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Camel urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in a camel's anatomy. Urine from camels has been used in prophetic medicine for centuries, being a part of ancient Bedouin practices and also Muslim tradition. According to the World Health Organization, the use of camel urine as a medicine lacks scientific evidence. [1] After the spread of MERS-CoV infections, the WHO urged people to refrain from drinking "raw camel milk or camel urine or eating meat that has not been properly cooked".
Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camels' kidneys have a 1:4 cortex to medulla ratio. [6] Thus, the medullary part of a camel's kidney occupies twice as much area as a cow's kidney. Secondly, renal corpuscles have a smaller diameter, which reduces surface area for filtration. These two major anatomical characteristics enable camels to conserve water and limit the volume of urine in extreme desert conditions. [7]
Each kidney of an Arabian camel has a capacity around 0.86 litres and can produce urine with high chloride concentrations. Like the horse, the dromedary has no gall bladder, an organ that requires water to function. [8] Consequently, bile flows constantly. [9] Most food is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestine. Any remaining liquids and roughage move into the large intestine.
It is important to note that, according to Islam, urine is considered impure. However, the specific Hadith mentioning camel urine and milk was directed only to those Bedouins. Additionally, if you do not prevent urine from getting on your clothes, it can lead to punishment in the grave. [10] A hadith in Book 4 (Ablution) of al-Bukhari's collection narrated by Anas ibn Malik was used to promote the consumption of Arabian camel urine as a medicine. [11] [12] The climate of Medina did not suit some people, so Muhammad ordered them to follow his shepherd and drink his camel's milk and urine (as a medicine). So they followed the shepherd and drank the camel's milk and urine till their bodies became healthy. Then they killed the shepherd and drove away the camels. When the news reached Muhammad he sent some people in their pursuit. When they were brought, he cut their hands and feet and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron. [13] [14] [15] The authentic hadith [16] also states "Some people of ‘Ukl or ‘Uraina tribe came to Medina and its climate did not suit them ... So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of Milch camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine). ... So they went as directed and after they became healthy". [13] Bukhari also narrated, an otherwise identical version of this Hadith, without the mention of "urine". [17] The event has also been recorded in Sahih Muslim , History of the Prophets and Kings and Kitāb aṭ-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr. [18] [19] [20]
Indian Islamic scholar Mohammad Najeeb Qasmi notes various theories proposed by Hanafi and Shaafi’e scholars for a canonical understanding of the implications. This book refers to topical application of milch camel urine as the actual word of the saying has the word Azmadu which means to apply a layer of something. [21] However, Bachtiar Nasir, an Islamic scholar, advocated for and defended the consumption of camel urine, claiming the mixture of camel urine and milk has medicinal benefits.
In Yemen, camel urine is consumed and used for treating ailments, though it has been widely denounced. [14] Some salons are said to use it as a treatment for hair loss. [14] The camel urine from a virgin camel is priced at twenty dollars per liter, with herders saying that it has curative powers. It is traditionally mixed with milk. [14]
Certain preclinical studies have claimed that camel urine possesses various therapeutic advantages, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties, and even potential cardiovascular benefits. For example, in 2012, a study conducted at the Department of Molecular Oncology of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, and published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology , found that camel urine contains anti-cancerous agents that are cytotoxic against various, but not all, human cancer cell lines in vitro . [22]
A study published on the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal found that camel urine showed no clinical benefits in cancer patients, with two of the participants developing brucellosis. [1] Given the lack of scientific evidence supporting the use of camel urine as a traditional medicine, it is advisable to discontinue its promotion. [1]
In 2017, a joint study by King Faisal University and University of Hong Kong found that experimental infections of dromedaries from with MERS‐CoV didn't show any evidence of virus in the urine. Therefore, the camel urine is an unlikely source of virus transmission to humans. [23] [24]
A camel is an even-toed ungulate in the genus Camelus that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food and textiles. Camels are working animals especially suited to their desert habitat and are a vital means of transport for passengers and cargo. There are three surviving species of camel. The one-humped dromedary makes up 94% of the world's camel population, and the two-humped Bactrian camel makes up 6%. The wild Bactrian camel is a distinct species that is not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel, and is now critically endangered, with less than 1,000 individuals.
