Seyyed Soleyman Mousavi

ABSTRACT

The position of experience in Shia narrative medicine

Seyyed Soleyman Mousavi

Quran and Hadith Studies, Razawi University of Islamic Sciences, Mashhad-Iran.

Medical teachings such as medicines, treatment methods, special prayers to cure diseases, etc. in hadiths have formed narrative medicine. Since experience and the use of scientific methods have a special place in modern medicine, the question arises about the position of experience in narrative medicine. The present study tries to examine the position of experience in this medicine at two levels, relying on hadith sources and in a descriptive-analytical manner: 1. The position of experience in the medical knowledge of the Infallibles (i.e. the Prophet and Ahlul-Bayt)  and 2. The position of experience in evaluating medical narrations. In the first part, considering the existence of the teachings of other medical schools in the many narrations, it was concluded that the Infallibles, in addition to divine knowledge, had authorized and employed others' experiences in medicine. Regarding the position of experience in medical narrations' evaluation, firstly it is beneficial to divide these narrations into two categories: those which have been taken from other medical schools and those which are seemingly original from infallibles. The medical teachings in the second group could be separated into natural teachings and supernatural teachings too. Using experience and scientific methods for evaluating medical narrations are just applicable to narrations taken from other schools and those with natural teachings apparently originated from infallibles. Positive results from empirical studies just indicate the applicability of that medical teachings but are not able to prove independently that infallibles have uttered that.

Keywords: Narration, Islamic medicine, narrative medicine, experience, scientific method  

BIO

I got my B.A. and M.A. in hadith studies from Razawi University of Islamic Sciences, Mashhad, Iran and I am currently a Ph.D. student in Quran and hadith studies there. My Ph.D. thesis is on the critical review of orientalists' viewpoints regarding hadith transmission. I am interested in historical and interdisciplinary studies of hadith such as dating hadith, the oral and textual transmission of hadith, the interplay between hadith and other cultures, narrative medicine and modern medicine, etc. Here are some of my published papers:
• "Isnad and Content Analysis of Hadith of 'Hut' (Fish) through considering its historical background", Journal of Hadith Research -  peer-reviewed journal of Kashan University, Kashan, Iran, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.22052/12.1.119
• "A New Look at the Issue of Sun’s Returning: A Comparative Study Between Shia Sources And The Bible", Journal of Religious Research -  peer-reviewed journal of Religions and Denominations University, Qom, Iran.
• "Medical narrations: How are they attributed to infallibles and how are applied?", International conference on Islamic principles of the health system, Qom University, Qom, Iran, 2020.
• "Corona and Arbaeen: Arguments regarding holding Arbaeen ceremony without restriction", National conference on Corona in Quran and legal and jurisprudential thoughts, Yasuj University, Yasuj, Iran, 2022.