Ruqyah
What is Ruqyah?
Ruqyah in Islam is the recitation of the Quran seeking refuge in Allah, remembrance and supplications that are used as a means of treating sickness and other problems as the Quran is a source of healing.
Ruqyah has been effective in curing the evil eye, possession of Jinn, Envy, and magic. The secret behind this is that one puts his full trust, reliance, and dependence in Allah, the one and only source of all healing and cure.
The Qur’ān offers perfect solace to a believer – both spiritually and physically. Ruqyah should therefore play an essential role in our lives. Allah says: “And say: The truth has come, and falsehood has vanished. Surely falsehood is ever bound to vanish by its very nature. And we send down in the Qur’ān that which is a cure and a mercy for the believers.” (17:81-2)
As well as providing a cure, Ruqyah is an excellent way for the believers to build their Imān and reaffirm their tawhīd for Allah. Indeed seeking treatment through the Qur’ān demonstrates complete belief in the Book of Allah.
Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said: “Make good use of the two cures: honey and the Qur’ān.” (Ibn Mājah)
Aishah said: “When the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was ill, Jibril performed Ruqyah on him.” (Muslim)
In another hadith, Aishah (r.a) informs us that Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) entered upon her and found a woman treating her with Ruqyah (through other than the words of Allah). Prophet Muhammed said: “Treat her with the book of Allah.” (Ibn Hibban). She also said” The Messenger of Allah used to command me to perform Ruqyah from the evil eye.” (Muslim)
Once the Prophet Muhammad saw a girl whose face had changed color in the house of Umm Salamah, so Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said: “Seek Ruqyah for her because she has been affected by the evil eye.” (Bukhari)
Aishah (r.a) narrated that whenever the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) would become sick, he would recite the last 3 surahs of the Quran and then blow over his body. She says: “During his last illness from which he passed away, the Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w) used to blow over himself . But when his sickness intensified, I used recite then blow over him using his own hands because of their blessings.” (Bukhari)
In another hadith, Aishah (r.a) mentions that whenever anyone from his family would become ill, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) would blow over them with these three surahs. (Muslim)
Conditions for Ruqyah
There are some important conditions that must be satisfied in a ruqyah to make it permissible. They were summarized by Ibn Hajar (AR):” There is a consensus among the ‘ulama that ruqa are permissible when they satisfy three conditions:
To be with Allah’s words or His names and attributes
To be in Arabic or of an intelligible meaning
And to believe that they do not have effect by themselves but by Allah
Symptoms of Jinn Possession
Those who have written on this topic have listed several symptoms of jinn possession. These symptoms may be real, but we must point out that some of these symptoms may also occur for other reasons, such as staying up all night, or confusion and uncertainty. So we must try to protect ourselves from the whispers that the Shaytan tries to instill in our hearts when reading this list of symptoms.
These symptoms have been divided into two categories: those which occur when one is awake, and those which occur when one is asleep.
Symptoms When Awake
- Turning away, in particular, from acts of worship and obedience, the remembrance of Allah (Dhikr) and reading the Qur'an.
- Erratic behavior in one's words, deeds and movements.
- Seizures (with no medical cause); there are signs to indicate that a seizure has devilish causes.
- Paralysis of a limb (with no medical cause).
- Being quick to get angry or weep with no apparent cause.
- Sitting in the toilet for a long time, and talking to oneself.
- Constant headache (on one or both sides of the head) with no medical cause, which is not eased by painkillers.
- Irregular menstruation in women.
- Not producing children although both husband and wife are medically sound and able to reproduce.
Symptoms When Asleep
- Frightening nightmares, which includes seeing various kinds of creatures such as ghosts or apparitions, seeing oneself falling from a high place, seeing people in strange forms, and snakes.
- Insomnia, anxiety and fear upon waking.
- Talking loudly in one's sleep, or moaning and groaning.
- Shakes and Jitters while asleep.
- Seeing animals or figures while trying to sleep.
- Grinding your teeth while trying to sleep.
- Uncontrollable and unexplained laughs while trying to sleep.
- Seeing humans in abnormal forms; ex. extremely tall man or extremely short man.
- Seeing humans in abnormal forms.
- Imagining yourself falling from high places.
Note: A person should not be regarded as being possessed by the jinn if any of these symptoms occur. No one can be certain that a person has been possessed by the jinn until after the Qur’an has been recited over him, so these symptoms cannot be taken as definitive evidence of jinn possession.
Broad Symptoms of Jinn Possession
Delusion is a serious mental illness. If a person is overcome by delusions, it is difficult to escape from them. No person is free of delusions that sometimes come to him, and in some cases life is delusion upon delusion, to such an extent that the delusions have a greater influence on a person than does reality. With the spread of treatment by means of the Qur’an and people seeing cases of epilepsy, and the spread of stories, whether from people who have gone for treatment or from books, delusions have started to encroach upon the minds of many people as a result of the many problems of life. Even those who are righteous and upright in their religious commitment are not free from the problems of delusion.
