I am sure that, during one’s lifetime in practical life examining patients, one comes across some incidents that are unforgettable and unexplainable. I have come across many, but I would like to share two such incidents.
Dr. Munawar Aziz
Once, after finishing my evening session, I was talking to a friend who had dropped in to say hello when an unconscious patient was brought in on a cot by three of the patient’s attendants. Since I run a consultation clinic, I told them to take the patient to a hospital due to the lack of emergency arrangements.
One of the attendants said that the patient was his father. He had been admitted to a hospital for a week but hadn’t regained consciousness. Knowing that he was not going to survive, they decided not to subject him to the pain of injections and drips and wanted to take him home to die peacefully.
Despite my efforts to convince them to get him admitted to a hospital, they refused, saying that they were taking him straight home and that someone had told them to consult me before going. The son requested a syrup prescription, as they were against any injections and, of course, tablets could not be swallowed by the patient. Reluctantly, I prescribed a B-complex syrup as requested, and then they left.
My friend, who had been witnessing the conversation, asked me how long the patient might survive. I said, “God knows best, but he may not survive the night.”
Lo and behold, after about two weeks, a man walked into my clinic holding the same prescription, saying, “My father asked me to find out whether he can have another bottle of the syrup!” Not believing him, I asked, “Where is your father?” He replied, “He is sitting with some guests at home!” Perplexed, I asked the man to explain what happened after they left my clinic. He said, “We went home, and all of us gathered around his cot to spend the night. Then, around 2 a.m., he got up and said, ‘Make me a cup of tea!’ Since then, he has been up and about.”
To this day, I have no medical explanation for this episode, except to say that God is great, and the time and manner of death are ordained.
The other incident occurred when I was visiting a health centre in Benghazi, Libya, in the late seventies. We were done for the day and closing the centre, and I was about to sit in my car along with my Libyan attendant when I saw a limping man heading toward us, shouting, “Wait for me, wait for me!” When he arrived, he said his knee was so painful that he had been delayed and couldn’t reach the health facility in time. Tired and hungry, with all the staff already gone, I grabbed a few vitamin tablets and gave them to him, telling him to come the next day for a proper check-up.
He didn’t return the next day but came back after two weeks, this time bringing a friend who was also limping. The man said he had been cured within two days, so he hadn’t come back, but he had met a friend with a similar issue and had brought him to get the same tablets, and to thank me.
Feeling guilty, I checked his friend, and to this day, I wonder what cured both the unconscious man and the limping man.
Moral of the story: Never say no to any patient and never loose hope, because cure lies somewhere else, with Al-Mighty.
- Dr. Munawar Aziz
Abbottabad, Pakistan.
aziz.munawar@gmail.com
Miracles?
A physician has limited knowledge but should always try to help the patient and provide psychological support. A kind word does wonders and hope must never be under-estimated. You are quite right ; the senior doctor is Allah and He knows best.
Miracles do happen, but you can’t rely on them.
Indeed a very sagacious comparative reminiscence Sir. Ultimately , the healer is only the Creator.. In the past , the Tabbibs and Hakeems recognized they were only facilitators whereas Allah carried out the healing , that’s why they used such formulae as ‘Allah Baqi’ and ‘Ya Shafi, Ya Baqi’. At the core of the healing process lies the faith and trust of the patient and often people with simple trust/faith are the ones to heal fully, whereas complex , educated thinkers suffer the more due to over-thinking. I believe that in the near future, medical science will more fully understand this subconscious, psychological dimension of the healing process and that treatment will also develop accordingly.
I believe the life n death is in Allaah’s hand, he puts shifa in the medicines whether they are expensive or not. Sincerity towards your profession is a must, Allaah SWT knows the niyyah of the doctor. It really helps in finding the correct diagnosis and advising the right medication. So when the patients treated by that doctor are recovered they say… iss doctor Kay hath mai bari shifa hai or yeh doctor sahab boht achaiy hain.