33-year-old Manar Ahmed suffered problems including thrombosis. Two operations and specialist consultations could not ease her pain. But she said weekly hejama treatment had achieved what modern medicine could not. "After the first (session) I started to get better. Now I am back to normal," Manar said. She says she still needs treatment from time to time, but can no longer visit the man who treated her because the authorities had confiscated his equipment and closed his clinic for practising hejama. "The first accusation was practicing hejama. The other was selling herbs for treatment without a licence," said Hany el-Ghazawy, Manar's hejama practitioner. Ghazawy said he would soon leave Egypt to set up a clinic in Saudi Arabia, having received offers from a number of other countries to run hejama centres. Hejama is permitted in some other Arab states including Lebanon and Syria. "It really hurts to say I even got an offer from Israel to practice what I am banned from doing in my own country," he said. Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, but relations have remained cool. IGNORING OFFICIALS Ignoring the authorities, some preachers have called on more Egyptians to learn how to practice hejama. The popular healer Sheikh Ahmed Hefny, who teaches and applies hejama free of charge, urges Egyptians, especially doctors, to study the treatment to heal relatives, friends and the poor. Alongside hejama, a diet including dates and honey, believed to be similar to that of the Prophet Mohammad, could treat conditions including diabetes, he said. Sheikh Hefny, who is not a doctor, tells Egyptians they do not have to have formal medical qualifications to practice hejama. That message seems to be taking root in Egypt's mainly Muslim society, which observers say now clings more tightly to its Islamic identity. More and more popular healers are learning about hejama, avoiding the authorities by carrying their equipment from house to house. Charging 30 Egyptian pounds ($5) for a session, the popular healers are cheaper than private modern medicine in a country where a state-employed teacher earns the equivalent of about $50 a month. For the wealthier, some doctors offer the traditional treatment in their clinics where the Egyptian authorities find it difficult to clamp down on their activities. Some doctors may charge five times more than the house-to-house healers. |
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