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Qualitative research report

Traditional treatment in the UAE

Done by: Maitha Ali

200800914

COM 360

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Introduction    

The history of the UAE has many valuable customs and traditions went in it and they worth studying and looking deeply at them. The traditional treatment is one of the valuable things the UAE had in its history and proud of. It is difficult to specify when it started exactly but some researches showed that people get to know it in the UAE very long away in 1800s, and went through different development stages in the early 1900s (Altaboor ).

People who worked there were so professional and experts in their jobs that not anybody can work in it. Although the traditional treatment is very old, it is still exist in the UAE. There are some people who go for it (The guide ) and it is becoming popular as it has fewer side effects (Medicine in Arabia today ).

In addition, there are some old people who used to work in treating patients in the past are given license by the government to treat people who want the traditional treatment.

This research is about the traditional treatment in the past, how they became expert in this area, how they treated people and what did they use in treating them. Exploring that information and comparing them with people who are using it nowadays and what are the reasons that make them use it.

Methodology    

The methodology used in this qualitative research is in depth interviews. It was semi-structured interview to get some feelings and experiences about the topic from the interviewees.

The research focuses on their experience and feelings about the traditional treatment as they have been using it for a long time. It also addresses the reasons behind why it is still exist nowadays with the modern treatments.

There were two persons interviewed in this research, Mohammed Al Shaiba and Mooza.

The interviews took place at Mohammed AlShaiba’s home in Dubai, and at Zayed University with Mooza.

Mohammed Al Shaiba is a 75 year old who lived the past and the modern life in the UAE and witnessed the tremendous changes in the country through his life. He used to work in treating people with the traditional treatment since the 60s. He got his experience from his father and uncles who also used to work in the same field. He uses different ways of treatment, like massage and the traditional medicines which he produces by himself. His experience for more than 30 years in this traditional treatment made him highly experiences in this field.

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The second interviewee is Mooza, who is a student at Zayed University. She is 20 years old and her grandfather used to work in treating people with traditional treatment. He did not have lots of experience like Mohammed Al Shaiba, as he was only specialized in doing massage for people. Mooza is affected by her grandfather’s experience with the traditional treatment and her family too.

Her mother used the traditional treatment with her since she was young and then she grew and got this experience and became very familiar with it.

Interpretation    

The interview with Mohammed indicated many themes that were valuable in the past and showed how they used the traditional treatment at that time. Additionally the interview with Mooza was enlightening as it showed the traditional treatment still exist between some people and the y prefer it on the modern one.

There are many themes I came out from both interviews:

Shape of life

From the interview with Mohammed he stated lots of words that indicate how simple the life was at that time as he defined the medical treatment by these words:

In  the  past  there  wasn’t  those  developed  hospitals  and  modern  treatment  that  we  see  nowadays..  Before  people  didn’t  have  all  of  those  stuff  that  are  available  now..  They  depended  on  what  they  have  by  the  nature  and  used  it  for  their  treatments.    

On the other hand, Mooza stated how the life has changed and there is requirement for new treatments and said:

The  traditional  treatment  is  useful  at  the  same  time  we  cannot  say  that  it  goes  over  the  modern  treatment..  Because  now  the  diseases  and  conditions  are  different...  so  we  only  use  the  traditional  treatment  in  the  cases  that  we  can  treat  them  by  it,  while  in  others  no  we  don’t  because  it’s  difficult    

She stated that she is with the modern treatment but at the same time she cannot get over the traditional treatment, there is a need for it.

It was also clear from Mohammed’s interview how simple the life was at the same time there were some difficulties as in some places they don’t have the person who treat the people who is called (Motabeb) and he said:

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There  were  some  poor  and  simple  people  who  only  cure  their  patients  with  what  was  available  with    them  ..  and  if  the  case  became  difficult  and  they  didn’t  know  how  to  cure  them  they  take  them  outside  or  to  places  that  have  (Almotabeb)..  But  not  all  people  could  afford  it  so  they  only  depend  on  God  and  what  they  have.    

   

Effect of religion

The effect of religion was clear from the several times that he stated that when they treat people they do their best and depend on God for the recovery of the patients and said:

Life  was  simple  and  easy  and  people’s  hearts  and  intentions  were  clear..  They  do  their  best  depending  on  what  they  have  ..  and  what  is  available  there  and  everything  becomes  fine  because  they  depended  on  God  and  he  made  everything  easy.    

