Tackling the Root Cause

Tackling the Root Cause

1988 5 May 10 Tackling the Root Cause (404) I recently had a talk with a Hakim, an expert in the unani system of medicine, during which we discussed the respective merits of the unani and allopathic systems. The Hakim pointed out that the fundamental difference between the two was that whereas the allopathic system concerns itself with removing only the symptoms of a complaint, the unani system attacks the root cause. To illustrate his point, he cited the allopathic doctor who gives aspirin, or some other such pain-killer, for a headache. This provides only temporary relief, for it does not remove the source of the pain. The unani physician, on the other hand, would first look into the cause of the headache perhaps some disorder in the digestive system – then he would set about treating that, and not just the headache. He would never aim at giving just temporary relief. The Hakim Sahib was, therefore, severely critical of the allopathic method, while he described the unani system as both reasonable and natural, having as its objective a permanent cure.

Later, in the discussion, the subject of AI-Risala came up. The Hakim Sahib said that he could not agree that its message was truly constructive. He argued that it needed to provide instant solutions to the critical problems besetting Muslims today. “But”, he said, “you do not have any quick solutions for these problems. All you offer your readers is a philosophy, or a code of conduct – patience, avoidance of confrontation unilateral withdrawal of complaints. Under the present conditions, it is not an all-embracing philosophy which they need, but solutions for individual problems.”

I said to the Hakim: “As far as individual maladies are concerned, the science you have learned as a healer tells you that the cause must be removed if the treatment is to be beneficial. You could call this a philosophy too. And it is one which you would certainly not give up in favour of a patchwork treatment of symptoms. When it comes to social maladies, however, you pronounce yourself in favour of the piecemeal removal of symptoms, leaving the cause untouched: If you were to apply the same standards to social ills as you do to physical ills, you would see that it is just as essential to remove the cause in the former as it is in the latter. The symptoms of social malaise will disappear only when we have a philosophy which tackles the root cause.