In this article
In short
- 01Any single one of the clear signs is enough. You do not need three or four to be sure.
- 02A sorcerer who recites Quran is still a sorcerer. The mixing is the trick: the Quran makes it feel safe.
- 03Ruqyah shar‘iyyah is the Quran, and du‘ā to Allah alone, in words you understand, with the belief that Allah heals.
- 04If you have already been: repent, get rid of what he gave you, begin ruqyah yourself today, and see a doctor for anything physical.
Most people who go to a sorcerer do not know that is what they are doing. They went to “a shaykh”. He had a beard, a Quran on the table, a room full of people waiting. He said Bismillāh. He recited something. Then he asked one question that a real raqi would never ask, and the whole thing changed without anyone noticing.
This is a checklist for the moment when it changes. It is written for the person who is frightened, in pain, and being told by relatives that “this man really works”. You deserve to know what to look for.
The clear signs
Scholars who have dealt with this for decades, among them Ibn Bāz and Ibn ‘Uthaymīn, list a set of behaviours that mark a practitioner as a sorcerer or fortune-teller rather than a raqi. If you see any of the following, leave.
- 1He asks for your mother’s nameOr your name and your mother’s name together. This is the standard way jinn are asked to identify a person. Ruqyah does not need it. Nobody in the Sunnah ever asked for it.
- 2He asks for something from your body or clothesHair, nails, a piece of worn clothing, a photograph, something with your sweat on it. These are the ingredients of sihr, not its cure.
- 3He writes things you cannot readSquares of numbers, letters separated by dots, symbols, “Quran” written backwards or in scattered letters. Sometimes a real ayah is written above and the rest is unintelligible below.
- 4He gives you something to wear, bury or hangA folded paper, a leather pouch, a string with knots, a metal charm, an “Islamic” amulet. Even if he tells you it contains Quran.
- 5He mutters words that are not Arabic and not any language you knowOr Arabic-sounding words that no one, including him, can explain.
- 6He tells you to slaughter an animal in a specific wayEspecially: without saying Bismillāh, or of a specific colour, or at a specific place, or to smear its blood on you or your house, or to bury it. Slaughter for other than Allah is major shirk.
- 7He tells you things about yourself he could not knowThe name of the person who did it. Your dead grandmother’s illness. What happened in your bedroom last Tuesday. That is a jinnī speaking, not the Quran.
- 8He asks you to do something impureSit in the graveyard at night, avoid touching water for a set number of days, keep something under your pillow, avoid prayer for a while, write with blood or with certain inks.
- 9He needs to be alone with youParticularly a man who wants a woman on her own, or wants her to remove her hijab or clothing “so the recitation reaches”, or wants to touch her body.
- 10He claims a special lineage or gift“This power has been in our family for seven generations.” “I have a servant from among the jinn who helps me.” “I was given this in a dream.”
- 11He looks at your palm, a cup, or a bowl of waterOr asks you your birth date and star.
The quieter signs
Some behaviours are not proof of magic on their own but should raise your guard.
None of these is proof on its own. Two or three together, in one room, are a reason to leave.
- MoneyLarge sums demanded up front, or fees that rise as the “case” becomes more “difficult”.
- CertaintyA diagnosis before you have said anything, or a diagnosis that is always sihr and always requires more sessions.
- CertaintyGuarantees. “I will finish it in three sittings.” No raqi can guarantee anything; the cure is with Allah.
- PressureFrightening you: “if you do not come back within a week it will kill you.”
- SecrecyRefusing to explain what he is reciting or what is in the thing he gave you.
- SecrecyTelling you not to tell anyone what he did.
- PressureDiscouraging you from doing ruqyah yourself, or from seeing a doctor.
the items raqis weight most see a doctor first
Anyone who tells you to stop seeing a doctor has already told you what he is.
A sincere raqi has nothing to hide. He recites clearly, tells you what he is reciting, teaches you to do it at home, and is happy for you to never need him again.
“But it worked”
Sometimes it does work, in a sense. The sorcerer commands his jinn to stop harming you, or to move the harm elsewhere, or he lifts one sihr and puts another in its place. The symptoms ease. Then, weeks or months later, they return, or something new begins, and you go back, and pay again.
The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever goes to a soothsayer and asks him about anything, his prayer is not accepted for forty nights (Sahih Muslim). And in another narration, whoever goes to one and believes what he says has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad ﷺ (Ahmad, Abu Dawud). Scholars have discussed the exact meaning of these words. None of them read them as anything less than a very grave matter.
وَأَنَّهُۥ كَانَ رِجَالٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْإِنسِ يَعُوذُونَ بِرِجَالٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ فَزَادُوهُمْ رَهَقًۭا
Wa annahū kāna rijālun mina l-insi ya‘ūdhūna bi-rijālin mina l-jinni fazādūhum rahaqā
And there were men from mankind who sought refuge in men from the jinn, so they [only] increased them in burden.
Relief bought this way is a loan at a rate you cannot afford.
If you have already been
Do not despair, and do not let shame stop you from acting.
- 1
Repent to Allah sincerely
He forgives, and turning back to Him is the beginning of the cure. - 2
Get rid of anything the man gave you
Amulets, papers, strings, water he “read” over. If it contains Quran, unpick or dissolve it respectfully; do not keep it “just in case”. - 3
Stop any instructions he gave you that have no basis in the Sunnah
Whatever he told you to do, wear, bury or avoid stops today. - 4
Begin ruqyah shar‘iyyah yourself, today
Use the Quran and the Prophetic supplications. This site will show you how. - 5
See a doctor for anything physical
Ruqyah and medicine sit side by side.
A short rule to carry with you
Ruqyah shar‘iyyah is the Quran, and du‘ā to Allah alone, in words you understand, with the belief that Allah heals. If a practitioner adds anything to that list, or takes anything from you that is not needed to recite over you, he has stepped outside it. You do not owe him politeness at the cost of your religion. Thank him, leave, and go home to your Quran.
The same test applies to somebody reading your dreams — see choosing who interprets a dream.
Medical first, alongside ruqyah — nothing here replaces a doctor’s care.
Sources
- Sahih Muslim, Book of Salam: whoever goes to a fortune-teller and asks him about something, his prayer is not accepted for forty nights
- Musnad Ahmad and Sunan Abi Dawud: whoever goes to a soothsayer and believes what he says has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad ﷺ
- Ibn Baz, Majmu‘ Fatawa, on the signs of magicians and soothsayers
- Ibn Uthaymeen, al-Qawl al-Mufid, chapter on soothsayers and the like
- Wahid ‘Abd al-Salam Bali, al-Sarim al-Battar (list of signs of the sahir)
White magic, “good jinn”, and breaking sihr with sihr
Why there is no such thing as lawful magic, why undoing sihr through a sorcerer is forbidden, and what the lawful alternative is.
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