Date : 03-06-2012

Question :

What is the ruling on reciting lawful poetry over a patient which is not meant as a Ruqyaa (Quranic recitation over patient); rather, it is meant to differentiate between the one who is afflicted with demonic possession or a mere illusion?


The Answer :

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all of his family and companions.


There is no doubt that the cure by the Holy Quran and what been confirmed by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as regards applying Ruqyaa is a very useful treatment and perfect cure if Allah, The Exalted wills, since He Said (What means): "It is a Guide and a Healing to those who believe." [Fussilat/44] in addition, `Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) narrated: During the Prophet's fatal illness, he used to recite the Mu'auwidhat (Surat An-Nas and Surat Al- Falaq) and then blow his breath over his body. When his illness was aggravated, I used to recite those two Suras and blow my breath over him and make him rub his body with his own hand for its blessings. Ma`mar asked Az-Zuhri: How did the Prophet (PBUH) use to blow? Az-Zuhri said: He used to blow on his hands and then passed them over his face.) [Agreed upon]. Kindly refer to [Fatih Al-Bary vol.12 pp.305] for Al-Hafidh Ibn Hoojer.


Moreover, in order to have a lawful Ruqyaa several conditions have to be met: It must be performed through using Allah's speech (Quran), His Names and Attributes, Prophetic prayers and remembrances, it must be recited in Arabic or any other language that has the same meaning of an Arabic one, shouldn't include meaningless and ambiguous words and finally to believe that Ruqyaa alone won't work save with Allah's omnipotence.


In addition, during Ruqyaa, both whether the patient or the one who perform it has to believe in himself, be honest in asking Allah, The Exalted with complete confidence that He will respond to him and to be truthful seeking refuge in Allah in which his tongue and heart are completely present.


There is no harm in using lawful poetry and speech over patient in a particular way for the purpose of inspection but not as a Ruqyaa, in order to convince the people who seek for it as they believe that they are possessed or envied, and after reciting lawful poetry over them, patients pretend and start to get confused because they think that what been recited is Quran and after figuring out that it was poetry, the reciter convince them that it is physiological issue and has nothing to do with envy nor demonic possession, stipulated that the poetry doesn’t include ambiguous or prohibited phrases.


In conclusion, after diagnosing patient's status by the reciter, he clarified to him and to his family that their son isn't possessed, envied, nor bewitched; rather he advised them to look for a doctor since; nowadays, a lot of people have similar cases and think that they have been envied or bewitched. And Allah Knows Best.