IT was my sister’s limp that caught my attention. A brotherly probe into the matter revealed that she had a wart on her heel. My father was quick to ask if she had used any medication for it. The reply was an endless list of ointments and powders that she had applied to rid herself of the menace, but to no avail.
My sister is a typical case of today’s ‘educated lot,’ all considering themselves born-doctors. It is not uncommon in today’s household to find a family member complaining of being unwell, immediately followed by a suggestion by another family member on how to treat the illness. The suggestion is almost always a reflex action, based on the proposer’s personal experiences. Though they might be useful, acting on such proposals is never risk-free.
Medicines today contain two things. Firstly, the obvious remedy for the illness, which most of us are aware of. Secondly, the hidden side-effect, which most of us or not aware of. With continuous research and development, the medicines are increasing in chemical complexity with side-effects of many are unknown, even to specialists. Thus, prescribing yourself medicine based on personal experiences is a practice that requires a check, as it can be, in some cases, nothing less than suicidal. So how can the situation be addressed?
Well, we have this uncanny knack of following the West. Let’s just do that here too. I can never forget the ordeal I went through to obtain the lot of medicines prescribed to me for tuberculosis during my time in Lahore. I had to find a chemist who had the whole lot, as I was told that once any part of the prescription was issued to me, I would have to part with the whole prescription, which was nothing but an A-5 size paper. My protest only resulted in the reply, “These medicines are every complex with various side-effects and cannot be given off-the-shelf for safety reasons” from the bored chemist who seemed to have repeated the statement a thousand times that day. A few weeks later, I learned that it was also illegal to sell more than two packs of a pain-killer to the same customer at one time.
The point made here is that the dangers of these medicines in the form of side-effects have been realized by the relevant authorities and so appropriate practices are in place to check misuse and ignorant self-prescriptions. A prescribed medicine is only issued by the chemist against a signed prescription by the doctor, and since the prescription is retained by the chemist, it can only be used once. Furthermore, the doctor can be questioned in the future regarding the prescription, if required.
The whole issue rests on the basic phenomenon of “Asking the expert,” which only complies with the common sense. This concept also involves accepting the expert’s opinion in preference to one’s own. No matter how unpleasant this may sound, but holding the expert as a judge can rid us of endless arguments on petty issues.
An important and sensitive area where this ideology can be and should be extended to is religion. It seems that each of us today considers himself as a born scholar and tends to do what complies with our personal frame of mind. The problem worsens when we start to believe that only our actions and thoughts are correct while all those who disagree with us are flawed in their understanding. Regardless of one’s faith, such behaviour will leave one’s mind with a narrow perception of right and wrong and increase intolerance level. Such behaviour must not be permitted. The methodology for seeking a ruling on any issue demands that the consensus of scholars is given preference to one’s own opinion, purely on the basis of knowledge. On several occasions when the Holy Prophet’s companions were faced with a difficult issue, they would believe in the fact that “Allah and his messenger (Peace be upon him) know best” realizing and happily accepting the superior knowledge level of the Creator and his representative on Earth.
Being advocates of the “Ask the expert” theory, we (me and my father) convinced my sister to see a doctor for her wart. After four weeks of treatment, the wart lives on.
