Miscellaneous topics- Articles- Article (11): Ruqyah in Islam (Ar-
2012-01-01
Ruqyah Ash-Shar'iyyah): Conditions and Rulings
Rules of ruqya in Islam
Ruqyah is the recitation of Qur'an, seeking of refuge, remembrance and supplications that are used as a means of treating sicknesses and o
problems. It is sometimes called 'spiritual healing' and it is often used to treat the negative effects of magic and the touch of jinns. Pro
Muhammad (PBUH) used ruqyah as a treatment for many cases, and so did his companions and other imams (may Allah be pleased with them)
Later, treatment with ruqyah was distorted and misused by those who used it because it abounded with lies, falsities, and deception to the ex
that ruqyah became a type of quackery and charlatanry. Furthermore, many ruqyah performers are ignorant and corrupt to the extent that
started to use and say things that violate the conditions of ruqyah in Islam. In this respect, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) says,
"There will come aft er me rulers who will abolish t he Sunnah and pract ice heresies."
[Al-Tabarani in Al-Kabeer on the authority of Abdullah bin Mas'oud.]
Conditions of ruqya
The conditions of ruqyah can be summed up as follows:
1. It must not be blasphemous (that expresses disbelief ):
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) says,
"Let me hear your incant at ions (ruqa: plural of ruqyah), for incant at ions which do not have shirk in t hem are fine."
[Muslim on the authority of 'Awf bin Malik.]
2. It should not be based on magic:
Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, states
“And t he magician will never be successful, no mat t er what ever amount (of skill) he may at t ain.”
[Taha: 69]
3. It should not be performed by a fortune-teller, a priest, soothsayer or a monk :
A ruqyah must be performed by knowledgeable and pious people. Allah says “Verily, Allah accepts only from those w
are Al-Muttaqun (the pious” [ Al-Ma'idah: 27]
Seeking these people's help for treatment contradicts the command of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), who says,
"Whoever goes to a magician or a fort une-t eller and believes in what he t ells him disbelieves in what has been revealed to Muhamm
[Abu Dawoud on the authority of Abu Hurairah.]
4. Ruqyah should be uttered lucidly and intelligibly
Ruqyah must be delivered in an understandable way. If the meanings of what is reauthord are not clear and canno
comprehended, the ruqyah may contain some implicit association with Allah and this is plain blasphemy and disbelief
Hajar said that there is a consensus among scholars that ruqyah would be permissible and acceptable as long a
satisfies three conditions:
A. It must be uttered using the speech of Allah (Qur'an) or His Names and Attributes.
B. It must be performed in Arabic, or what is known to be its meaning in other languages,
C. We must believe that Ruqyah has no benefit by itself, but the benefits are from Allah.
5. Ruqyah must not be performed in an unlawful manner:
This means that a person, while performing ruqyah, must not be 'Junub' that is ritually impure, nor is he allowe
perform it in a cemetery or in a bathroom. Furthermore, whoever wants to perform ruqyah must not be writing illeg
things or looking at the stars, or soiled with blood or other impuri
6. Ruqyah must not be performed in impermissible or unlawful words and phrases
Ruqyah must not include any taboos or expressions such as swears and curses because Allah does not give th
impermissible matters any healing power or effect.
7. We should firmly believe that healing comes from Allah through ruqyah.
Whoever treats with ruqyah and whoever seeks healing through ruqyah must believe that ruqyah itself does not have
power to heal and cure illnesses and other problems. It is the Mercy of Allah and His Will in addition to the sincerity
faith of the seeker of ruqyah that lead to healing and recovery.
Types of ruqya
Ruqyah is a means for affecting something. This effect depends on the level of sincerity and belief. It can be divided
two types:
1. Prescribed ruqyah:
It is the ruqyah that must be performed in certain and known words, numbers, times and manners. These ruq
formulas may not be changed or modified because they are religious texts.
Ruqyah that is constrained by certain conditions:
One should not feel free to use whatever words or phrases in performing ruqyah. Scholars of shari'a, who are entitle
approve or reject ruqyah, must approve whatever ruqyah one wants to use. This is done in order to prevent violations
may lead to Satan interference. Trials that may afflict the practitioner of ruqyah
There are three types of trial or attraction that a performer of ruqyah may undergo:
- Trial of money: he will be able to accumulate large sums of money from the pockets of other people who will be
victims.
- Trial of women: the ruqyah performer may have the chance to be alone with women and he will see them in undesir
and forbidden situations.
- Trial of prestige: he becomes well-known as a result of the propaganda the deceived people make for him, or thro
the interviews with mass media.
We seek refuge in Allah from these trials.
