Medication

Q: Last year I gave birth and an African Muslim woman who I trust told me about a herbal remedy for speeding up the birth and dilating. She told me that she soaks maryam flower and drinks it like a tea 2 weeks before the due date. I did this and everything was okay. Allah Ta'ala granted me a quick natural birth.

This year I am going to give birth again but my sister in law sent me a post that she read about people saying that they use maryam flower for prosperity and wealth and so on. Basically, like witchcraft or something. I'm not sure now and I am scared to use it after reading this post.

I want to know if its okay for me to use it as a herbal remedy like I did the last time or should I stay away from it?

Q: Is it Sunnah to use mendhi for aching feet? If so, is there any specific type of mendhi to use?

Q: I have a question regarding a medicine by the name of propecia (finasteride). It is a basically a hair loss medicine. I will put it this way:

1. This is the only proven oral medicine to stop hair loss and regrow some hair

2. It can have some side effects like loss of sex drive and impotency.

Being unmarried, loss of sex drive helps me to stay away from haraam as well as preventing further hair loss but on the other hand there is a chance of deliberate impotency which could be permanent. Please guide me which path should I take.

On the one hand I want to preserve my hair but on the other side I might not be able to marry if it causes sterility.

Q: I have eczema. Any steroid/non steroid creams that I use for it, if they contain alcohol or animal derivatives, can I use them? 

Q: Can we take homeopathic medicine with alcohol for kidney stones?

Q: If vitamins contain non-halaal beef, can I take it for health reasons?

Q: Is it permissible to buy and use a medicated cream for acne that contains animal derived ingredients? I am not sure what animal they are derived from. This cream appears to have worked very efficiently for many people with acne however there is no guarantee that it will work for me as well, but there is a very high likelihood that it will. I will simple put it on my acne then wash it off a few minutes later. Nothing else has worked for me and finding halal creams are difficult as it is. Is this permissible?

Q: Can we take medicine that has 36 percent alchol in it? Doctors gave me because my iron is low and I have symtoms of anxiety. They didn't want to give me anything addictve because I said no. So they told me to try natural drops but it has alchol in it.

Q: I am taking a natural remedy for hair loss and it contains collagen extract from chicken comb (red skin on top of chicken head). However the extract is from non-halaal certified sources. Is it okay to consume this remedy medication?

Q: I have been prescribed 3 medicines from the doctor for dermatitis and they all contain cetostearyl alcohol. I would like to know if this is halal to use? I’ve come across answers concerning cetyl, cetearyl and stearyl alcohol but they aren’t the answers I’m looking for.