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Juʿfī al-Bukhārī was a 9th-century Muslim muhaddith who is widely regarded as the most important hadith scholar in the history of Sunni Islam. Al-Bukhari's extant works include the hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-Kabir, and al-Adab al-Mufrad.
The dromedary, also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus Camelus, with one hump on its back.
Wuḍūʾ is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The four Fardh (Mandatory) acts of wudu are washing the face, then the arms, then wiping the head, then washing or wiping the feet, and doing these in order without any big breaks between them.
Abū al-Ḥusayn ‘Asākir ad-Dīn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj ibn Muslim ibn Ward ibn Kawshādh al-Qushayrī an-Naysābūrī or Muslim Nayshāpūrī, commonly known as Imam Muslim, was an Islamic scholar from the city of Nishapur, particularly known as a muhaddith. His hadith collection, known as Sahih Muslim, is one of the six major hadith collections in Sunni Islam and is regarded as one of the two most authentic (sahih) collections, alongside Sahih al-Bukhari.
Sahih al-Bukhari is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Persian scholar al-Bukhari around 846. The author was born in Bukhara in today's Uzbekistan.
Sahih Muslim is the second hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj.
Tarawih are special Sunnah prayers involving reading long portions of the Quran, and performing up to 20 rakahs, which are performed only in the Islamic month of Ramadan. The entire Quran is recited in the Tarawih prayers at a mosque, typically at the rate of one Juz' per night.
Sunan Ibn Mājah is one of the six major Sunni hadith collections. The Sunan was authored by Ibn Mājah.
Sunan Abi Dawud is the third hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Persian scholar Abu Dawud al-Sijistani.
Sunan al-Tirmidhi is the fourth hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by Islamic scholar al-Tirmidhi in c. 864–884.
Adi ibn Hatim al-Tai was a leader of the Arab tribe of Tayy, and one of the companions of Muhammad. He was the son of the poet Hatim al-Tai. Adi remained antagonistic to Islam for about twenty years until he converted to Islam in 630.
Kutub al-Sittah, also known as al-Sihah al-Sitta are the six canonical hadith collections of Sunni Islam. They were compiled in the 9th-century CE.
Islamic toilet etiquette is a set of personal hygiene rules in Islam that concerns going to the toilet. This code of Islamic hygienical jurisprudence is called Qaḍāʾ al-Ḥāǧa.
Miracles of Muhammad are miraculous happenings attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Khitan or Khatna is the Arabic term for circumcision, and the Islamic term for the practice of religious male circumcision in Islamic culture. Male circumcision is widespread in the Muslim world, and accepted as an established practice by all Islamic schools of jurisprudence. It is considered a sign of belonging to the wider Muslim community (Ummah).
In Islam, prophetic medicine is the advice regarding sickness, treatment and hygiene based on reports of the Islamic prophet Muhammad as found in the hadith. The therapy involves diet, bloodletting, and cautery, and simple drugs, numerous prayers and pious invocations for the patient to perform, but no surgery. Maladies discussed include fevers, plague, leprosy, poisonous bites, protection from night-flying insects and the evil eye, rules for coitus, theories of embryology, etc. The authors of its manuals were religious clerics who collected and explicated these traditions, not physicians, and it is usually practiced by non-physicians. How much of the medicine is divine revelation and how much folk practices inherited from ancestors is disputed.
In Sunni Islam, the Hadith of Gabriel is a hadith of the Islamic prophet Muhammad which expresses the religion of Islam in a concise manner. It is believed to contain a summary of the core of the religion of Islam, which are:
Muḥammad Fu'ād ʿAbd al-Baqī was a prolific Egyptian scholar of Islam, a poet and a translator from French and English. He wrote and compiled many books related to the Qur'an and the sunnah, including indices which give the reader access to the hadith of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
The signs of the appearance of the Mahdi are the collection of events, according to Islamic eschatology, that will occur before the arrival of the Mahdi, The signs differ based on Sunni and Shia branches of Islam.