Violation
Sometimes, certain ruqyah performers commit certain violations and heresies, chief among which are the following:
1. Seeking jinn's assistance:
Some of those ruqyah performers claim that they have Muslim jinn who assist them in diagnosing the hidden ailm
and disorders that people suffer from. Such ruqyah performers must be insane and lunatic. In so doing, they commit m
sins because they are charlatans. Allah says
"And verily, t here were men among mankind who took shelt er wit h t he masculine among t he jinns, but t hey (jinns) increased t hem
(mankind) in sin and disbelief."
[Al-Jinn: 6]
It has never been proven that a jinni who possessed a person got out of him or declared repentance or it can be emplo
by man. All these claims are just satanic whispers. It is taken for granted that the jinn belong to a different world; they
see us but we cannot see them. In general, this unseen world is dominantly aggressive and oppressive. Moreover, how
we tell whether a jinni is a Muslim, a hypocrite or a disbeliever? Therefore, seeking the help of a Muslim jinni in trea
people's illnesses, as some people claim, is not permissible (Majmou' al-fatawa).
3. Treatment by cauterization:
Certain ruqyah performers use cauterization in treatment in order to force a jinni out of the body of a possessed per
Cauterization usually leaves scars and burns that deform the shape of hands, abdomens, legs, etc. It also cau
psychological fits; consequently this process is forbidden and unlawful as the Hadith states,
"No one should tort ure wit h fire except it s Creator."
[Abu Daoud Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah on the authority of his father.]
Scholars of Shari'a decided that treatment by cauterization is unlawful in accordance with the text
(It is absolutely forbidden to torture with because only the Creator of fire tortures with it.) Had cauterization been a us
treatment, the Messenger of Allah would have advised us to use it.
4. Excessive beating of the epileptic
Some ruqyah performers exaggerate in beating epileptic people, and sometimes they use suffocation or electric shock
treating them. It is true that the Prophet (PBUH) used to gently beat an epileptic with his hand or with a part of his garm
No other practice was reported in this context.
The late Sheikh Muhammad Safwat Nooreddin, who was the head of Sunnah supporters in Egypt, said, "Those w
excessively beat, suffocate or cauterize patients for the purpose of treating them have exceeded the limits of Shari'a
violated the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Had such exaggerated treatment methods been effective in trea
epileptic patients, the Prophet could have ordered us to whip them, and thus there would be no need to perform ruqyah
them. In addition to being impermissible, such methods can be risky as they may lead to death, because the heart may s
beating, and some external body organs may get paralyzed. Finally, these practices humiliate human beings whom A
honored.
5. Using the wolf skin
Certain imposters and swindlers who claim to perform ruqyah burn parts of a wolf skin and let the patient smell it, or
write talismans and some ayat on it and ask the patient to carry it on them. They believe that the skin will protect the pat
from jinn and keep them away because they fear wolves as those imposters claim! These are evil claims. One can ask
not use a donkey instead of a wolf because it was narrated in a Hadith that when a donkey sees a Satan, it brays!!
The standing committee in charge of such affairs decided that "burning a part of a wolf skin to let the patient smell
order to tell whether or not this patient is insane or possessed by jinn is an unlawful and wrong practice and it is m
jugglery and false belief. Therefore, this practice must be strictly forbidden.
Their claim that jinn fear wolves is a groundless superstition.
6. Vaporizing with alum and herbs
Vaporizing a patient with alum and herbs in order to cure him from diseases, or to drive out jinn and other evil spirits f
him in accordance with false beliefs is impermissible and unlawful. Sometimes, conjurers use other blends to pro
patients from evil eye, magic and jinn possession such as the trash of perfumers, trash resulting from celebrating
birthday of the Prophet and other nasty materials and herbs that have a foul odor.
The standing committee in charge of such affairs decided that "It is unlawful to treat the effect of evil eye by vaporiz
with alum, herbs or any other stinky and filthy substance because they are not known causes of healing. Moreover,
practice may be used to please jinn and Satans and to seek their help in treating patients. Such ailments and disorders
be treated with ruqyah that is approved in the Qur'an and the true Sunnah.
7. Writing certain Qur'anic verses (ayat) on the patient's body:
This is done by writing on the hand, leg or chest of the patient, or on other body parts to heal him from what he suf
from. This practice clearly violates the Shari'a and the Sunnah because it humiliates the ayat of the Qur'an, and if impur
touch the Qur'anic ayat, this mounts to disbelief and blasphemy.
The Messenger of Allah said,
"I am worried t hat you will get under t he influence of your desires of your abdomens, your privat e part s and your ot her lust s."
[True Hadith, narrated by Ahmad and Al-Bazzar on the authority of Abi Birzah.]
