The Prophet's ﷺ Guidance Regarding Ruqyah and Healing

The Prophet's ﷺ guidance on ruqyah — the use of Quranic verses and authenticated supplications for healing and protection — occupies a distinctive place in Zad al-Ma'ad, sitting at the intersection of medical guidance and spiritual protection. Ibn al-Qayyim approaches this subject with his characteristic thoroughness, distinguishing clearly between the permissible and impermissible forms of ruqyah, and developing the concept of 'al-dawa' al-ilahi' (divine medicine) — healing through the power of Allah's speech and names.

The Prophet ﷺ himself performed ruqyah and permitted it. The foundational principle he established is recorded in the hadith: 'There is no objection to ruqyah as long as it does not involve shirk.' (Muslim.) This establishes that ruqyah is permissible — indeed, encouraged — as long as its content consists of Quranic verses, authentic supplications, or the names and attributes of Allah, and as long as the performer does not attribute independent curative power to the words themselves apart from Allah's will and permission.

The most frequently cited ruqyah practice in the authentic Sunnah is recitation of al-Mu'awwidhatain — Surahs al-Falaq (113) and al-Nas (114) — along with Surah al-Ikhlas (112) and Ayat al-Kursi (Quran 2:255). The Prophet ﷺ would recite these into his cupped hands and pass them over his body when sick, and he performed this same practice on others. Aishah reported that when the Prophet ﷺ was ill, Jibril came and performed ruqyah on him, saying: 'Bismillahi arqik, min kulli shay'in yu'dhik, min sharri kulli nafsin aw aynin hasid, Allahu yashfik, bismillahi arqik.'

Ibn al-Qayyim develops his theory of the mechanism by which divine ruqyah heals, drawing on a sophisticated analysis of the relationship between the body and the spiritual realities that influence it. He argues that the human body is not a closed physical system but one that is profoundly influenced by the spiritual state of the heart, by the presence or absence of divine remembrance, and by the power of faith. A ruqyah performed by a person of strong faith and genuine Tawhid has greater healing power than the same words recited mechanically by a person whose heart is absent, because it is not the words alone that heal but the divine power invoked through those words by a sincere heart.

He distinguishes explicitly between what he calls 'al-ruqyah al-shar'iyyah' (the Shariah-compliant ruqyah) and those forms of ruqyah that involve invocations to jinn, unknown symbols, or practices not traceable to the Quran and Sunnah. The latter are categorically prohibited because they involve either shirk (invoking other than Allah) or unknown spiritual forces whose assistance cannot be relied upon without danger to the one seeking help. The practice of visiting practitioners of non-Shar'i ruqyah — however popular in various Muslim cultures — is addressed critically, with Ibn al-Qayyim recommending instead the sustained personal practice of Quranic recitation, authentic du'a, and maintenance of the conditions that the Sunnah establishes for the effectiveness of ruqyah: purity, sincere faith, and the active seeking of Allah's protection.