Substances that are used for medical treatment

It should be known that substances which are used for medical treatment fall under four categories: (1) inorganic bodies, (2) plants, (3) animals, (4) compounds of the first three categories. There are two ways of using these things and the Shar'ee ruling concerning each is different. The two ways are either external or internal. Internal usage refers to substances that go down the throat and reach the stomach. In other words, it refers to the things which are either eaten or drunk. All other forms of usage are regarded as external. So much so, all the following forms of medication are also considered to be external: sniffing some liquid into the nostrils, instilling medicine into the nostrils (for example, by means of a dropper), drawing medicine into the nostrils, rubbing the teeth with tooth-powder (or brushing with a toothpaste), smelling a solid or liquid medicine, taking in snuff, chewing, rinsing the mouth. All this is on the condition that the medicine does not reach the throat. In fact, apart from smelling, there is a great danger in all the above-mentioned forms of consumption that the medicine will reach the throat. In fact, in most cases the medicine reaches the throat and thereafter goes down into the stomach. Therefore, all these forms of consumption should also be considered to be internal. Caution is necessary in that substances which cannot be consumed internally should also be refrained from when adopting any of the above-mentioned external methods of usage. Even if an iota of haraam substance goes down the throat, one will be committing the sin of consuming haraam .