The meaning of ruqyah
The scholars differed when defining ruqyah on two paths.
The first path: Those who made ruqyah something specific for removing hardship and treating a person who is suffering.
The second path: Those who made ruqyah something general for every recitation done while seeking benefit.
The difference between the two sayings becomes clear when looking at general adhkar like the morning and evening adhkar and the adhkar of sleep. According to the first path they are not part of ruqyah. According to the second path they are included.
So the definition of ruqyah on the first path is:
Everything that is read over a sick person from supplications and adhkar while seeking healing.
And its definition on the second path is:
Everything that is read from supplications and adhkar (rememberance) while seeking benefit.
The ruling of ruqyah in its origin
The scholars differed about the ruling of ruqyah in its origin, and one of the strongest reasons for their difference is that the narrations about ruqyah are varied in their meanings.
Some narrations give an outward impression that ruqyah is forbidden in a complete way, such as the saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him: “Indeed ruqyahs and amulets and tiwala are shirk.” (Narrated in Sunan Abī Dāwūd 3883 and authenticated by Al Albani.)
And some narrations show that it was forbidden then that forbiddance was removed, as in the hadith of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, gave permission for ruqyah from the evil eye and from poison and from skin disease.” (Narrated in Sunan Ibn Mājah 3516)
And some narrations show that it is only allowed in certain illnesses, like his saying, peace be upon him: “There is no ruqyah except from the evil eye or poison.” (Sunan Ibn Mājah 3513)
And some narrations show that asking for ruqyah is disliked, such as the hadith of the seventy thousand.
Because of this the scholars differed about its ruling in origin in different sayings.
The first saying: Ruqyah in its origin is disliked.
They used the narrations that mention that asking for ruqyah leads to less perfection, like in the hadith of the seventy thousand.
This saying is not correct, because the narrations they used speak about requesting ruqyah from others. This is a different subject with a different meaning and a different ruling.
The second saying: Ruqyah in its origin is allowed.
This is the saying of most scholars. They used the many narrations where there is permission to do ruqyah or where the Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered it or where he said it is healing and medicine.
The third saying: Ruqyah is recommended.
This is the closest to the truth. It was confirmed by many scholars such as Al Nawawi and Al Baghawi. They used the narrations showing that the Prophet, peace be upon him, performed ruqyah. For example the hadith of Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, when he felt pain, would recite the muawwidhat over himself and wipe his body with his hand. (Narrated In Sahih Al Bukhari 5016)
They also used the narrations where he, peace be upon him, ordered ruqyah, like his saying: “Whoever among you can help his brother then let him do so.” (Narrated in Sahih Muslim 2199a). He said this while speaking to those who do ruqyah for people.
The Origin of Ruqyah
The revealed texts show that the origin of ruqyah is that it is something based on striving and effort, not something fixed with set words. This is clear from several matters.
The first matter: the Prophet, peace be upon him, accepted every ruqyah that did not have shirk.
The second matter: ruqyah is a type of supplication, and supplication is not restricted in its words.
Because of this many scholars used ruqyahs that came to them through their own striving because they found them beneficial.
The types of Ruqyah based on the Detailed Rulings are Three Types.
The First Type: Ruqyah that is Legislated.
Its rule is every ruqyah that has the Islamic conditions. Its main two conditions are:
The first condition: that it is from the supplications and adhkar of the Sharia, such as the Quran and the Sunnah and the general supplications that do not have anything against the Sharia. This is shown by his saying, peace be upon him: There is no harm in ruqyahs as long as they do not contain shirk.” (Narrated in Sahih Muslim 2200).
The second condition: That it is with clear words without secret symbols and without unclear phrases.
So it is allowed to do ruqyah in English or Turkish or Persian as long as the words are understood by those who speak them. Because what is not understood may have meanings that lead to shirk, so it must be avoided for safety.
A note: the other conditions that some scholars mentioned, like saying that one must not believe that ruqyah heals by itself, or other similar conditions, are correct conditions, but they are general conditions that apply to every Islamic ruling. It is not usual to list these kinds of conditions in every chapter.
The Second Type: Forbidden Ruqyah.
Its rule is every ruqyah that contains something against the Sharia, but not to the level of shirk. For example, if it contains words that are not understood. This type is forbidden, but one does not judge it as shirk because the meaning of the words is not known.
The Third Type: Ruqyah that is Shirk.
Its rule is every ruqyah that has something judged as shirk by the Sharia. For example a ruqyah that has seeking help from other than Allah, from humans or jinn or angels. Or a ruqyah where the person believes that the ruqyah itself harms or benefits on its own.
The Meaning of Seeking Ruqyah and Its Ruling
Seeking ruqyah is when a person asks someone else to perform ruqyah for him. The scholars differed on its ruling in two sayings.