8. Burning ayat of the Qur'an near the nose of the patient
Some ruqyah performers write a few ayat of the Qur'an on a piece of cloth, burn it and bring it closer to the nose of
patient under the pretext that it will burn the jinn and torture them. They also claim that the smell of smoke will burn, k
suffocate the jinn. Some of these conjurors immerse the cloth in musk and then burn it. This practice is a major sin and
unlawful because it involves humiliation to the Qur'an and it contradicts the right healing procedures known since the t
of the Prophet (PBUH).
9. Writing heretic and blasphemous talismans and satanic symbols
When a patient asks one of those conjurors about the symbols and talismans he writes, he would say that he writes
names of great kings of jinn in order to scare the jinn out of the patient's body. These encrypted words and symbols
usually written in Cyrillic. Ibn Taymiyyah said, "Ruqyah may not be performed by saying or writing something that can
be understood, especially if it involves associating partners with Allah. Such practices are unlawful and forbidden."
10. Using protective amulets and beads that go back to the Solomon ages
Some conjurors use the amulets and beads of the claimed seven Solomon ages. They also melt lead on the head
children in order to rid the child from his fears and other disorders. This practice is also false and a plain lie to Solomon
to the Prophet (PBUH).
11. Suffocating the patient until he faints and the one inside him talks
This practice is unlawful and causes a serious damage to the patient. In this context, the Prophet (PBUH) says,
"Leave t hat which put s you in doubt for t hat which does not put you in doubt ."
[Tirmidhi on the authority of Al-Hasan bin Ali].
Dr. Hilmi Abdul Hafiz Dawoud says: Suffocation leads to the following:
Suffocation blocks the higher air passages when the throat is squeezed, thus a sudden air shortage occurs in the lu
This causes the blood not to be oxidized and the oxygen in the blood hemoglobin decreases. Consequently, the airflow
the brain decreases and causes damage to the brain cells. The patient may also have a stroke that leads to hemiplegia.
This method of ruqyah is not attested in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Islam asks us to protect our bodies from any kin
danger and harm.
12. The heresy of reciting Qur'an on anything
This practice involves reading Qur'an every day on the water tank on the roof of a house, on the make-up of women
on the food.
We should remember that reciting Qur'an and certain supplication on a bottle of water or oil after opening them
permissible. It is also permissible to blow air into them. However, ruqyah performers exaggerate in reciting the Qur'an
everything.
A scholar once said, "This practice is groundless and this type of ruqyah is only useful when the amount of water is
such as a pot of water at which ayat are reauthord and air is blown into it. It is unlawful to perform such ruqyahs in orde
gain money and deceive people in a way that is apparently good but implicitly dark and evil." Al-Fatawa al-dhahabiyya
13. Seeking the help of magicians and imposters
When some ruqyah performers fail to treat a patient, they advise him to seek the help of magicians and imposters and
consolidates corruption and falsehood. It also violates the principles on which ruqyah is based. Moreover, it is clearly a
monotheism. The Prophet (PBUH) says,
"Whoever went to a fort une-t eller and believed in what he said, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad."
[ Ahmad and Al-Hakim on the authority of Abu Hurairah.]
Shari'a scholars also stated that Allah has made it unlawful to seek healing in unlawful things. The Messenger of A
says,
"Seek medicat ions but avoid unlawful means."
[ Abu Ya'la in his Musnad on the authority of Abi Al-Darda' ]
14. Being with women alone and looking at ruqyah body parts
Good people, in the past, used to fear the trial of women despite their piety, old age and loss of vision. However, so
ruqyah performers, nowadays, do not hesitate to meet women in isolation without mahram (unmarriageable kin w
whom sexual intercourse would be considered incestuous) under false and unlawful pretexts. In so doing, they ignore
Prophetic Hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) says,
"Whenever a man is alone wit h a woman t he Devil makes a t hird."
[Sunan Al-Tirmidhi on the authority of Ibn Umar.]
Ibn Al-Qayyim states, "Indubitably, allowing women to mix with men is the source of all evil that evokes collec
punishments and deadly epidemics."
15. Switching lights off, closing the eyes and letting one's imagination roam
g g , g y g g
While treating a patient, some conjurors switch off the lights, close their eyes and let their imaginations roam to ima
certain people and accuse them of having bewitched the patient and caused him harm.
It is unfortunate that some ruqyah performers switch off the lights, ask the patients to smell certain perfumes, close t
eyes, and let their imaginations roam. Then they ask the patients who they saw and they name somebody. The conj
says that the person whom the patient saw in their imagination is the one who afflicted them with harm. Consequently,
will lead to animosity and hatred between the patient and the person whom they imagined. All these problems are du
the lies of the jinn, illusion and the false imaginations. This only occurs when the ruqyah performer is in contact with
jinn. Can such a practice be used for treatment? We seek refuge in Allah from committing such things.
