There are some illnesses where cauterization is known to be beneficial. If one leaves it off, is there anything required of him, just as if he left off medicine?

The questioner : There are some illnesses where cauterization is known to be beneficial. If one leaves it off?

The Shaykh : Yes, he does not undergo cauterization; it does no harm.

The questioner : Is it like those who say that leaving off medicine is better?

The Shaykh : No, the issue of leaving off medicine or not is a separate matter. Even if we say that medicine is better when its benefit is expected, leaving it off is still better in that case, along with strong reliance and dependence on Allah. But if one is certain that it is beneficial and decisive, it appears to me that he must do it, such as cauterizing a vein if it has burst, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sa'd ibn Mu'adh. And as is known to us, if pleurisy is cauterized, it is cured by the permission of Allah. So it appears that if a person undergoes cauterization, he is not considered to have left it off; he does not fall outside of this. In fact, we may say that in this case, it is obligatory.