Kearifan Tempatan Mengenai Kapur Barus (Cinnamomum Camphora) Menurut Perspektif Islam dan Budaya Masyarakat Melayu Abad ke 19m

Abstract

Nowadays, Camphor (Cinnamomum Camphora) and its' benefits from various aspects of life has been explained scientifically by scholars. Interestingly, Camphor is reported as one of the major trading commodities and is a backbone of Islamic development in the early 14th century in the archipelago. This study seeks to achieve three main objectives: i) examining Quran and Prophetic Tradition's perspective on Camphor and its' relationship with the archipelago community, and ii) studying the local wisdom of Malay people related to Camphor inside Malay medical manuscripts, and iii) analyzing the benefits of Camphor according to scientific research. To achieve these three objectives, the authors extract data from Quranic verses and hadiths related to Camphor. Subsequently, local wisdom regarding the use of camphor is generated from Malay medical manuscripts. All of these sources are analyzed through a comprehensive study to present a deep understanding. The study found that camphor mixed with other herbs to treat illnesses has been practised long ago by the Malay community, especially in the 19th century, and this is in line with Islamic practices that showed the efficacy of camphor.