In fact if the disease of delusion strikes a man, it is one of the most serious kinds of disease, for jinn possession may be dealt with by reciting the Qur’an as a Ruqyah, but the disease of delusion is a vicious circle. Similarly, some people may imagine that they have been bewitched or that so-and-so has put a spell on them because of some problem between them, so their thinking becomes confused and their lives become chaotic, and they tell themselves that they have been bewitched.
If the delusion of having being possessed by the jinn or having been bewitched takes hold of a person, then his thinking becomes confused and his life becomes chaotic; his glands start to malfunction and the signs of possession or bewitchment appear in him. He may suffer convulsions or lose consciousness as the result of what modern psychology calls autosuggestion.
Then anxiety accompanied by intense fear starts to take over his life. His nervous system begins to malfunction, the muscles of the heart tense up and physical symptoms appear. The sick person feels pain in the area of the heart and the pain increases as the fear grows. Other symptoms appear as the result of the malfunction in the nervous system, and there is no part of the body which is not affected by this case of anxiety.
The heart rate increases and may become irregular, the blood pressure rises, the digestive system malfunctions, pains develop in the stomach and the patient’s sexual desire may be affected so that he feels no attraction towards his wife; The muscles of the body become tense, and muscle tension in the head leads to migraines.
In fact many of those who go to those who offer treatment using the Noble Qur’an are suffering from delusions. Very few of them are actually possessed by the jinn, even though they may show symptoms of jinn possession. The fact of the matter, as supported by psychology, is that ongoing anxiety does indeed cause real physical illness, so the pain becomes a physical reality, not just tension. Anxiety may cause stomach ulcers, angina and other problems, which changes a person’s life and causes him to lose ambition and neglect his work; it also causes disruption in his marital life, and he becomes a prisoner to delusion and fear.
There is a real remedy for this problem, to be found in psychology if the person has been overtaken by delusions for a long time. If the problem has only recently begun, however, he must recite prayers for protection.
Definition of epilepsy:
Doctors have not been able to give a comprehensive and definitive definition of epilepsy, because of the numerous clinical manifestations of epilepsy, including convulsions.
Epileptic seizures:
Doctors use the phrase “epileptic seizure” to describe the sudden attack that happens to a patient, characterized by tension and snaking, accompanied by loss of consciousness. Doctors divide epileptic seizures into two types, grand mal and petit mal. Grand mal seizures are accompanied by a loss of consciousness, whereas petit mal seizures may occur in the early stages and may not be noticed by the patient or by those around him. They last for 3-10 seconds and are not usually accompanied by convulsions. They usually occur suddenly, whereby you will see the patient stop speaking for a moment and then carry on with some loss of focus, or moving from speaking in detail to mumbling. The patient may stare into space for a moment and the go back to what he was doing.
Causes of epilepsy
Doctors link epileptic seizures to three factors, namely:
1 – Individual potential and heredity
2 – Problems in the brain
3 – Changes in neurological activity
But there is another important cause of epilepsy which is that it may be caused by jinn possession. This is something which many doctors do not wish to acknowledge, despite the fact that they admit that there are some kinds of epilepsy for which modern science cannot discover the cause. What is even stranger is that many of those who deny this are from among our own people, whereas many doctors in the West acknowledge this kind of epilepsy.
Depression refers to intense sadness. It is a widespread mental illness, indeed one of the most widespread. As for mild sadness or feeling “blue”, this is a normal and natural emotion which hardly anyone can escape, not even a believer. Allah says:
(Secret counsels (conspiracies) are only from Shaytan (Satan), in order that he may cause grief to the believers.) (Al-Mujaddilah 58:10)
If that sadness increases and takes over a person, it becomes depression.
Signs of depression:
1 – Feeling distressed and sad
2 – Loss of appetite
3 – Lack of focus, forgetfulness
4 – Sleep disturbances, weight loss
5 – Lack of sexual desire
Causes of depression:
1 – External causes
2 – Internal causes
1 – External causes
These are factors that are outside a person, such as life events like losing a loved one, or losing money or social standing. If this person does not have the protection of faith, he will go through several stages until he reaches the stage of depression.
2 – Internal causes
These have to do with the person’s physical make-up, such as brain cells, a lack of thyroid hormones or a lack of certain vitamins.
Anxiety refers to fidgeting and restlessness; it is the opposite of tranquillity. Anxiety is a type of psychological illness that is characterized by tension, fear and dread, whether that is related to specific matters or is unclear. It may also become chronic.
Anxiety is something that all people go through when faced with certain circumstances, but people vary with regard to how well protected they are psychologically and in the degree of individual potential and feelings of anxiety. The circumstances and events surrounding each individual also vary.
Symptoms of anxiety
1 – Pain in the heart; irregular heartbeat
2 – Feelings of doom and loss of equilibrium
3 – Continuous, intense headache
4 – Tossing and turning; insomnia
5 – Poor memory and difficulty in thinking
And there are many other symptoms of anxiety.
Main causes of anxiety
1 – Apprehensiveness and expecting the worst with regard to things, specific or otherwise.
2 – Conflict between one’s inclinations and the restrictions that prevent him from fulfilling those inclinations.
3 – Mental or physical exhaustion, which are connected to one another.
Common Types of Sihr
01.
