19/08/2026
CANCER: IS IT REALLY “INCURABLE”?
An Islamic Medicine and Orthodox Medicine Perspective
By ISIAQ Muhammadjamiu ALKISIWIY
Founder, AS-SUNNAH ACADEMY – Institute of Prophetic Medicine
I have deliberately chosen this topic because there is a dangerous misunderstanding surrounding cancer.
A person is diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, and sometimes the first sentence he hears is:
> “There is nothing we can do anymore.”
But as a Muslim, I want us to pause and ask a deeper question:
Does “advanced” mean “without any possible treatment”?
And another question:
Does the Qur'an and Sunnah give a Muslim permission to conclude that a disease has no cure simply because the cure has not yet been discovered or because a particular treatment has failed?
My answer is NO.
But I also want to make something very clear: Islam does not teach us to deny medical science, and Islamic medicine does not give us permission to promise a cancer patient a miraculous cure.
This is where proper Islamic medical research must begin.
1. FIRST: WHAT IS CANCER?
Cancer is not one single disease.
It is a large group of diseases in which abnormal cells grow uncontrollably and may invade surrounding tissues or spread to distant parts of the body.
When cancer spreads to distant organs, modern medicine calls it metastatic cancer, and this is commonly classified as Stage IV for many cancers.
But here is something important:
Stage IV does NOT simply mean “no treatment exists.”
The National Cancer Institute states that there are treatments for most metastatic cancers. In many cases the objective is to control or slow the disease, and some people live for years with metastatic cancer that is well controlled.
Therefore, we should distinguish between:
“This cancer cannot currently be cured with the available treatment”
and
“This disease has absolutely no cure anywhere in Allah's creation.”
Those are not necessarily the same statement.
2. WHAT DOES THE PROPHET (PBUH) TEACH US?
One of the most important principles of Prophetic medicine is found in Sahih Muslim 2204.
Jabir (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said
“There is a remedy for every malady, and when the remedy is applied to the disease it is cured with the permission of Allah.”
Look carefully at the wording:
“Every disease has a remedy.”
And:
“When the remedy is applied...”
And finally:
“...with the permission of Allah.”
This hadith does not tell us that every human being will necessarily discover every cure.
It tells us something even more profound:
The existence of a disease does not prove the non-existence of its cure.
The cure may be known.
It may be unknown.
It may require a combination of treatments.
It may require further scientific discovery.
It may be physical, pharmacological, surgical, nutritional, psychological, spiritual, or a combination of legitimate means.
And ultimately:
Ash-Shāfī is Allah.
The physician treats.
The medicine is a means.
The body responds.
But Allah gives the healing.
3. DOES THIS HADITH CONTRADICT ORTHODOX MEDICINE?
Absolutely not.
In fact, I would argue that the hadith gives us a powerful philosophy for medical research.
Modern medicine says:
“We have treatments for this disease.”
Islam says:
Keep searching for beneficial means, because Allah has not created disease without a remedy.
These two principles do not have to fight each other.
The mistake occurs when either side becomes extreme.
A Muslim should not say:
“I don't need a cancer specialist because I have Qur'an and Sunnah.”
And a doctor should not tell a patients
“Because our present treatment cannot cure you, therefore Allah has not created a cure.”
The first is religious irresponsibility.
The second is an epistemological overstatement.
4. BUT IS STAGE IV CANCER CURABLE?
Here we need intellectual honesty.
Some advanced cancers can enter complete remission, and some metastatic cancers can sometimes be treated with curative intent depending on the cancer type, location, molecular characteristics and response to treatment.
For many other metastatic cancers, however, modern treatment is primarily aimed at controlling the disease, prolonging life and improving quality of life rather than guaranteeing eradication.
Modern oncology itself distinguishes cure from remission. Complete remission means that signs of cancer have disappeared, but this does not always mean that every cancer cell has been eliminated permanently.
So I would never tell a Stage IV cancer patient:
“You are definitely going to be cured by Prophetic medicine.”
That would be irresponsible.
Instead, I would say
“Do not surrender hope in Allah. Seek every legitimate means of treatment, continue medical evaluation, make du‘ā, and remember that the limits of today's medicine are not necessarily the limits of Allah's creation.”
That is a much stronger Islamic position.
5. WHEN DID CANCER BEGIN?
This is another fascinating question.
Cancer did not begin in the modern hospital.
