Spiritual Warfare Prayer: WHAT IS RUQYAH?

WHAT IS RUQYAH?Islam is a comprehensive deen which deals with all the affairsrelating to the life of Muslims. Included in this vast sea oflegislation and recommendation we find the ahkaam relating to health.Good health is a blessing form Allah Almighty, as mentioned in thehadeeth of the prophet (saw) whereIbn Abaas reported, the messenger of Allah (saw) said, There are twoblessings in which many people incur loss, good health and free time.Saheeh Al BukhariWe may however find at times our health is decreasing, and rather thandepend upon contemporary medicine alone, or at another extreme shunmedication all together thinking our ill health to be the decree ofAllah.As In all matters, we should turn to the authentic sources and seekassistance.Ysamah bin Shuraik said; I was with the prophet when the Bedouins cameto him and said, "O Messenger of Allah, should we seek medicine?"He (saw) said, "Yes slaves of Allah, seek medicine for Allah has notcreated a disease except that He has also created its cure, except forone illness." They asked what is that? He (saw) said, "Old age."Imam AhmadAbu khuzamah is reported to have said;I said "O Messenger of Allah about the ruqya that we use, the medicinewe take and the prevention we seek, does all this change Allah'sappointed destiny?" He (saw) said, they are a part of Allah'sappointed destiny. Musnad Imam Ahmad/ Sunan At Tirmidhi/ Ibn MajahEvery illness has a cure, and when the proper cure is applied to thedisease it ends Allah willing.Saheeh muslimWe wish to inshAllah mention in this humble effort, the use of ruqyah(as has been recommended and practiced by the nabi (saw) and as waspracticed by the sahabah (ra)) as an Islamic alternative, usingspiritual means to cure physical ailments.We will try to explain:1) What is ruqyah?2) Is its use permissible?3) Misunderstandings in relation to ruqyah4) The practice of the prophet (saw) and the companion in regards toruqyah.As Muslims our dependency must be upon Allah alone, and as good andharm are unable to reach us without His (swt) will, we shouldunderstand that seeking a halal cure for our ill health is a strongrecommendation and after doing so putting ones trust upon Allah (swt).And if Allah touches you with harm, there is none who can remove itbut He; and if He intends any good for you, there is none who canrepel His favour which He causes it to reach whomsoever of His slavesHe wills. And He is the oft Forgiving, The Most Merciful.SurahYunus 10:107What is ruqyah?To translate Ruqyah as 'incantation' may bring to mind connotations ofmagic and sorcery which are forbidden in Islam. To use the term "Byspiritual means" may not convey the meaning in full. [See Ismail L.Faruq's Translation].Ruqyah is when a person recites part of the Qur'an such as Al-Fatihahor makes supplication using words transmitted from the authenticHadith of the Prophet (saw) Ref. Fath-ul-Majid]Ruqyah is the use of quranic ayats, or supplications narrated from theProphet (saw) in order to cure ones self or another from evil eye(nadhar) or ill health.Is permissible to perform ruqyah?Hussain bin Abdur- Rahmaan narrated;Once when I was with Sa'id bin Jubair, he asked , "who among you didsee the shooting star last night?"I answered, "I had seen it." and then explained however that I was notperforming prayer at the time because I had been stung, by a poisonousscorpion. He said, "what did you then do?" I replied, "I used ruqyahto cure it." He asked, "what compelled you to do that?", I said, "ahadeeth I heard from Ash - Shabi. He asked, "which hadeeth did Sha'binarrate?"I replied, "he reported from Buraidah bin Al Husaib, who said thatruqyah is not allowed except for the treatment of evil eye andpoisonous sting." He (sa'd bin Jubair) said, "he has done well bystopping on what he has heard, #howeverIibn Abass narrated to us that the Prophet (saw) said,All the nations were made to pass before me and I saw a prophet with asmall group with him, and a prophet with two or three people and aprophet with none. Then there appeared a large group of people which Itook to be my nation, but I was told that those were of Musa and hispeople. Later a larger group appeared and I was told that those weremy people. Among them were seventy thousand who would enter paradisewithout reckoning or punishment…they are those who do not treatthemselves with ruqyah, nor do they believe in bad or good omens, nordo they get themselves branded (cauterized), but they put their trustin their Lord.On that Ukashah bin Mihsan got up and said; "O Prophet, make dua thatI may be one of them."The prophet (saw) answered, "you are indeed one of them."When another person sought to repeat the request the prophet (saw)told him that Ukashah had beaten him to it.SAHEEH MUSLIMIs ruqyah only permissible to be performed due to evil eye and stings?"It was narrated that `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:"When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wasill, he would recite al-Mu`awidhatayn (surahs of Al-Falaq and An-Nas)over himself and spit dryly. When his pain grew intense, I recitedover him and wiped him with his own hand, seeking its blessing"(Al-Bukhari).Who are the 70,000 who will enter jannah with no accountability?Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:"These people are praised because they did not ask anyone to reciteruqyah for them, and ruqyah is a type of du`aa', so they did not askothers to pray for them. The phrase "and they did not recite ruqyah"which is mentioned in the hadith is a mistake (on the part of thenarrator), for their ruqyah for themselves and for others is a gooddeed. