Whatruqyahis,andwhatitisnot

The word ruqyah simply means words that are recited over a person seeking healing or protection. In pre-Islamic Arabia those words could be anything: chants, names of jinn, appeals to stars. Islam did not abolish the practice. It cleaned it, put limits on it, and kept what was pure.

That is why the Prophet ﷺ, when the Companions brought him the ruqyahs they had used before Islam, did not simply say yes or no. He said, in the hadith reported by ‘Awf ibn Malik in Sahih Muslim: show me your ruqyah; there is no harm in ruqyah so long as it contains no shirk.

That one sentence is the whole subject. Ruqyah is permitted. Ruqyah that contains shirk is not. Everything else is detail.

A working definition

Ruqyah shar‘iyyah (ruqyah according to the Shari‘ah) is: reciting the Quran, or supplications taught by the Prophet ﷺ, or any words that call on Allah alone by His names and attributes, over yourself or another person, seeking healing and protection from Allah.

You do not need to be a scholar to do it. You do not need permission or a licence. The Prophet ﷺ recited over himself, over his family, over the sick who came to him, and he taught ordinary people to do the same. Jibril recited over him. ‘A’ishah recited over him in his final illness. A Companion recited al-Fatihah over a man stung by a scorpion, having never done it before, and the man recovered.

The three conditions

Ibn Hajar, in Fath al-Bari, records that scholars agreed on the permissibility of ruqyah when three conditions are met. Later scholars, including Ibn Baz and Ibn Uthaymeen, repeat the same three.

1. It is done with the words of Allah, or His names and attributes. The Quran, the du‘as of the Prophet ﷺ, and any supplication that turns to Allah alone. Nothing addressed to a jinn, a saint, a star, an "energy", or a spirit. Nothing that swears by other than Allah.

2. It is in Arabic, or in a language whose meaning is understood. The point is that you know what is being said over you. A ruqyah in English or Bengali or Somali is fine if its meaning is sound. A string of Arabic-sounding syllables that no Arab can understand is not fine, even though it "sounds Islamic". Unknown words are the classic hiding place for shirk.

3. It is believed that the ruqyah has no effect by itself; the effect is only by Allah's decree. The words are a means. Allah is the healer. If someone believes the recitation, the raqi, or the water works on its own, the belief itself has slipped.

وَإِذَا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينِ

Wa idhā mariḍtu fahuwa yashfīn

And when I am ill, it is He who cures me.

Ibn Uthaymeen adds a practical fourth point that is really a consequence of the third: the ruqyah must not be done in a way the Shari‘ah forbids, such as in a state of impurity in a graveyard, or with the client uncovered, or with a man alone with a woman who is not his mahram.

What ruqyah is not

Because the definition is simple, it is easy to see what falls outside it.

• Ruqyah is not a ritual with a fixed number. "Recite this 313 times over seven nights with a candle" is not from the Sunnah. Numbers, times and objects that have no basis in the texts are innovations at best.
• Ruqyah is not addressed to the jinn. Speaking to a jinn during a session may happen; commanding it to leave by Allah's name is something the Prophet ﷺ did. But calling on jinn, negotiating with them, asking them favours, or "employing good jinn" is not ruqyah. It is the trade of magicians.
• Ruqyah is not a talisman. Writing verses on paper to hang around the neck, fold into a pillow or bury under a doorstep is not ruqyah. Ruqyah is recited. The ruling on written amulets is covered in its own article.
• Ruqyah is not diagnosis by unseen means. A raqi who tells you the name of the person who "did it", or what your neighbour is thinking, is claiming knowledge of the unseen. That is not a gift. It is a warning sign.
• Ruqyah is not a replacement for medicine. The Prophet ﷺ used ruqyah and also used medicine, and told us that Allah did not send down a disease without sending down its cure. The two sit side by side.

Why the limits matter

The reason scholars guarded these limits so carefully is that ruqyah is a door to Allah, and doors to Allah are precisely where Shaytan waits. A person in pain will accept almost anything that promises relief. Magicians know this. They dress their work in Quran, in beards and prayer beads, and slip in one unknown word, one request for a mother's name, one item of clothing. The person leaves feeling better for a while, and has just paid to have shirk performed on their behalf.

Ruqyah shar‘iyyah protects you from that. It asks nothing of you but to turn to Allah with His own words. It costs nothing to do yourself. And it carries no risk, because the worst outcome of reciting Quran over yourself sincerely is that you have recited Quran sincerely.

Where to start

If you are new to this, begin with what the Prophet ﷺ himself used: al-Fatihah, Ayat al-Kursi, the last two verses of al-Baqarah, Surah al-Ikhlas, al-Falaq and al-Nas, and the morning and evening supplications. Recite with understanding, place your hand where it hurts, and ask Allah. That is the whole of it. The rest of this site exists to help you do it well and to steer you away from those who would sell you something else.