It is an ancient human disease.
Historical medical records show descriptions consistent with cancer going back thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian medical papyri, including the Edwin Smith and Ebers papyri, contain descriptions of tumors and cancer dating to approximately the second millennium BCE, with some source material believed to be even older.
Therefore, cancer is not a modern disease invented by Western medicine.
Modern medicine developed the ability to classify, biopsy, image, stage and molecularly characterize cancers with much greater precision.
That is different from saying cancer itself is new.
6. WHAT ABOUT CANCER IN ISLAMIC HISTORY?
The Qur'an and authentic Sunnah do not give us a modern pathological classification called “cancer.”
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) lived approximately fourteen centuries ago, long before modern concepts such as:
histopathology,
malignant cells,
metastasis,
staging systems,
molecular oncology,
chemotherapy,
radiotherapy,
immunotherapy.
Therefore, we should not force modern medical terminology into every classical hadith.
This is extremely important for students of Islamic medicine.
Islamic medicine is not strengthened by inventing evidence.
It is strengthened by honesty with revelation and honesty with science.
The hadith:
“For every disease there is a remedy”
gives us a universal medical principle.
It does not mean that the Prophet (PBUH) specifically named every modern disease.
7. WHAT ABOUT YORUBA HISTORY?
This is where our African medical history becomes particularly interesting.
Cancer was not necessarily called “cancer” historically among Yoruba people.
Research on Yoruba perceptions of cancer in Ibadan reports the term “jẹjere”, described as a devouring disease.
Modern Yoruba terminology also uses akàn for cancer, while particular cancers may have additional descriptive names.
But we must be careful.
We cannot simply take an old Yoruba disease name and declare
“This ancient Yoruba condition was definitely the same pathological cancer that modern histology identifies.”
That requires evidence.
Traditional healers may have recognized chronic swellings, abnormal growths, ulcers, wasting diseases and other conditions that sometimes could have included cancers.
But without pathological examination, we cannot retrospectively diagnose every historical case.
This distinction is very important.
8. NIGERIA'S MODERN CANCER HISTORY
Interestingly, Nigeria's modern cancer registration history is strongly connected to Ibadan.
The first cancer registry in Nigeria was established around 1960 at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.
That is not the beginning of cancer in Nigeria.
It is the beginning of systematic cancer registration and documentation.
There is a huge difference between:
“We started recording it in 1960”
and:
“It started existing in 1960.”
The same principle applies to Islamic history and Yoruba history.
9. WHERE DOES ISLAMIC MEDICINE COME INTO THIS?
This is where I believe there is a major opportunity for serious researchers.
Islamic medicine should not be presented as:
Qur'an versus hospital.
It should be presented
a Revelation + legitimate medical knowledge + research + experience + ethical practice + reliance upon Allah.
The Prophet (PBUH) himself demonstrated the importance of seeking treatment.
Sahih Muslim records that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) sent for a physician for Ubayy ibn Ka'b and that medical intervention was performed.
So seeking professional medical treatment is not contrary to tawakkul.
It is part of taking the means.
10. WHAT DOES THE QUR'AN SAY ABOUT HEALING?
Allah says
“And We send down of the Qur'an that which is healing and mercy for the believers...”
Qur'an 17:82
This is a tremendous verse.
But again, we need intellectual discipline.
The Qur'an being shifā' does not mean that every cancer patient should abandon oncology and simply recite Qur'an instead of receiving appropriate medical care.
The Qur'an is healing in a profound spiritual sense, and Allah may also make physical healing occur through lawful means.
Therefore:
Qur'an + du‘ā + legitimate treatment
should never be presented as enemies.
11. WHAT ABOUT BLACK SEED?
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said regarding the black seed
“There is healing in the black seed for every disease except death.”
This narration is recorded in Sahih Muslim.
But students of Prophetic medicine must understand something very carefully:
This hadith does not give us permission to say
“Black seed alone cures every cancer.”
That conclusion goes beyond what the hadith establishes.
A Prophetic medicine practitioner must distinguish between:
a Prophetic statement,
a scholarly interpretation,
a traditional use,
and
a scientifically demonstrated cancer treatment.
These four things are not automatically identical.
12. THIS IS WHERE I DIFFER FROM BOTH EXTREMES
I disagree with the person who says:
“Cancer is impossible to treat.”