The first saying: It is allowed.
This follows from the saying of many who allowed ruqyah.
The second saying: It is disliked and should not be done.
This follows naturally from the saying of anyone who said that ruqyah is disliked in origin, because if doing ruqyah is disliked then asking someone else for ruqyah is even more disliked. Some who allowed ruqyah still said that seeking it from others is not good, because it involves asking other people. This was favoured by Al Khattabi and Al Nawawi and Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Al Qayyim.
They said the meaning of seeking ruqyah is different from the meaning of ruqyah itself in language, and the criticism in the narrations came only for seeking ruqyah.
The closer view is the second view, because asking for ruqyah causes a person to lose the great virtue mentioned in the hadith of the seventy thousand.
A note: It can be said that if a person is weak or unable to recite for himself, then asking for ruqyah does not take away the excellence that is mentioned in the hadith of the seventy thousand.
The Manner of Ruqyah
The origin of ruqyah is that its manner is based on striving and effort, not fixed. The saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him: “There is no harm in ruqyahs as long as they do not contain shirk” narrated by Muslim, is a clear base that one may use any ruqyah that has been found to bring benefit, with any manner, as long as the previous conditions are met.
Ruqyah has different manners. Four are very well known.
The first manner: Direct recitation
This means that the reciting person reads directly over the one being treated, without anything in between.
The second manner: Indirect recitation
This means the one doing ruqyah reads the Quran or the correct supplications into water or honey or food that is then used for ruqyah. One example of this from the Prophet, peace be upon him, is that he entered upon Thabit ibn Qays, as Ahmad ibn Salih said, and he was sick, so he said: Remove the harm, Lord of the people, from Thabit ibn Qays. Then he took some dirt from Bathan, put it in a cup, then blew on it with water and poured it over him. Narrated by Abu Dawud and authenticated by Al Albani.
The third manner: The wiping method
This means the one doing ruqyah writes some of the Quran on paper, then washes it or puts it into water or oil to be used for ruqyah.
This manner is an area of difference between scholars.
The first saying: It is allowed. This was said by Imam Ahmad and chosen by Al Qadi Iyad and Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Al Qayyim and others.
The second saying: It is disliked. This was said by Ibrahim Al Nakhaei and Ibn Sirin and others.
The two sayings are very close to each other. It is similar to the issue of using a Quranic amulet. Whoever forbids that is likely to forbid this. Whoever allows that is likely to allow this.
The fourth manner: writing an ayah on the injured part of the body
Ibn Al Qayyim mentioned from his teacher Ibn Taymiyyah that he saw this to be allowed. He said: “Shaykh Al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, would write on the forehead: And it was said O earth swallow your water and O sky hold back and the water was made to settle and the matter was finished. Surah Hud.”
I heard him say: I wrote it for many sick people.
Some students objected to this manner because it is not reported in narrations nor from the early generations. But this is not a condition. The condition is that its benefit is proven with proper experience. If it is proven then there is no reason to reject it.
Blowing, Light Spitting, and Touching with the Hand in Ruqyah
Blowing is breath from the mouth, sometimes with slight drops of saliva.
Light spitting is only with tiny drops of saliva.
These actions can happen in direct ruqyah or indirect ruqyah. Sometimes the one doing ruqyah blows into water or honey or other things.
As for blowing and light spitting
The scholars differed in two sayings.
The first saying: it is allowed. This is the saying of many scholars. They used many narrations, including the hadith of Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, would blow on himself with the muawwidhat in the illness in which he passed away. Narrated by Al Bukhari.
And the hadith of Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, would say to the sick person: “In the name of Allah, the dust of our land mixed with the saliva of some of us heals our sick with the permission of our Lord.” Agreed upon.
The narrations show that blowing and light spitting may be done during the recitation or after it.
The second saying: It is disliked. This was reported from several early scholars.
They used the ayah where Allah ordered seeking protection from the blowers in knots, in His saying: And from the evil of those who blow in knots, Surah Al Falaq. But this reasoning is not correct, because the ayah refers to magic and those who perform it, not every blowing.
As for wiping with the hand
It is allowed, and the two hadiths of Aishah mentioned earlier show this.
The ruqyah of the People of the Scripture
The scholars differed in two sayings.
The first saying: It is allowed if their ruqyahs are free from shirk. This is one of the sayings of Malik and the saying of Imam Al Shafii.
The second saying: It is disliked. They said this because it cannot be trusted that the People of the Scripture will avoid alteration, and they may recite things that have shirk or things whose meaning is not known.
Taking payment for ruqyah
It is allowed, and the narrations clearly show permission to take money for ruqyah.
