Honey: A Gift From God
By Brother Garon Lee (e-mail: allpraises2allah@aol.com)

In The Name of Allah

16:68- Wa 'awhaa Rabbuka 'ilan nahli 'anitta-khithi minal-ji-baali buyuutanwwa minash-shajari wa mimmaa ya'-ri-shuun;

16:68- and your Lord revealed to the Bee saying: Make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in that which they (people) build;

16:69- Thumma kulii min kullith-thamaraati faslukii subula Rabbiki thululaa. Yakhruju min-butuunihaa sharaabum-mukhtalifun 'alwaanuhuu fiihi shifaa-'ul-linaas: 'inna fii thaa-lika la-'Aayatalli-qawminy-ya-tafakkaruun.

16:69- then eat of all the fruits and walk in the ways of your Lord submissively. There comes forth from within it (the bee) a beverage of many colors, in which there is healing for men; most surely there is a sign in this for a people who reflect.

My goal in writing this article is to help my brothers and sisters in Islam to gain a greater understanding of these two ayat. The bee is beneficial for humans because of many reasons, some of which I will mention in this article. I have interpreted the ayah above to be describing honey and through my research I have much evidence to believe that this interpretation is correct. However, if it is not the correct interpretation than at least we will discuss the health benefits of honey. I pray that Allah will forgive my mistakes and all of the Knowledge belongs to Him.

16:68- and your Lord revealed to the bee saying: Make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in that which they (people) build;

Do you not think that it is interesting that Allah commanded the bees to build their nests near the homes of people?

Bees make honey from the nectar of flowers and they will travel as far as 40,000 miles and visit over 2 million flowers just to make one pound of honey. It is amazing that Allah gave these tiny creatures so much energy and medicinal value! Yes, honey has medicinal benefits, some of which are:

- Good unrefined honey contains pollen. When we eat it (unrefined honey) regularly over an extended period of time we build-up a tolerance for pollen. In doing so, many people could drastically lower the pain of spring allergies.

- Applying honey to wounds prevents infection and greatly decreases the time that it takes for the wound to heal. It has antimicrobial agents, which kill bacteria in and around the wound. I have actually tried this before and it works miraculously better than all of the other "infection preventing" medicines.

- Honey is also effective in treating stomach ulcers.

- It is a good source of glucose and fructose, which reduces fatigue. I will note here that honey is a better source of energy than caffeine because caffeine contains several dangerous chemicals.

- It is a good source of antioxidants.

- When honey is diluted in water it will help with stomachaches and dehydration.

So now we can see that honey does have very much healing power. Allah, may he be glorified, has revealed many amazing ayat in his Qur'an, and we should conduct further research in order that we may have a greater understanding of his Book.

May Allah Bless The Ummat Ibraheem!