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Black Seed Cures Everything: Except Death

Muhammad's claim about the miraculous black seed.

9 min readMarch 3, 2024

The Miracle Cure?

Muhammad claimed that black seed (Nigella sativa, also called black cumin) cures every disease except death. This appears in Sahih Bukhari and has led to exaggerated claims about black seed's medicinal properties.

"I heard Allah's Apostle saying, 'There is healing in black seed for all diseases except death.'" — Sahih Bukhari 7:71:591

The Reality

While black seed has some health benefits (anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties), it certainly doesn't cure "every disease." It doesn't cure cancer, AIDS, genetic disorders, broken bones, mental illness, or thousands of other conditions. The claim is demonstrably false, reflecting folk medicine exaggeration rather than divine medical knowledge.

Questions to Consider

  1. If this were divinely revealed truth, why doesn't black seed actually cure all diseases?
  2. Why make such an easily disprovable claim if receiving knowledge from an all-knowing God?

Conclusion

This is another example of Muhammad's teachings reflecting the medical limitations and folk remedies of 7th-century Arabia rather than divine revelation.

Related articles: Camel Urine as Medicine, Fly Wing Cure

Sources

  • Sahih Bukhari 7:71:591
  • Sahih Muslim 26:5489
  • Medical studies on black seed (Nig ella sativa)
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