Short answer
Once, yes, for one group of sick men. Desert herders fell ill in Medina, and the Prophet (ﷺ) told them to drink camels' milk and urine as a treatment. One wording says he allowed it. They recovered. Ibn al-Qayyim, a scholar of the fourteenth century, explains their illness as dropsy, a swelling with fluid. He says it needs mild cleansing remedies that help the body pass water. Camels' milk and urine had these, since the camels grazed mostly on desert herbs such as wormwood and chamomile. It was not a command to all Muslims, and no verse of the Qur'an mentions it. Today raw camel urine carries known risks, such as MERS and brucellosis. A 2023 study found it did not help cancer patients. A sick person should see a doctor.
Full explanation
What happened
A small group from the tribes of 'Ukl and 'Uraynah came to Medina and became Muslim. They told the Prophet (ﷺ) they were herders of milk animals, not farmers. The air of Medina made them ill, and they asked for milk. He sent them out of the town to some camels, with a herdsman. The Prophet (ﷺ) told them to drink the camels' milk and urine as a treatment. One wording says he allowed it. They drank it, and they recovered (Bukhari 4192, 3018; Muslim 1671).
Anas reports that people of 'Ukl and 'Uraynah came to Medina, accepted Islam and said they were herders of milk animals, not people of farmland; they found Medina unhealthy. The Prophet (ﷺ) gave them camels and a herdsman and told them to go out and drink the camels' milk and urine. At al-Harra they left Islam, killed the herdsman and drove off the camels; they were pursued, punished and left at al-Harra until they died. Qatada said: it reached us that afterwards the Prophet (ﷺ) used to urge charity and forbid mutilation.
Anas reports that eight men of 'Ukl came to the Prophet (ﷺ), found Medina's climate unsuitable and asked him for milk. He told them to join the camels; they drank the camels' milk and urine until they were healthy, then killed the herdsman, drove off the camels and left Islam. They were caught and punished.
Anas reports that people of 'Uraynah found Medina's climate did not suit them, and the Prophet (ﷺ) allowed them to go to the camels of charity and drink their milk and urine. They killed the herdsman and drove off the camels, and were brought back and punished.
Anas reports that people of 'Uraynah, or eight men of 'Ukl, found Medina's climate unhealthy; the Prophet (ﷺ) said that if they wished they could go to the camels of charity and drink their milk and urine. They recovered, then killed the herdsmen, left Islam and drove off the camels; they were caught and punished. One version adds that an illness was spreading at the time. Another says their eyes were put out because they had put out the eyes of the herdsmen.
- Arrival
They become Muslim
Herders of milk animals, they fall ill in Medina and ask for milk.
- Treatment
Sent out to the camels
Told to drink the camels' milk and urine as a treatment, they recover.
- Crime
Murder and theft
They kill the herdsman, put out his eyes, drive off the charity camels and leave Islam.
- Same day
Caught and punished
The verse on those who wage war on God (﷾) and His Messenger came down about them.
- Afterwards
Mutilation forbidden
The Prophet (ﷺ) urged charity and forbade mutilation.
A remedy of that age
These men were sick, and the drink was given as a treatment. Ibn al-Qayyim, a scholar of the 14th century, says their illness was dropsy, a swelling with fluid. He says the camels grazed on desert herbs, such as wormwood and chamomile. Their milk and urine, he says, were used against this illness. He quotes Ibn Sina, the famous physician, on camel milk and urine. So the Prophet (ﷺ) used a remedy that the doctors of that age knew, and the men recovered.
Explains the hadith of the men of 'Uraynah and 'Ukl as the treatment of dropsy (istisqa'), a swelling with fluid. Says this illness needs mild cleansing and diuretic remedies, which camels' milk and urine have, since the camels grazed mostly on desert herbs such as wormwood and chamomile. Quotes physicians, among them Ibn Sina in his Canon, on camel milk against dropsy, and Ibn Sina's words that the most useful urine is that of the desert camel. Also notes that the men had killed the herdsman and put out his eyes.
What the hadith does not say
It does not tell all Muslims to drink urine. No verse of the Qur'an mentions it. It does not call urine a cure for every illness. It was given to particular sick men, with milk, as a treatment. Islam also forbids some things as medicine. The Prophet (ﷺ) said wine is not a medicine but a disease (Muslim 1984). He forbade impure medicine (Abu Dawud 3870).