They are also affected by the treatments used by our prophet and he said:  

Also  there  are  some  treatments  were  done  by  our  prophet  so  that  is  why  we  have  to  go  through  his  way  and  treat  our  people    by  the  same  way.    

Mohammed said that there were some deaths occurred in some cases, and from his talk we can see how religious they were and how much they believe in God.

In  some  cases  the  medicine  or  the  treatment  could  not  affect..  And  it  might  end  up  with  the  person  to    die..  (Silence)  Here  we  cannot  say  anything  ..  because  it  is  his  day  and  this  is  the  act  of  God.  No  oppose    

The  nature  of  life  affected  how  they  learned  the  traditional  cure    

Mohammed mentioned several factors helped in learning and coming out with the traditional treatment, and from the interview with him I came out with four factors heredity, experience and experiments, setting with elder people and travel. And here what he said about them:

Not  everybody  mastered  the  traditional  treatment,  they  inherited  it  from  their  parents  and  grandparents..  The  boy  learns  from  his  father,  grandfathers,  uncles..  He  sees  what  they  do  and  helps  them  with  what  they  do  and  then  learn  from  them.    

Heredity  wasn’t  the  main  reason,  they  also  learned  from  the  experience  and  experiments  and  then  they  get  used  to  it  and  learned  which  substance  suits  what..  and  became  well  known  in  this  area.    

In  the  past  the  boy  didn’t  leave  his  father  and  grandfathers..  he  goes  and  comes  with  them  ..  learns  from  their  experiences  and  listens  to  his  father’s  instructions..  Also  he  sits  with  the  elder  people  who  know  about  the  traditional  treatment  and  learn  from  them.  And  the  same  goes  with  the  girls.    

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The  elder  people  who  travel  and  go  around  and  see  how  people  in  other  places  treat  their  patients  ..  how  they  use  the  nature,  plants  and  mixtures  in  treating  ..  they  learned  from  them  and  take  this  with  them  to  their  country  and  relatives.    

Heredity also plays a role in Mooza’s use of traditional treatment and here is the reason that she stated:

I  use  the  traditional  treatment  a  lot  because  my  family  use  it  a  lot  and  it  is  available  at  our  house  as  we  have  the  experience  from  my  grandfather  who  used  to  do  massage  for  people  in  the  past..  so  we  are  so  affected  by  that  and  always  prefer  the  traditional  treatment    

Professional in their work

They used to work very hard sense there were no such available equipment as nowadays and the movement and transportation were difficult. Despite the harsh environment, they were so professional in their jobs especially in the traditional treatment. Mohammed talked in details about the different typed of (Motabeb) they had and what were their jobs. His talk about them reflected how they were honest in their work as the life was difficult and they need someone who is reliable and trustful in this area to take care of their health. He said there were many kinds of (Motabeb), and he talked about six of them and here is what he said:

There  were  many  doctors  who  were  special  in  different  areas..  you  can  find  someone  who  is  special  in  the  bones  and  the  breaks  and  this  one  we  call  him  (Almojaber)..  He  has  the  experience  in  all  different  kinds  of  bone    breaks  .  .  .  hands,  legs,  back  breaks  and  also  the  different  breaks  in  each  one  of  them..  and  each  condition  is  different  depending  on  many  factors.  .  depending  on  that  he  can  see  how  he  is  going  to  treat  the  person  and  how  many  days  he  needs  to  put  the  medicine.  .  The  (Byadeer)  –  people  who  work  in  farming-­‐  were  famous  about  treating  bone  problems.    

He also talked about the Al-Mutawa, who treats people with Quran and Hadith and he said:

Also  the  Mutawa  played  significant  role  in  treating  people..  He  used  Quran  and  Hadith  and  the  way  of  our  prophet  in  treating  people  ..  he  used  different  parts  of  Quran  to  read  on  the  patients  depending  on  the  situation.  .  and  this  was  very  common  in  the  past  because  people  believe  in  God  and  were  very  religious..  and  there  was  no  doubt  on  its  effectiveness.    