16. The heresy of tying hands or legs
Some ruqyah performers tie the end parts of the hands or the legs of the patient in order to keep the jinn inside the b
In so doing, they ignore the fact that Allah enabled the jinn to run in our bodies like blood. It was never reported that Sa
could explode the head and abdomen of people, or get out from their bodies through their eyes. All these are claims
illusions because Allah protected us by angels.
A scholar once said, "This claim is false because Allah enabled the jinn to enter our bodies and get out of them when
are neglectful of remembering Allah and when our faith is weak. Jinn cannot physically harm human beings because A
says:
“Verily! He has no power over t hose who believe and put t heir t rust only in t heir Lord (Allah).100. His power is only over t hose who o
and follow him (Sat an)”.
[ An-Nahl: 99-100.]
17. Reciting certain suras and Hadith a fixed number of times:
It has never been reported that certain ayat or suras have to be reauthord a certain number of times. However, there
clear traditions that indicate that certain ayat and suras or hadiths should be reauthord in a certain number of times
Fatiha: seven times; Al-Mu'awwidhat (Al-Falaq, Al-Nas): three times; the Kursi (Throne) ayah: one time; the last two aya
surat Al- Baqarah, the Hadith that states "In the name of Allah with Whose Name nothing will cause harm in the earth
heaven," three times.
Certain clinics distribute leaflets that indicate the number of times certain suras or ayat should be reauthord. For exam
Al-Fatiha should be reauthord four times.
Nothing of this sort has been stated in the Prophetic Sunnah.
18. Propagating precautionary rumors
These rumors include something like:
- Do not heat the oil! However, what should a patient do when the weather is cold? What is wrong in that?
- Do not take a bath in the bathroom. You should bathe in the kitchen instead. Stand in a big pot because the water you
using has been reauthord on. There is no proof for these false claims and precautions. Zamzam water ends in the sew
system.
- Do not use soap while taking a bath.
- Listen to taped Qur'an while bathing.
All these are groundless illusions and claims.
19. Performing ruqyah on more than one person at the same time:
The performer of ruqyah should first listen to the patient or to his relatives in order to diagnose his problem. Then
should read the relevant prescribed texts. However, using loudspeakers and blowing air on a group of patients toge
violate the manner in which ruqyah is performed in many respects. Ruqyah in this manner was not used in the past by
Salaf Al-Saleh (may Allah be pleased with them). A person who is free from illnesses may be affected by the ailment
disorders of the other present patients. The reactions of the attendees include laughter, uproar and hubbub that do no
the sessions of remembering Allah and reciting Qur'anic ayat. Thus, the place will be in a state of chaos, terror
confusion. In such sessions, the secrets and personal affairs of each patient will be disclosed publicly and these sec
will then be circulated among people.
The benefits of ruqyah that is performed collectively cannot be compared to those of ruqyah performed individually
is more controlled and closer to the prescribed ruqyah.
20. Using the rule 'Necessity knows no law'
Under the pretext of necessity knows no law, some clinics extensively used unlawful things and practiced var
obscenities that violate standards of modesty or decency.
21. Exploiting patients financially
Patients who seek the help of conjurors pay a lot of money in return for some water, oil, honey or herbs. Furtherm
outpatient visits cost much more money. Conjurors charge for reciting on water tanks, dining tables, spraying some w
in the corners of houses, searching homes for magic amulets and many other matters that have undesirable ends.
Goal: curing the patient and reforming his affairs
The purpose of this topic is reform and self-criticism
The topic of ruqyah has been discussed here for the ultimate goal of self-reformation and self-criticism. A comm
consisting of members from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and the Ministry of Inte
should be formed in order to establish a set of criteria that govern and organize the practice of performing ruqya
accordance with the Islamic Shari'a. This committee is also expected to protect people from the evils of conjurors
imposters. In this context, Abdullah bin Mas'oud said, "to be economical in performing Sunnah is better than practic
heresies and novelties."
The committee is also expected to put an end to the false and heretic practices that are performed under the fla
religion. Unfortunately, many conjurors and ruqyah performers practice ruqyah under the name of Islam. Most of th
people started properly, but through time, they started to violate the proper procedures because there was no censor
on their practices as they became well-known. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) says,
"You must t herefore st rive to follow my exemplary pract ice [sunnat i], and t he exemplary pract ice of t he right ly guided Caliphs [sun
al-khulafa' ar-rashidin] aft er I am gone. You must hold on to it wit h a very t ight grip, and doggedly sink your t eet h into it . You mus
beware of novel fashions [muhdat hat al-umur], for every novelt y is a heret ical innovat ion [bid'a], and every heret ical innovat ion is
deviat ion from t he right pat h."
[Abu Dawoud and Tirmidhi on the authority of Al-'Irbadh bin Sariyah]