Sihr of Separation
It is a sihr which aims to separate between two spouses or stir up hatred between two friends or two partners.
Symptoms
A sudden change in attitude from love to hate.
A great deal of suspicion is aroused between the two people concerned.
Exaggerating the causes of disputes between two people, even though they may be trivial.
Changing the mental image that a woman may have of her husband, or changing the mental image that a man may have of his wife; so that the man would see his wife in an ugly way, even though she were beautiful. In reality, it is the demon who is entrusted with the task of performing this type of sihr is the one who would appear to the husband in her person, but in an ugly way. By the same token, the woman would see her husband in a horrible way.
The person affected by sihr hates anything the other party does.
The person affected by sihr hates the place in which the other party stays. For instance, a husband may be in good mood when he is outdoors, but when he returns home, he feels quite depressed.
The cause of separation between two spouses through this sihr is that each of them appears to the other as an ugly or ill-mannered person. 1/144
02.
Sihr of Love
It is a sihr which makes a man love his wife or makes a woman love her husband.
Symptoms
Excessive love and passion.
Extreme desire to have sexual intercourse.
Impatience of remaining without having sexual intercourse.
Extreme lust at the sight of one’s wife.
Blind obedience to one’s wife.
At-tiwala is a type of sihr which makes a man love his wife. The reason why this type of sihr is classed by the Prophet (Peace and Blessing upon Him) as an act of polytheism is because those who have it done for them believe that it has an effect and does the opposite of what Allah (‘Azza wa Jalla) has prescribed. An-Nihaya: 1/200
03.
Sihr of Lunacy
It is a sihr that aims to drive a person to insanity. This should not be confused with psychological disorders.
Symptoms
Severe absent mindedness and forgetfulness.
Confused speech and comprehension
Bulging eyes and deviation of sight
Restlessness and lack of expressing exhaustion
Inability to do a task regularly.
Disinterest in one’s appearance
Frequent Headaches and Migraines
Kharija Ibn salat reported that his paternal uncle went to the Prophet (Peace and Blessing upon Him) and declared his conversion to Islam. On his way back, his uncle passed by a people who had fettered a lunatic in chains. They said: "We were told that your companion (the Prophet (Peace and Blessing upon Him)) has brought good with him. Do you have anything with which to cure our lunatic?" I recited al-Fatiha and he was cured.
04.
Sihr of Lethargy
It is a sihr which makes a person very introverted and lonely. The Jinn is instructed to settle in the brain.
Symptoms
Love of seclusion; constantly wants to be alone
Absolute introversion; avoid all social interactions
Absentmindedness; they are there physically but not mentally. Looks as if they are in a long day dream.
Quietness and constant lethargy; they are not interested in doing any activities or engaging in conversations.
Severe Anti-social behaviors; Often alienate themselves from others by locking themselves in a quiet room.
Frequent Headaches and Migraines
Constant silence; suddenly loses communication skills.
A sahir would send a Jinn to the targeted person, instructing him to settle in his brain and make him introverted and lonely. The Jinn would do his best to carry out the mission, and the symptoms of this sihr would appear, according to the strength and weakness of the Jinn entrusted with the task.
05.
Sihr of Bad Dreams and Voices
It is a sihr that gives a person nightmares in their sleep and often hears voices while awake.
Symptoms
The patient experiences nightmares.
The patient sees in a dream as if someone were calling him.
The patient hears voices talking to him when awake, but cannot see where these voices are coming from.
The patient hears much whispering (Al-Waswas)
The patient is very suspicious of his/her friends and relatives.
The patient dreams of seeing himself/herself falling from a high place.
The patient dreams of seeing himself/herself being chased by animals.
The sahir instructs a Jinn to appear to a person both in a dream and in reality, in the form of savage beasts attacking him; to call him when awake in voices which he recognizes and which he does not; to cause him to suspect people that are close to him and people who are not. Symptoms may vary according to the power and weakness of the sihr. They may increase to the point of reaching lunacy and may also diminish to the point of being a mere whispering.
06.
Sihr of Illness
It is a sihr that aims to cause a person physical illness and harm. This sihr could escalate to serious medical issues.
Symptoms
Constant pain in one part of the body.
Epilepsy; explained in more detail above
Paralysis of one area of the patient’s body.
Total paralysis of the body; lacking physical abilities
Disability in of one of the sense organs.
You abruptly come down with an Illness and medical professionals can’t figure out what’s wrong
You feel like your weaker throughout your body and often times it’s accompanied by lightheadedness.
Note: It is important that patients must seek medical help and support for any of the above-mentioned cases in order to assess the actual causes of such problems. The research on the page is not a replacement for medical services nor is it medical advice.
Ruqyah Request Form
Complete this form and we’ll reach out to you to schedule a Ruqyah session.
All information entered on this form is secure.
"The Qur’ān is the complete healing for all mental, spiritual and physical diseases; all the diseases of this world and the Hereafter. But not everyone is guided to use it for the purpose of healing. If the sick person uses the Qur’ān for healing in the proper way, and applies it to his disease with sincerity, faith, complete acceptance and firm conviction, fulfilling all its conditions, then no disease can resist it.’"
