Global Advanced Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Science (ISSN: 2315-5159) Vol. 4(2) pp. 071-077, February, 2015 Available online http://garj.org/garjmms/index.htm Copyright © 2015 Global Advanced Research Journals Full Length Research Paper The Mystical Power of Saliva in the Middle East and Islamic Cultures Professor Aref Abu-Rabia Anthropology and Public Health, Fulbright Scholar for the Muslim World- 2007. E-Mail: arefabu@gmail.com Accepted 25 November, 2014 Traditional Arabic medicine had been influenced by many ancient cultures and civilizations. Contact between Arab civilization and other civilizations included commerce and trade, political, military, religious activities, literacy, health and hygiene issues, as well as medical practices. At the same time, the Arab medical system also grew out of the work of physicians who were contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammad (571-632 AD). The sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad on health and illness were systemized and became known as Medicine of the Prophet (al-Tibb al-Nabawi). The main purpose of this paper is to explore the mystical power of saliva in the context of beliefs and customs in Middle Eastern culture and to describe its therapeutic powers in sacred as well as secular situations, in peace, war, and judicial circumstances. This paper is based on a review of published and unpublished archival and documentary materials as well as interviews with traditional healers and patients. Unstructured interviews and the observation of participants were carried out in the informants' homes (men and women), as well as in the homes of traditional healers (men and women). Most of the healers were in the age range of forty to eighty years old. All the informants were married and over thirty years old. All the material was recorded in field logs, and some was tape-recorded. Keywords: Saliva; Arabic medicine; Islamic medicine INTRODUCTION In order to understand traditional Arabic medicine in the twenty-first century, one must understand ancient Arabic medicine in the pre-and early Islamic periods. It is generally assumed that traditional Arabic medicine was influenced by many ancient cultures and civilizations. Contact between Arab civilization and other civilizations often came in the form of commerce and trade, political, military, and religious activities (in the case of Judaism and Christianity), and involved the sharing of notions of health and hygiene as well as medical practices (Amin 1969:1–35; Hitti 1951: 23–25; Al-Najjar 1994: 2–53). The Arab medical system was also influenced by the work of physicians who were contemporaries of the Prophet Muhammad (571–632 AD), including al-Harith b. Kilda and Ibn Abi Rimtha. The hadith (sayings and actions) of the Prophet Muhammad on health and illness were systemized and became known as al-Tibb al-Nabawi (Medicine of the Prophet) (Hawting 1989:127–137; Savage-Smith 1996: 903-980). In the early period of Islam, physicians and traditional healers administered medical treatments throughout the Arab region (Al-Labadi 1992: 80–81). During the Umayyad rule (from 661–750 in the East), ancient medical works were translated into Arabic. For over five centuries (750–1258), the Abbasids dominated the sociopolitical life of the greater part of the Muslim world and the ten caliphs of this period were generous in their promotion of knowledge and medicine. Al-Mansur (r.