DRAFT
It begins with the command to face towards the Deen (religion / law of Recompense) like a Hanif (monotheist, as was Abraham (Ibrahim عليه السلام)), to adhere to the fitrat of Allah ﷻ on which Allah ﷻ has 'fatara' humans, and warns that there should be no change in the creation of Allah ﷻ, stating that this is the Standing Law of Recompense, and that most people don't know this.
The next few ayaat of Surah ar-Rum go on to describe the details. Focussing on the word ضُرٌّ in ayat 33, it states:
By the 3rd century B.C.E., the Romans had adopted a religious healing system called the cult of Aesculapius, which took its name from a Greek god of healing. Initially, they built shrines, but these expanded in time to include spas and thermal baths with doctors in attendance.When plagues occurred in Italy in 431 B.C.E, the Romans built a temple to the Greek god Apollo, who they believed had healing powers.The Romans also took a sacred snake from the Greeks. It escaped but reappeared on the Tiber Island, where the Romans built a sanctuary for it. People would come to this place in search of healing.On conquering Alexandria, the Romans found various libraries and universities that the Greeks had set up. They contained many learning centers and places for research as well as a wealth of documented knowledge of medicine.
The article traces the Roman and Greek medical history, significant names and ideas, and concludes with the takeaway:
Ancient Greek thinking and philosophy paved the way for significant advances in medicine.
In 129 C.E., Galen was born. He and other doctors would help to spread Greek ideas about medicine to the Roman Empire and beyond.
As a result, much of what the Greeks taught and learned about medicine still persists as a basis for modern scientific medicine.
To this day, the Rod of Asclepius (a stick with a snake entwined around it) is the symbol of the medical profession:
This rod is believed to a gift of Apollo to Asclepius. There is a clear association of the rod and the snake with the cult of Asclepius.
To quote from 'The spread of the cult of Asclepius in the context of the Roman army benefited from the presence of physicians: A spatial proximity analysis' in NIH and PLoS One:
Asclepius was one of the most popular healing deities of the Greco-Roman world. Originally from Greece, the cult of this mythical son of Apollo was officially invited to Rome in 293 BCE and became firmly rooted in Roman society as a patron deity of health [1–5]. The uniqueness of Asclepius’ cult, when compared to other Graeco-Roman cults, lies in 1) the promise of a close relationship between the god and his supplicant, because the supplicant expected to meet the god in their dreams during the temple rituals of incubation; 2) the patients’ deep expectation of being healed; and 3) a non-exclusive membership for people across socio-economic groups [1, 3, 6]. A potential fourth point argued here is that the cult of Asclepius could have had a special appeal among Roman soldiers, as they were often in the need of medical care due to combat wounds or inhospitable environments at the border provinces of the Empire.
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From the results visualized in Fig 4, it can be observed that the occurrence of the cult of Asclepius at or near the long-term legion bases is common in most of the provinces of interest except for Raetia and Noricum. Moreover, there are three sanctuaries of Asclepius directly in Roman settlements with long-term legion bases in Brigetio, Aquincum (Pannonia), and Apulum (Dacia) [5]. Additionally, in Aquincum, Carnuntum, Vindobona (Pannonia), and Novae (Moesia Inferior), the worship of Asclepius is attested in legionary hospitals (valetudinaria) [2, 5].
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Roman physicians—Spatial proximity analysis and correlation
The spatial analyses described in the previous section thus support the argument forwarded by van der Ploeg and others that soldiers participated in the cult of Asclepius, this time from the perspective of data analysis. This allows us to hypothesize that the social environment of the Roman Army represented a favorable factor for the spread of the cult of Asclepius. The working hypothesis for the following spatial proximity analysis is that the spatial traces of Roman physicians are a relevant predictor for the spatial occurrence of the worship of Asclepius since they are indicators of activities related to health risk and treatment; i.e., activities compatible with the healing aspects attributed to Asclepius. The first step in testing this hypothesis was to visualize the relevant variables and inspect visible patterns (Fig 7).
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Results
The results of the spatial proximity analysis based on the distances measured on the transportation network support the hypothesis proposed in the academic discussion that soldiers in antiquity were significant facilitators of the spread of ancient cults to new socio-spatial environments. The results also support this hypothesis in its more specific form, claiming that Roman soldiers had a positive impact on the spread of the cult of Asclepius. The spatial proximity analysis exploring the relationships between the long-term bases of Roman legions and proxies for the worship of Asclepius in the era of the Roman Empire revealed that the worship of Asclepius commonly appeared in the proximity of such bases in the majority of the provinces of interest comparably as the cults of Apollo and Minerva. The spatial distribution of the cult of Jupiter stands out as the most widespread. In some cases, this relationship was directly tied to a legion base or a military hospital within a base, which is considered in the academic discussion as an indicator that healing in the environment of Roman legions was considered a dual responsibility of physicians and deities with attributes related to medicine and that there was no conceptual division forcing the wounded soldiers to choose between divine and “human” medicine [2, 57].
