In this article
In short
- 01Ruqyah is protection as well as cure: the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge for al-Hasan and al-Husayn when nothing was wrong with them.
- 02Specifying verses for a condition is the practice of the Companions and is covered by the fatwas, and no raqi claims a hadith legislates the selection.
- 03Weigh what you read online against the fatwas, not against the confidence of the poster.
Claims about ruqyah spread fast online, often from accounts with no grounding in the practice or the fatwas. An experienced raqi answered one such thread point by point; the claims recur constantly, so here are the answers.
What is true
Ruqyah is also protection. The Prophet ﷺ sought refuge for al-Hasan and al-Husayn when nothing was wrong with them; ruqyah at its root is the “‘ūdhah”, the seeking of protection. Ibn Bāz said: “The subject of the ruqā is important, and its importance is plain to everyone — because the Muslim needs ruqyah always: for protecting himself and protecting those he loves, as the Prophet ﷺ used to do — reciting the two protections, blowing into his palm, and wiping his head, face and what he could reach of his body — and for shielding those he loves before any affliction falls, as a fortification against the devils’ assault on the servant.”
Ruqyah as a check also has precedent. The Permanent Committee, asked about a woman told she was bewitched (she had no complaint of her own), directed her to go to raqis to be examined and treated if needed. And it has long been known practice that the imam of the mosque is invited to homes to recite over the household with no illness present — for fortification and inspection.
Ibn Bāz; fatwas of the Permanent Committee
What is true
The hadith is real; the conclusion drawn from it (warning people off asking for ruqyah) is not. The decisive evidence: the Prophet ﷺ himself told ‘A’ishah and others to seek ruqyah from someone else. He did not say “recite over yourself”, nor did he only recite over her himself: he instructed her to ask for it. The matter is wide, and this tweet-sized theology unsettles the sick for nothing. (The question is treated at length in the book “They seek ruqyah and rely upon their Lord” — see the Library.)
What is true
Most patients (and healthy people with a doubt about themselves) go to a raqi to be checked: he recites, asks what they felt, and some describe reactions that indicate sihr or ‘ayn. To sneer at this while insisting “ruqyah is for cure only” contradicts the same person’s first claim, and contempt for the practice of the religion carries heavy consequences.
What is true
It did. In the story of Sahl ibn Hunayf (in the authentic Sunnah), when ‘Āmir ibn Rabī’ah struck Sahl with the ‘ayn, the Prophet ﷺ asked: “Do you suspect anyone in this?” They said: ‘Āmir ibn Rabī’ah looked at him. The Prophet summoned ‘Āmir and was angry with him. The Prophet ﷺ himself verified who the ‘ā’in was: by the words the envier had spoken and the signs pointing to him.
How is the ‘ā’in known? Three ways the practitioners recognise:
- By his reputation: a person known for the effect of his eye.
- By his words and their immediate effect on the envied person, as in the story of Sahl.
- By dreams that are then confirmed in waking life: for example, a person known for envy who spoke about someone’s hair, appetite or strength, and the harm landed there; some even boast, “where would you like my eye to strike you?”
So when the raqi asks the afflicted person, “do you suspect anyone?”, he is following the Prophet’s ﷺ own method, and may then guide the patient to obtain the trace (athar) of the ‘ā’in for the wash the Sunnah prescribes.
A necessary caution: this is about obtaining the wash the Sunnah prescribes — never about naming, shaming or accusing anyone. Suspicion is not proof; the Prophet’s ﷺ question was answered by witnessed words and events, not guesswork. Nothing in this section licenses accusing a relative or neighbour.
The story of Sahl ibn Hunayf, in the authentic Sunnah
What is true
Then the Companions stand accused. It is established that Ibn ‘Abbās specified verses for the woman in obstructed labour, and that is a partial verse, for a specific condition. Companions wrote specific verses. Ibn Taymiyyah asked those around him to recite the verses of sakīnah over him. Ibn Jibrīn’s fatwa permits specifying and repeating verses; the Permanent Committee issued a fatwa titled “the Quranic verses that nullify sihr”, though no hadith specifies the sihr verses for that purpose.
What raqis say: no raqi claims these selections are legislated or carried by a hadith. They found, by experience, the effect of verses whose meaning or names suit the case, and the fatwas of the scholars support the practice.
Ibn Jibrīn; fatwas of the Permanent Committee
The underlying error: “whatever the Prophet ﷺ did not do is rejected”
Taken as this thread takes it, the principle would brand the salaf themselves innovators. Five examples of things the Prophet ﷺ did not do that the Companions and scholars did and permitted:
- He recited ruqyah with the two protections and the tables of Ibrāhīm’s ta‘wīdh for his grandsons: the Companions recited with other verses too, and the scholars of the ummah listed verses and du‘ās he never used.
- He never wrote Quranic “mahw” (verses written and washed off to drink): Ibn ‘Abbās directed it for childbirth, other Companions and scholars have allowed it in every age since.
- He never recited into olive oil or honey: the fatwas of the scholars permit it.
- He never used sidr nor commanded it: Ahl al-Sunnah have used sidr against sihr for over a thousand years, with many Permanent Committee fatwas in the chapter.
- He never bathed with water that had been recited over, nor ordered homes sprayed with it: our scholars’ fatwas permitting it are many and clear.
Whoever insists “rejected!” on that principle is rejecting the Companions, Imam Ahmad, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and the fatwas of the salaf and the later scholars of the Sunnah on ruqyah. Weigh what you read online against the fatwas, not against the confidence of the poster.
Medical first, alongside ruqyah — nothing here replaces a doctor’s care.
Sources
- Ibn Baz — on ruqyah as protection
- Fatwas of the Permanent Committee; Sheikh Ibn Jibrin — on specifying verses
- Classical and practitioner sources — see Methodology → Our sources
What ruqyah is, and what it is not
Ruqyah shar‘iyyah defined, the three conditions scholars set for it, and what falls outside those limits.
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