But I also disagree with the person who says:
“I have a secret Islamic herb that will definitely cure Stage IV cancer.”
Both statements can harm patients.
The first can destroy hope.
The second can destroy lives by causing patients to abandon effective treatment.
The Islamic medical practitioner must be between the two extremes.
We say:
Allah has created the disease.
Allah has created its remedy.
We do not yet know every remedy.
Therefore, we continue researching.
This is not weakness in faith.
This is tawakkul combined with knowledge.
13. WHY I BELIEVE ISLAMIC MEDICINE RESEARCH IS IMPORTANT
Modern oncology has made extraordinary progress.
Surgery.
Radiotherapy.
Chemotherapy.
Hormonal therapy.
Targeted therapy.
Immunotherapy.
Precision medicine.
Clinical trials.
These achievements should not be dismissed.
But science itself is unfinished.
Researchers continue searching for better treatments because today's medicine is not the final chapter of human medical knowledge.
And that is precisely where serious Islamic medicine research can contribute.
Not by fighting science.
Not by rejecting hospitals.
Not by making unsupported promises.
But by asking:
What beneficial knowledge has Allah placed in His creation that humanity has not yet fully discovered?
That is a legitimate question.
14. MY MESSAGE TO THE CANCER PATIENT
If you have cancer, especially advanced cancer, do not interpret a doctor's uncertainty as Allah's decree that you cannot recover.
Your doctor can tell you about:
the type of cancer,
its stage,
its biological characteristics,
available treatments,
expected response,
possible side effects,
clinical trials,
and prognosis.
But no human being possesses knowledge of the unseen.
Your responsibility is to take the lawful means.
Seek qualified oncology care.
Seek a second opinion when appropriate.
Pray.
Make du‘ā.
Maintain hope.
Take care of nutrition and general health according to your medical situation.
And if you wish to incorporate Islamic spiritual practices, do so alongside—not instead of—appropriate medical care.
15. THE BIG LESSON
The greatest lesson I take from the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is not:
“I already know the cure for cancer.”
The greater lesson is:
“Do not stop searching for the cure.”
Because the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) taught us that there is a remedy for every disease.
So perhaps the cure is already known.
Perhaps it is hidden in a plant.
Perhaps it is in a molecule that scientists have not yet isolated.
Perhaps it lies in a combination of existing therapies.
Perhaps future research will discover it.
Perhaps Allah will cause healing through a means we do not yet understand.
But our ignorance of the cure does not prove the non-existence of the cure.
16. MY CONCLUSION AS A STUDENT AND RESEARCHER OF ISLAMIC MEDICINE
I will therefore never teach my students to say:
“Orthodox medicine says Stage IV cancer is incurable, therefore Islam says we can cure it.”
That is not rigorous Islamic medicine.
Rather, I teach:
Orthodox medicine describes what current evidence and available treatments can accomplish.
Islam teaches us that Allah is the ultimate Healer and that disease has a remedy.
Research is the bridge between what humanity currently knows and what humanity has not yet discovered.
This is why I strongly believe that the future of Islamic medicine should not be built upon arguments against modern medicine.
It should be built upon:
Qur'an.
Authentic Sunnah.
Sound Islamic scholarship.
Medical science.
Clinical observation.
Research.
Ethics.
And fear of Allah.
And if we truly want to revive Prophetic medicine, we must stop merely repeating that “Islam has the cure.”
We must become serious enough to investigate, document, test and understand the means Allah has placed in His creation.
That, to me, is where the real future of Islamic medicine lies.
Allah is Ash-Shāfī — the Ultimate Healer.
⚠️ MEDICAL DISCLAIMER
This article is written for education, Islamic medical discussion and research, not as an individual cancer treatment prescription.
Cancer is a complex group of diseases. A diagnosis of Stage IV does not mean that every cancer is identical, nor does it mean that every patient has the same prognosis or treatment options. Modern oncology has treatments for many metastatic cancers, although the possibility of cure varies greatly by cancer type and individual circumstances.
No cancer patient should stop chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, immunotherapy, targeted therapy or other prescribed treatment because of this article.
Qur'an, du‘ā, ruqyah and lawful Islamic practices may be incorporated as spiritual support, but claims that a particular herb, supplement or Prophetic remedy will definitely cure cancer require appropriate scientific evidence and should not replace qualified oncology care.
Healing belongs to Allah. We take the means, and Allah decides the outcome.
