Tradition and Medicine on the Wings of a Fly
This study examines the pre-modern debate surrounding a strange Islamic prophetic tradition (ḥadīṯ) that commands to fully immerse a fly that has fallen into a drink, “for in one of its wings there is poison and in the other a cure”. Studying different discussions of the hadith from the 3th/9th to t...
| Published in: | Arabica |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2016
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| In: |
Arabica
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| Further subjects: | B
Fly hadith
Islamic medicine
prophetic medicine
al-ṭibb al-nabawī
Spanish fly
Ibn Qutayba
al-Ǧāḥiẓ
B Hadith de la mouche médecine islamique médecine prophétique al-ṭibb al-nabawī cantharide (mouche espagnole) Ibn Qutayba al-Ǧāḥiẓ |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | This study examines the pre-modern debate surrounding a strange Islamic prophetic tradition (ḥadīṯ) that commands to fully immerse a fly that has fallen into a drink, “for in one of its wings there is poison and in the other a cure”. Studying different discussions of the hadith from the 3th/9th to the 9th/15th centuries reveals the variety of ways Muslim scholars negotiated the substantial tension between the competing authorities of prophetic tradition and the Greco-Islamic scientific tradition. Finally, I propose a possible explanation for the idea of a poison and cure on flies’ wings in Greco-Roman medical discussions of the Spanish fly. Cette étude a pour objet le débat prémoderne sur une étrange tradition prophétique islamique (ḥadīṯ) qui enjoint d’immerger entièrement une mouche tombée dans une boisson “car une de ses ailes contient un poison et l’autre un remède”. L’analyse de différentes discussions du hadith depuis le iiie/ixe siècle jusqu’au ixe/xve siècle montre la diversité des approches des érudits musulmans pour affronter la tension substantielle entre l’autorité de la tradition prophétique et celle de la tradition scientifique gréco-islamique. Enfin, je propose une explication possible à l’idée de poison et de remède sur les ailes des mouches dans les débats médicaux gréco-romains sur la mouche espagnole. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0585 |
| Contains: | In: Arabica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700585-12341385 |