Today, Thurday 5th August 2010, i went to a cupping course.

There are two ways people can fall short when it comes to remedies.
1) they put their trust in Allah alone and do not try any remedies.
2)they put thier trust in the remedy alone. (this can lead to Shirk)

i've learnt a lot on this course. and i have still a lot to learn.

there are three type of cupping: Dry cupping, Massage cupping and wet cupping.

dry and massage cupping are not from the sunnah, but fall under the hide category of "for every disease there is a remedy"

fire cupping is not used anymore as it is too hazardous and also it is harder to control the tension. therefore we nowadays used the pumps.

there are three tensions used. Light, Medium and Strong. Light is used for massage cupping and for the elderly and childre. Strong is used for wet cupping.

dry cupping: applying the cup, pumping the air out and leaving it for 5-10mins. must be supervised at all time as some people's skin blisters easily

massage cupping: applying oil (olive or coconut for best results) and applying cup with light tension. then gliding the cup along the body part. this is loike a normal massage but more effective and less tiring for the therapeutist. (there are three ways of doing massage cupping, explaining them in writing would be too confusing)

Wet cupping: this is the big deal. Its called wet because B.l.o.o.d comes out =O! anyway. you put the preliminary cup on at strong tension for 5-10 minutes, until all the blood gathers, then you remove the cup and ake small scratches, then put the cup back on and pump the air out and wait until the blood stop flowing out of the incesions. then remove cup, wipe blood and put cup back on. repeat this until a) no more blood comes out or/and b) plasma comes out.

you may be wondering, how did the prophet (peace be upon him) perform cupping? well from what i've been told, in his time they used the horns of animals, made a little hole at the pointy end and then sucked the air out through there, then stuffed it with grass to create the vacuum.

there are some places that are never to be cupped (wet cupping). (mouth, nose, ears, eyes) and some that are to be cupped just once in a lifetime. (like the forehead)

there are sunnah days to be cupped (wet cupping) the 17th, 19th and 21th of the lunar month are days reported in ahadiths. So are "mondays, tuesdays and thurdays".

It is forbidden to cup on any other day except if you must or if there is a dire need (this is for wet cupping). Especially wednesdays, there are clear ahadiths forbidding wednesdays.

Ibn Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger (Sallallaahu Álayhi Wasallam) said, "Cupping on an empty stomach is best. In it is a cure and a blessing. It improves the intellect and the memory. So cup yourselves with the blessing of Allaah on Thursday. Keep away from cupping on Wednesday, and Friday, Saturday and Sunday to be safe. Perform cupping on Monday and Tuesday for it is the day that Allaah saved Ayoub from the trial. He was inflicted with the trial on Wednesday. You will not find leprosy except (by being cupped) on Wednesday or Wednesday night." [Saheeh Sunan Ibn Majah (3487)].

this means that the sunnah days are when the day of the week coincide with the dates. on these days hijamah is even more beneficial.

as dry and massage cupping are not from the sunnah, there are not forbidden days.

i didnt get to try the practical as i had to leave but my mum did it.

there is a lot more info than that. this is just the general stuff.

had a fun day, quite intense. as the theory lasted about 3 hours and then it was the practical. Real headache maker.

if you need any ahadith, just ask