Hijama occupies an unusual position in modern Muslim wellness culture. Some dismiss it simply because it is ancient. Others move in the opposite direction and attribute almost every conceivable health benefit to it. Neither approach is necessary.
We can begin with something much firmer: the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was cupped.
What the hadith actually establishes
Sahih al-Bukhari records from Anas رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was cupped by Abu Taybah. Another narration from Jabir رضي الله عنه records him saying that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ speak of healing in cupping.
For a Muslim, these narrations establish something independently of contemporary clinical research: hijama formed part of the therapeutic world recognised and used by the Prophet ﷺ. But this still does not give us permission to attach every modern medical claim to it.
What happens when cupping enters the laboratory?
Modern researchers ask a narrower question. For a defined condition, compared with a defined control, does cupping measurably improve an outcome? Pain is one of the most heavily investigated areas.
Recent systematic reviews report improvements in pain in many cupping studies, but they also repeatedly identify serious limitations: high risk of bias, substantial differences between protocols and uncertainty about how well findings generalise. Some analyses of chronic musculoskeletal pain report reduced pain intensity without similarly clear improvements in function.
Sunnah and clinical evidence answer different questions
A randomized controlled trial does not determine whether hijama was practiced by the Prophet ﷺ. Hadith scholarship establishes that. Likewise, quoting a hadith cannot tell us the effect size of cupping for chronic lower-back pain compared with another treatment. Clinical research investigates that.
A treatment practiced in the Prophetic world continues to be investigated more than fourteen centuries later, with promising evidence in some areas—but modern medicine has not established hijama as a universal treatment for disease.
Sources & further reading
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5696–5697.
- Recent systematic reviews of cupping for pain and chronic musculoskeletal conditions.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of cupping for low-back pain.
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