Anas reports that people of 'Uraynah, or eight men of 'Ukl, found Medina's climate unhealthy; the Prophet (ﷺ) said that if they wished they could go to the camels of charity and drink their milk and urine. They recovered, then killed the herdsmen, left Islam and drove off the camels; they were caught and punished. One version adds that an illness was spreading at the time. Another says their eyes were put out because they had put out the eyes of the herdsmen.
Wa'il al-Hadrami reports that Tariq ibn Suwayd asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about wine, and he forbade it. Tariq said he made it as a medicine, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said it is not a medicine but a disease.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade impure (khabith) medicine.
The Prophet (ﷺ) told particular sick men to drink camels' milk and urine
It was a treatment
All Muslims must drink urine
The schools agree that such urine is clean
Seek treatment that works
The Prophet (ﷺ) told the sick to seek treatment. God (﷾), he said, made a cure for every illness except old age (Abu Dawud 3855). He said that when the right remedy reaches the illness, the sick person recovers by God's (﷾) leave (Muslim 2204). So a sick Muslim goes to a doctor.
Usama ibn Sharik reports that desert Arabs asked the Prophet (ﷺ) whether they should seek medical treatment. He told them to seek treatment, for God has not made any disease without making a remedy for it, except one: old age.
Jabir reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said there is a remedy for every disease. When the right remedy reaches the disease, the sick person recovers by the permission of Allah.
What modern medicine says
The men in the hadith recovered. Today raw camel urine carries known risks. In 2016 the World Health Organization advised people not to drink raw camel milk or camel urine. Camels can carry MERS, a dangerous virus. In 2023 doctors in Saudi Arabia published a study of 20 cancer patients. These patients had insisted on treating their cancer with camel urine mixed with camel milk. None of them was helped. Two caught brucellosis, an infection from animals. The doctors said camel urine should no longer be promoted as a traditional medicine. A sick person should see a doctor.
A report of a MERS case. Its advice: "People should avoid drinking raw camel milk or camel urine, or eating meat that has not been properly cooked."
Followed 20 cancer patients in Saudi Arabia, from September 2020 to January 2022, who insisted on using camel urine for treatment; all of them took it mixed with camel milk. No clinical benefit was seen, and two developed brucellosis. The authors conclude that promoting camel urine as a traditional medicine should stop, because no scientific evidence supports it.
- 20patients followed
- 0helped
- 2caught brucellosis
Perspectives
Critics: Islam tells people to drink urine
Some critics say this hadith shows that Islam teaches a backward remedy, and that Muslims must drink camel urine.
The Prophet (ﷺ) told Muslims to drink camel urine as medicine.
Rebuttal
He told one group of sick desert herders to drink it, with milk, as a treatment of that age, and they recovered. It is not in the Qur'an, and it was never a command to all Muslims.
Some Muslims still sell camel urine as a cure, so the hadith causes harm today.
Rebuttal
Islam tells the sick to seek treatment that works. It was doctors in Saudi Arabia who studied camel urine in cancer patients and said it should stop being promoted. The World Health Organization also advises against drinking it.
Critics: the punishment was cruel
Some critics say the punishment of these men shows cruelty.
Their hands and feet were cut off and their eyes put out.
Rebuttal
First, what the men did. When they were well, they killed the herdsman, put out his eyes and drove off camels kept for the poor. They also left Islam. Abu Qilaba, who passed on the report, said they stole, killed, turned to disbelief after faith, and made war on God (﷾) and His Messenger. They were caught the same day. They were punished as they had done: Anas says their eyes were put out because they had put out the herdsman's eyes. This was before the fixed punishments were revealed. Then a verse of Surat al-Ma'idah (5:33) came down about them, setting the law for those who make war on the community. Afterwards the Prophet (ﷺ) urged charity and forbade mutilation.
The Islamic perspective
The Prophet (ﷺ) told particular sick men to use a remedy known in their age, and they recovered. It is not a command to all Muslims. Islam tells the sick to seek treatment that works.
Sick desert herders were sent out to camels to drink their milk and urine, and they recovered.
Ibn al-Qayyim says their illness was dropsy, and camels' milk and urine were used against it in that age.
The Prophet (ﷺ) told the sick to seek treatment.
The WHO advises against drinking camel urine, and a 2023 study of cancer patients found no benefit.
The men's punishment came before the fixed punishments, and afterwards the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade mutilation.