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited ruqyah forhimself and for others but he did not ask anyone to recite ruqyah forhim. His reciting ruqyah for himself and others was like his makingdu`aa' for himself and others; this is something that is enjoined, forall the Prophets asked of Allah and prayed to Him, as Allah tells usin the stories of Adam, Ibraheem, Musa and others." (Majmu` al-Fatawa,1/182)In this regard, Sheikh M. S. Al-Munajjid, a prominent Saudi Muslimlecturer and author, states:With regard to the hadith narrated by Muslim, according to which theProphet (peace and blessings be upon him) described the seventythousand of this Ummah who will enter Paradise without being broughtto account or punished, and in which it says: "They are those who didnot recite ruqyah or ask for ruqyah to be done, and they did notbelieve in bad omens and they put their trust in their Lord" – thephrase "they did not recite ruqyah" is the words of the narrator, notof the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Hence Al-Bukharinarrated this hadith and did not mention this phrase.Did the prophet (saw) perform ruqyah upon himself and upon others?It was narrated that `Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said:When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allah be uponhim) was ill, he would recite al-Mi'wadhatayn over himself and spitdryly. When his pain grew intense, I recited over him and wiped himwith his own hand, seeking its brake (blessing)."Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4728; Muslim, 2192It was narrated that Ibn `Abbas (RA) said: "The Prophet (SAW) used toseek refuge for al-Hasan and al-Husayn, and he would say, `Your father[ meaning Ibrahim peace be upon him] used to seek refuge with Allahfor Isma`il and Ishaq with these words: A`udhu bi kalimat Allahal-tammah min kulli shaytanin wa hammah wa min kulli `aynin lammah (Iseek refuge in the perfect words of Allah, from every devil and everypoisonous reptile, and from every evil eye). (Al-Bukhari)Muslim narrated from `Uthman ibn Abil-`As that he complained to theMessenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about pain thathe had felt in his body from the time he had become Muslim. TheMessenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him, "Putyour hand on the part of your body where you feel pain and say`Bismillah (in the name of Allah) three times, then say seven times,A`udhu bi `izzat-illah wa qudratihi min sharri ma ajid wa uhadhir (Iseek refuge in the glory and power of Allah from the evil of what Ifeel and worry about)."At-Tirmidhi added: He said, "I did that, and Allah removed what I hadbeen suffering, and I continued to enjoin my family and others to dothat."Sahl bin Sa'd (ra) said that on the day of Khaibar, Allah's messenger(saw) asserted; "tomorrow I shall indeed give the flag to a person wholoves Allah and His messenger and and is loved by Allah and Hismessenger. Allah will grant victory under his leadership." The peoplespent the night absorbed in discussing as to whom might the flag begiven. In the morning the they came eagerly to Allah's messenger (saw)each of them hoping to be given the flag. Allah's messenger (saw)asked, "where is Ali bin Abi Talib?" They replied, "he is sufferingfrom an eye ailment." He was sent for and brought. Allah's messengerthen applied saliva to his eyes and prayed for him, where upon he wascured as if he had no previous pains. Allah's messenger (saw) thenA group of the Companions of the Prophet (SAW) set out on a journeyand travelled until they came near one of the Arab tribes. They askedthem for hospitality but they were refused. Then the leader of thattribe was stung, and his people tried everything to cure him butnothing helped. Then some of them said, "Why don't you go to thosepeople who are staying (nearby)? Maybe one of them has something." Sothey went to them and said, "O people, our leader has been stung andwe have tried everything and nothing helped him. Do you haveanything?" One of them said, "Yes, by Allah. I will perform ruqyah forhim, but by Allah we asked you for hospitality and you did not give usanything, so we will not perform ruqyah for you unless you give ussomething in return." So they agreed on a flock of sheep, then hestarted to blow on him and recite Al-hamdu Lillahi Rabb il-`Alameen.Then he recovered quickly from his complaint and started walking, andhe was completely cured. After that they took the flock of sheep, andsome of the companions of the Prophet (SAW) said, "Let us share itout." The one who had performed ruqyah said, "Do not do anything untilwe come to the Prophet (SAW) and tell him what happened, and we willwait and see what he tells us to do." So they came to the Messenger ofAllah (SAW) and told him what had happened. He said, "How did you knowthat it is a ruqyah?" Then he said, "You did the right thing. Sharethem out, and give me a share." And the Messenger of Allah (SAW) smiled.(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)When may ruqyah be prohibited?Auf Ibn Malik reports;We practiced Ruqyah in the preislamic days and we said, "O Allah'smessenger! What is your opinion about it?" he (saw) said, " let meknow your ruqyah and said, there is no harm in the ruqyah which doesnot contain shirk.Saheeh muslimAl khattabi said; Allah's messenger practiced ruqya for the sake ofothers and some practiced it for his sake. Sometimes he commanded thepeople to practice it and thus declared it to be legal. If the ruqyawas with some verses of the Glorious Qur'an or with the beautifulnames of Allah, it is thus permissible or even recommended. However ifit contains non Arabic words indicating disbelief or polytheism [kufror shirk]it is thus illegal and forbidden.Fath ul majeed chap 8O Allah accept our good deeds for your sake and your sake alone andforgive us for our errors and mistakes…ameenPoint to ask: What are those person's qualifications, are they Hafizof Quran or Muhadith, etc.?

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