Surah Al-Qiyaama (75) — Ayah 27

27. And it is said, "Is there any healer [17] ?"

[17] There are two meanings: one is that ﴿مَنْ رَاقٍ﴾ is considered the speech of angels and "raq" is derived from "ruqi" meaning to ascend. In this case, it would mean that the angels ask each other: will the angels of Paradise take this person's soul upward, or those of Hell? The second meaning is that "raq" is derived from "ruqya" meaning incantation or spiritual healing. In this case, it means that when the relatives of the dying person become helpless in treating him, they ask each other: is there anyone who can perform ruqya (spiritual healing)? And this is adopted as a last resort to treat the patient or save him from the jaws of death. It should be noted that seeking treatment is the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And ruqya is permissible provided it does not contain any words of shirk (polytheism). However, the rank of those who rely on Allah and are content with Allah's decree in every situation is much higher than those who seek treatment. Thus, it is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet ﷺ said: Seventy thousand people from my Ummah will enter Paradise without reckoning. After saying this, the Prophet ﷺ went inside and did not mention who those seventy thousand would be.

Those Who Enter Paradise Without Reckoning: The Reliant Ones

Now the Companions began to speculate and said: These seventy thousand will be us who believed in Allah and followed His Messenger, or our children who were born in the religion of Islam, because we were born in the era of ignorance and disbelief. When this news reached the Prophet ﷺ, he came out and said: "These seventy thousand are those who neither perform ruqya (incantations), nor take bad omens, nor cauterize themselves, but rather place their trust in their Lord." Upon hearing this, a Companion, Ukasha bin Mihsan, stood up and said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, will I be among them?" The Prophet ﷺ said: "Yes." Then another Companion (Sa'd bin 'Ubadah) stood up and said: "Will I also be among them?" The Prophet ﷺ said: "Ukasha has preceded you in this." [بخاري۔ كتاب الطب والمرضيٰ۔ باب من لم يرق]

There is no harm in seeking treatment with medicine, provided that the treatment is not with unlawful things, but performing ruqya is not a commendable act. However, under certain conditions, it is permitted, as is evident from the following hadiths:

1. Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says that his maternal uncle used to perform incantations for scorpion stings. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade incantations. He came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! You have forbidden incantations, and I perform incantations for scorpion stings. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever among you can benefit his brother, let him do so." [مسلم۔ كتاب السلام۔ باب استحباب رقية المريض]

2. Sayyiduna 'Awf bin Malik Ashja'i (may Allah be pleased with him) says: In the days of ignorance, we used to perform incantations. We asked: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, what do you say about this? The Prophet ﷺ said: "Present your incantations to me. If there is nothing of shirk in them, then there is no harm." [مسلم۔ ايضاً]

3. Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says: When anyone in the house would fall ill, the Prophet ﷺ would recite the Mu'awwidhat (Surah Al-‘Alaq and Surah An-Naas) and blow over him. Then, when the Prophet ﷺ was afflicted with his final illness, I would recite over him and pass his own hand over him, because his hand was more blessed than mine. [مسلم۔ ايضاً]

4. Uthman bin Abi Al-‘As Thaqafi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I complained to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that since I embraced Islam, there has been some pain in my body. The Prophet ﷺ said: Place your hand on the place of pain and say three times ﴿بسم الله﴾, then say seven times: "A‘udhu billahi wa qudratihi min sharri ma ajidu wa uhadhir" (I seek refuge in Allah and His power from the evil of what I find and what I fear). [مسلم۔ ايضاً]

5. Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says: When any of us would fall ill, the Prophet ﷺ would pass his right hand over him and say: ﴿اذهب الباس رب الناس واشف انت الشافي لا شفاء الاشفاء ك شفائ لا يغادر سقما﴾ (O Lord of mankind! Remove this disease. You are the Healer. There is no healing except Your healing. Grant such a healing that no illness remains.) [مسلم۔ ايضاً]

6. Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) says: When the Prophet ﷺ would perform ruqya over a patient, he would say: ﴿بسم الله تربة ارضنا بريقة بعضنا يشفي سقيمنا باذن ربنا﴾ (In the name of Allah, the earth of our land (Madinah) and the saliva of some of us will cure our patient by the permission of our Lord.) [بخاري۔ كتاب الطب۔ باب رقية النبيﷺ]

7.
Ruqya for Scorpion Sting with Surah Al-Fatiha:

Sayyiduna Abu Sa‘id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) says that several Companions of the Prophet ﷺ reached a tribe of the Arabs, but they did not offer hospitality to the Companions. Meanwhile, their chief was stung by a scorpion. They came to the Companions and said: Do you have any medicine or incantation for a scorpion sting? The Companions said: We do, but since you did not offer us hospitality, we will not perform the incantation without compensation. Eventually, they agreed to give some sheep (30 sheep). Then one Companion (Abu Sa‘id Al-Khudri himself) began to recite Surah Al-Fatiha. He would recite Surah Al-Fatiha, gather his saliva in his mouth, and spit on the wound. The chief was cured. The people of the tribe brought the sheep, but the Companions hesitated to accept them until they asked the Prophet ﷺ. When the Companions asked the Prophet ﷺ, he smiled and said: How did you know that Surah Al-Fatiha is also an incantation? Take the sheep and allocate my share as well. [بخاري۔ كتاب الطب۔ باب الرقي بفاتحة الكتاب]

8.
Prohibition of Amulets and Talismans:

Abu Bashir Al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We were on a journey and had stopped at a resting place. At that moment, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent a message through a man (Zayd bin Harithah) that any camel with a string or amulet around its neck should have it cut off. [بخاري۔ كتاب الجهاد۔ باب ماقيل فى الجرس و نحوه فى اعناق الابل]

9. A delegation came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for allegiance. The Prophet ﷺ took the allegiance of nine of them but not of one. When asked the reason, he said that he was wearing an amulet. Then the Prophet ﷺ reached out, cut off his amulet, took his allegiance, and said: ﴿من علق تميمة فقد اشرك﴾ [مسند احمد ج 4 ص 75] Published by Ihya Al-Sunnah. The following conclusions are drawn from these hadiths:

1. The Sunnah method of ruqya is only that Quranic verses or prescribed supplications be recited over the patient. However, if the meaning of the words of ruqya is fully understood and there is nothing of shirk in it, then there is no harm in such ruqya.

2. All other prevalent forms, such as writing amulets and dissolving them in water to drink, hanging them around the neck, tying them on the thigh or wrist, wearing them as clothes, hanging pearls, etc., are all unlawful, against the Sunnah, and innovations.

3. Ruqya cannot be made a profession. It is forbidden to fix a fee in advance. However, if someone gives a gift willingly afterwards, there is no harm in accepting it. 4. The incident of Sayyiduna Abu Sa‘id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) accepting 30 sheep as a precondition is an exceptional case, and its reason is mentioned in the hadith. Firstly, they were disbelievers. Secondly, they refused to offer hospitality to Muslims, contrary to the well-known custom of the Arabs. Therefore, these sheep were taken from them as a punishment. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted that if people do not fulfill the right of hospitality, it can be taken from them by force. [بخاری۔ کتاب الادب۔ باب اکرام الضیف وخدمتہ ایاہ بنفسہ]