Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Hamiyya (diet and abstention in illness)

الحَمِيّة

Hamiyya lexically means prohibition, to keep the sick from what harms him, and it is a lawful form of treatment on the hadith that God sent a cure for every disease except old age. 1 Ibn al-Qayyim takes as its root the Quranic permission to tayammum for the sick, who is kept from water; the narration of Umm al-Mundhir relates the Prophet ﷺ's order to Ali to avoid food and to take barley and soup; and Umar kept a sick man from food until he sucked a date-stone. 1 Diet must follow the principles of medicine and sound experience. 2

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Ethics and character

Summary

Hamiyya lexically means prohibition, to keep the sick from what harms him, and it is a lawful form of treatment on the hadith that God sent a cure for every disease except old age. 1 Ibn al-Qayyim takes as its root the Quranic permission to tayammum for the sick, who is kept from water; the narration of Umm al-Mundhir relates the Prophet's order to Ali to avoid food and to take barley and soup; and Umar kept a sick man from food until he sucked a date-stone. 1 Diet must follow the principles of medicine and sound experience. 2

People and things also explored

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)· Ada' al-shahada (performing testimony: the duty on request, the excused witness, and the wording)· Manners of the Qur'an bearer· Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Adha (harm of a slight kind: removing harmful things and the duty not to harm)· Justice and grace (adl wal-fadl)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7331
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.7332
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Hamiyya (diet and abstention in illness)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/hamiyya-diet/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)

Paying a debt in the form owed is obligatory by consensus. A debt due now must be paid on demand when the debtor can pay; a deferred debt is not due before its term. Payment is made in like items, with value owed where there is no like; a better payment is allowed when unconditioned. Remission, gift, assignment, set-off and settlement take the place of payment. A solvent debtor who refuses is compelled, imprisoned and his apparent property sold; the majority hold that a bankrupt is put under interdiction and his property divided among creditors, against Abu Hanifa. The insolvent is given respite, and his debt may be paid from zakat if he borrowed for himself in a lawful matter. A dead person's debt attaches to his estate and takes precedence over bequests and inheritance.