In Surah al-Anbiya (The Prophets), we read:
The Miracles through Jesus (Isa عليه السلام)
In the backdrop of:
- the stick and snake associated with Moses (Musa عليه السلام), as well as his raising the serpent on a pole story, when the Bani Israel were being bitten by fiery serpents for ungratefully complaining against God (Allah ﷻ) and Moses (Musa عليه السلام);
- and in the era of the Healing Cult of Asclepius in the Roman Empire; a people medically aware and able to appreciate the difference between human doctors, snake healers, and miracles of the true God, Allah ﷻ sent Jesus (Isa عليه السلام) as a Messenger to the Bani Israel (Q3:49), and showed many miracles through him:
- Jesus (Isa عليه السلام) was born miraculously to a virgin woman (Virgin Birth)
- Jesus (Isa عليه السلام) created birds from clay and breathed life in them, by permission of Allah ﷻ
- Jesus (Isa عليه السلام) healed the born blind, and the leper, and gave life to the dead, by the permission of Allah ﷻ
- Jesus (Isa عليه السلام) informed them of what they ate, and what they stored in their houses
also see: Pregnancies mentioned in The Quran || The Serpent & The Snake: a Clear Sign || Polytheism: The Sin committed by The First Human Couple
Timeless Wisdom of Gratitude
The Quran contains a surah titled 'Luqman'. It is believed that Luqman was a famous 'Hakeem' (physician) in the ancient world. Some sources suggest that he was a great forefather of Abraham (Ibrahim عليه السلام). There are many legends about Hakeem Luqman. The Quran clarifies that the wisdom bestowed upon Luqman was Gratitude:
Gratitude is manifested as acts of worship. Prayer, charity, enjoining maroof, forbidding munkar, and bearing with patience whatever befalls as a consequence, ...
The Quran informs us that Abraham (Ibrahim عليه السلام) was a totally grateful person:
Prophet Job (Ayub عليه السلام) bore with patience all that befell him. His patience is legendary. He was ever-grateful to his Lord. The Quran informs us that Job (Ayub عليه السلام) was a descendant of Abraham (Ibrahim عليه السلام):
Note that the ten descendants of Abraham (Ibrahim عليه السلام) mentioned in Q6:84 can be paired as:
- father David (Daud عليه السلام) and son Solomon (Sulaiman عليه السلام)
- Job (Ayub عليه السلام) and Joseph (Yusuf عليه السلام)
- Moses (Musa عليه السلام) and Aaron (Haroon عليه السلام) brothers
- father Zechariah (Zakariya عليه السلام) and son John (Yahya عليه السلام)
- Jesus (Isa عليه السلام) and Elijah (Elias عليه السلام)
- both performed the miracle of raising the dead, by the permission of of Allah ﷻ
- according to The Quran, Jesus (Isa عليه السلام) was raised alive, and is expected to return
- according to The Bible, Elijah (Elias عليه السلام) was raised alive, and is expected to return
So, perhaps, there is a connection between
- Job (Ayub عليه السلام) and Joseph (Yusuf عليه السلام)
There are various accounts of when and where Job (Ayub عليه السلام) lived. According to one account, he lived in Rome:
Prophet Ayyub (Job) was a descendant of Prophet Ibrahim. Ayyub’s mother was the daughter of Prophet Lut and his wife was a direct descendant of Prophet Yusuf. Ayyub lived in Rome with his dear wife Rahma and fourteen children.
Other sources place him in Egypt after Joseph (Yusuf عليه السلام) and before Moses (Musa عليه السلام) . According to Wikipedia [as on October 25, 2022]:
Job (Arabic: أيوب, romanized: Ayūb) is known as a prophet in Islam and is mentioned in the Quran.[1] Job's story in Islam is parallel to the Hebrew Bible's story, although the main emphasis is on Job remaining steadfast to God; there is no mention of Job's discussions with friends in the Qur'anic text, but later Muslim literature states that Job had brothers, who argued with the man about the cause of his affliction. Some Muslim commentators also spoke of Job as being the ancestor of the Romans.[2] Islamic literature also comments on Job's time and place of prophetic ministry, saying that he came after Joseph in the prophetic series and that he preached to his own people rather than being sent to a specified community. Tradition further recounts that Job will be the leader in Heaven of the group of "those who patiently endured".[3]
And Allah ﷻ knows best
In surah al-Baqarah, ayat 177 includes patience in adversity (وَالصَّابِرِينَ فِي الْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ) as one of the ways to attain birr, and as a characteristic of those who have been true, and are pious:
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.
[Al-Quran 2:177, Translation: Saheeh International]
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Last updated on: November 15, 2022
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