SHIFA AND
AL QURAN
Permissible Ruqyah
In Islam, the belief in the existence of sihr (black magic) and its negative effects on individuals is acknowledged. It is important to approach the removal of sihr in a halal (permissible) manner, avoiding any evil or shirk.
There are some important conditions that must be satisfied in a ruqyah to make it permissible. They were summarized by Ibn Hajar (AR):
"There is a consensus among the 'ulama that ruqyahs are permissible when they satisfy three conditions:
As we will see below, all forms of ruqa reported in the Sunnah satisfy this condition. They either consist of specific portions of the Qur’an, such as al-Fatiha or Ayat ul-Kursiy, or contain a praise of Allah (‘Azza wa Jalla) and an invocation of His help and protection
ARABIC LANGUAGE
Must Be with Clearly Understood Words. This is an important condition that must be satisfied in order to eliminate any magic factors from the ruqyah.
CURE FROM ALLAH ONLY
one must always believe that the true and ultimate protector is Allah (‘Azza wa Jalla) alone, and that ruqa and medications are means that He created and He controls as He wills. Thus trust must be put in Him and not in the means that He created. Allah (‘Azza wa Jalla) commands His Messenger (Peace and Blessing upon Him)
Things to Avoid in a Ruqyah
Neither the person applying a ruqyah, nor the person to whom it is applied may assume that it has an independent power of cure or protection. They must both put their full trust in Allah, rely fully on Him, and believe that the ruqyah is a means that He created for them. As Ibn Al-Qayyim indicates (Al Jawab Al Kafi), one should view a ruqyah like one does a sword: it can be of no use without following conditions:
- It should be strong and sharp
- The person using it should be well versed and experienced
- There should be no obstacles hindering it from being most effective
SHIRK
In Islam, the belief in the existence of sihr (black magic) and its negative effects on individuals is acknowledged. It is important to approach the removal of sihr in a halal manner, avoiding any evil or shirk (associating partners with Allah)
SEEKING FROM MAGICIANS | SOOTHSAYERS
True magicians rely on jinns and the devil, and apply procedures containing kufr to produce their spells. Thus all of their spells, including ruqa, are prohibited.
USING UNINTELLIGIBLE WORDS OR PHRASES
Ruqyah must be in intelligible and well-understandable words. Otherwise, it could contain shirk, magic, or other evils covered by cryptic characters and mysterious words.
APPLYING IT IN PROHIBITED OR STRANGE SITUATIONS
Some people require that a ruqyah be accompanied with bizarre actions or conditions, such as applying it in a graveyard or bathroom, or applying it to a person who is unclean or covered with najasah. These and other similar requirements, beside conflicting with what has been reported in the Sunnah, demonstrate a devilish tendency that must be totally avoided.
USING PROHIBITED WORDS OR PHRASES
Ruqyah should not include evil words, such as cursing, offensive descriptions, or profanity. All of this is prohibited, and, as has been indicated earlier, Allah did not make our cure in anything prohibited.
RUQYAH
AR SHARIAH
FROM SUNNAH
Various forms of supplications for prevention or healing, some of which may be classified as ruqa, have been presented in this site. In what follows, we include some more, or refer to earlier ones, as the discussion warrants.
WITH ALLAH'S NAME
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (RA) reported that Jibril came to the Prophet (Peace and Blessing upon Him) and said:, "O Muhammad, are you sick?" He replied, 'Yes.' He said:"Bismillahi arqik, min kulli shayin yuthik, min sharri kulli nafsin aw ayni hasid - With Allah's Name I shelter you (give you ruqyah), from all that ails you, from the evil of every soul, or that of the envious eyes. May Allah cure you; with Allah's Name I shelter you." Muslim and others
WITH QURAN
'Aishah (RA) reported that Allah's Messenger (Peace and Blessing upon Him) came into her house and saw with her a woman who was treating her with ruqyah. He told her:
'Treat her (only) with Allah's Book.' Recorded by Ibn Hibban; verified to be authentic by al-Albani in as-Sahihah no. 1931.
In what follows, we present ruqa with specific suras or ayat as is recorded in the Sunnah.
SURA FATIHA
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri and Ibn Abbas (RA) reported that a number of the Prophet’s (Peace and Blessing upon Him) companions were on a journey. They stopped one night by the dwellings of a bedouin tribe who refused to host them and give them food.
