THE BENEFIT OF GARLIC FROM ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE AND MALAY PRACTISE

Abstract

Garlic is one of the herbs that being used as a flavor in food. But it is also known as traditional medicine among the Malay community. However, the scientific observation about the benefit of garlic, especially from the Islamic perspective has not been fully documented. Thus, in this research, we aim to unravel the remedies of garlic and its uniqueness from the Islamic perspective and explain how the efficacy and uses of garlic in treating diseases practiced by the Malay community. The findings show that the use of garlic as traditional medicine has been used since time immemorial and has been proven to bring many good effects in curing diseases such as help to lower body pressure, reduce the risk of cancer, eliminate bad breath and many more. The findings also show different beliefs, races, and cultures are among the factors in different ways of using garlic as a medicine. However, this study will focus more on Malay practitioners. In this research, descriptive analysis is used and involving many types of text such as Al-Qur'an, Hadith Nabawi, and selected Malay manuscript on Malay traditional medicine to study the remedies of garlic and its practice among Malay practitioners. This study is important in order to increase the understanding and knowledge about the benefit of garlic in medicine as a cure rather than just use it as a flavor in food.