Women were also appreciated in this area and played significant role in curing many conditions and here is one example of what they did:

There  were  people  called  (Almorafee  “for  male”  and  Almorafeaa  “for  female”).  .  Women’s  role  wasn’t  ignored  she  also  played  a  significant  role  in  treating  people  .  .  They  needed  women  to  treat  the  female,  so  her  job  was  appreciated  a  lot.  .  Almorafeaa  used  to  make  massage  for  the  people  who  have  inflammation  in  pharynx  or  have  pain  in  that  area  .  .  She  does  the  massage  in  the  neck..  Not  only  that  there  were  some  conditions  nobody  can  treat  the  patients  in  tehm  

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except  the  women  .  .  as  in  the  birth  when  the  women  wants  to  get  birth  we  only  had  women  who  worked  in  this  area  .  .  and  she  was  called  (Aldaya).  .    

He talked also about the other people who were special in different areas and how did they do their work but those examples are enough to show how professional and accurate they were.

Additionally, the medicine they used was all natural and taken from the surrounding areas. This reflects their simplicity and also how they were active in searching and trying the available sources they have to come out with a treatment for their patients. There weren’t laboratories to test the medicine before using it, they tried it on people and then decide which one is suitable depending on the results they see. Mohammed said in this area:

All  the  medicines  we  used  in  the  past  were  taken  from  the  nature  and  the  environment  around  us    

Safety of the traditional medicine

Since all the medicine they used was natural, so they were safe and if they were not useful, they didn’t have side effect on the patients. This reveals how they were confident about their work and also the simplicity of their life that they only depend on what they have and try them. I can also see from this that they didn’t stop and do their best to get the right medicine for the right people.

Both Mohammed and Mooza pointed this idea and said:

Mohammed:  All  the  medicines  we  used  were  from  the  nature..  We  take  them  and  try  them  on  the  people  and  by  experience  we  know  if  they  are  effective  or  not,  and  if  they  were  not  we  don’t  worry  because  they  are  natural  ..  so  if  they  were  not  useful,  they  will  not  have  a  side  effect    

The same thing said Mooza:

I  am  the  most  one  from  my  sisters  who  use  the  traditional  treatment,  and  this  is  maybe  related  to  my  experience  with  it..  because  it  comes  out  with  the  result  I  need  from  it  and  doesn’t  has  side  effect  as  the  chemical  treatment    

Mooza here pointed an example with the side effect of the side effect of the chemical treatment and said:

Once  I  had  a  back  pain  and  when  I  went  to  the  hospital  they  gave  me  a  medicine  that  I  used  for  a  while..  and  then  it  caused  me  some  problems  in  my  stomach  ..  Then  I  decided  to  stop  using  that  medicine  and  my  grandfather  gave  me  a  traditional  medicine  that  I  used  and  then  became  good  without  any  problems  in  my  stomach.    

This example reflects how Mooza’s grandfather has an impact on their preferences of the traditional treatment and their knowledge about it.

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She also said that after many experiences she puts the priority for the traditional treatments if she knows how to deal with the condition, especially the normal pains that she might have.

Traditional medicines are in the pharmacies

It was interesting to know from Mooza that the traditional medicine is now being sold in the pharmacies in the shape of capsules. Most of them are for stomachache and headache and she said:

When  we  travel  we  take  them  with  us  and  many  people  ask  us  from  where  you  get  those  because  they  are  very  useful.    

From here I can see that she uses the traditional medicine outside because of their safety also as they don’t know a lot about the medicine abroad. In addition, it is normally that people get stomachache and headaches when they travel because of the changes in the weather and food, so they need this traditional medicine as it is available and its efficiency is known and guaranteed.

Conclusion    In conclusion, the traditional treatment in the UAE has started long time ago, and began to disappear but there are some areas that people are becoming to go back to it and use it. There is a need to look deeply at it and explore it as it could be used with the modern treatment. In addition, there is a need to preserve it as it is part of this culture.

Bibliography  Altaboor  ,  A.  (n.d.).  Traditional  treatment  in  the  UAE.  Retrieved  from  Albaraha  hospital  :  

http://www.albarahahospital.8m.com/c10.htm  

Medicine  in  Arabia  today  .  (n.d.).  Retrieved  from  Arabic  medicine  :  http://www.lsg.sch.ae/departments/history/arabic_medicine_web/htm/today/today_amirah.htm  

The  guide  .  (n.d.).  Retrieved  from  The  National  :  http://www.thenational.ae/guide/historical/culture/traditional-­‐medicine