The chief of that tribe was then stung (by a snake or scorpion). His people tried everything possible to treat him, but to no avail. One of them suggested to seek help from the travellers. When they came to them, one of them said, “By Allah, I can perform ruqyah; but you have refused to host us. So I would not perform the ruqyah until you pledge to give us an offering.
“They agreed to give them a flock of thirty sheep, and the companion started blowing (with light spit) on the stung man’s sting and reading al-Fatiha. He was immediately cured, like one who was tied and then set free. He stood and walked as if nothing happened to him, and they gave them their pledged offering.
Some of the companions said, “Let us divide this flock among us.” Others said, “No, you may not take any pay for reading Allah’s Book! Let us not divide the goats until we reach the Prophet (Peace and Blessing upon Him), tell him what happened, and see what he commands us.
“When they reached al-Madinah, they came to the Prophet (Peace and Blessing upon Him) and told him what happened. He said (approvingly):
‘How did you know that it (al-Fatiha) is a ruqyah? You have done well! And indeed, the best thing to be paid for is Allah’s Book*. So, divide it among you; and allot a share for me.’ Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others.
(*One may not be paid for praying or reading Qur’an, because these are acts of worship that should be done purely for Allah (‘Azza wa Jalla). However, it is permissible to be paid a compensation for the time or effort that one sometimes puts into matters associated with these acts of worship in order to serve the Muslim community. For example, a regular imam in a masjid should be compensated for devoting his time to that position, otherwise he would have to work in a profession that would prevent him from fulfilling all of the services needed from him. Furthermore, based on this hadith, some scholars conclude that it is also permissible to be paid for a benefit that reaches others because of one’s reading Qur’an.)
AL MUADDIDHAT
As explained earlier, al-Muawwidhat are the last three suras of the Qur’an. The last two of them carry a clear meaning of ruqyah, and are presented below. Surat ul-Ikhlas (112) does not carry such meaning in an explicit manner, but contains concise and strong words of praise for Allah (‘Azza wa Jalla), making it an important introduction to the succeeding two suras:
(Say, “I seek refuge with the Lord of daybreak, from the evil of what he created, and from the evil of darkness when it settles, and from the evil of the blowers in knots, and from the evil of an envier when he envies.”) 113
(Say, “I seek refuge with the Lord of the people, the King of the people, the God of the people, from the evil of a retreating whisperer, who whispers (evil) in the breasts of the people, (whether he is) from among jinns or the people.”) 114
‘Aishah (RA) reported:
“When Allah’s Messenger (Peace and Blessing upon Him) went to bed, he would bring the palms of both hands together, and blow into them while reading “Qul huwa Allahu ahad” 112, “Qul a’udhu bi rabb il-falaq” 113, “Qul a’udhu bi rabbi n-Nas” 114. He would then rub with them whatever he could reach of his body, starting with his head, face, and the front part of his body. He would do this three times. When he got very ill, he asked me to do that for him.” Al Bukhari and Muslim
‘Aishah (RA) also reported:
“In the final sickness in which he passed away, the Prophet (Peace and Blessing upon Him) used to blow over himself with al-Mu’awwidhat. When he became very ill, I blew with them for him, rubbing over him with his own hand because of the blessing in it.” Al Bukhari and Muslim
We can use these suras for scorpion stings like it as been reported in ahadith
AYAT UL KURSI
Ubayy Bin Ka’b narrated that he had a harvest of dates. He noticed that it shrunk every day, and decided to watch it at night. He did and noticed a beast that looked like a boy who attained puberty. He gave him salam, and it responded to him with salam.
He asked it, “Are you human or jinn”
It replied, “Jinn.”
He told it, “Show me your hand.”
It showed him its hand, and he saw that it looked like a dog’s, with fur like that of a dog covering it. He exclaimed, “Is this how jinn are like!?” It then told him, “All jinns know that there is no one among them stronger than me.” He asked it, “What brought you here?” It replied, “We have been informed that you like to give charity, so we came to get some of your food.” He asked it, “What would protect us fIt replied, “This ayah from Surat ul-Baqarah: (Allahu la ilaha illa huwa Al-Hayy ul-Qayyum,) (2/255) – whoever says it in the evening will be protected from us until the morning, and whoever says it in the morning will be protected from us until the evening.”
In the morning, Ubayy came to Allah’s Messenger (Peace and Blessing upon Him) and told him of that incident. He told him, ‘The evil one has said the truth!’ Recorded by an-Nasa i and others. Verified to be authentic by al-Albani.