21. ✿Seeking Treatment from Witchcraft and Ignorant People is not allowed
Q)When a person suffers epilepsy, he goes to some Arab healers, who communicate with Jinn, and make weird movements. They give a patient amulets for a period of time, and say he is possessed, enchanted, or the like. Such healers treat the patient, and heal him, but they receive money in return. What is the ruling on such practices? And what is the ruling on seeking remedy by amulets containing Qur’anic Verses, then soaked in water for drinking?
A)There is no harm in treating an epileptic, or possessed person with Qur’anic Verses and legitimate medical remedies, if the person who treats those patients is known to uphold a sound creed, and a committed believer. As for seeking help from those who claim the knowledge of the unseen, or who communicate with Jinn, or the charlatans who are ignorant and are unknown, and whose method of healing is obscure, it is not permissible to consult them, nor to seek remedy from them, because the Prophet(ﷺ) said:
مَنْ أَتَى عَرَّافًا فَسَأَلَهُ عَنْ شَيْءٍ لَمْ تُقْبَلْ لَهُ صَلَاةُ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةٌ
(He who visits a fortuneteller and consults him, no prayer of his would be accepted for forty days.[57]
He also said:
مَنْ أَتَى عَرَّافًا أَوْ كَاهِنًا فَصَدَّقَهُ بِمَا يَقُولُ، فَقَدْ كَفَرَ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدﷺٍ
(He who visits a fortuneteller or a seer and believes him, has certainly denied what was revealed to [58]Muhammad(ﷺ) The other relevant Hadith signifies the prohibition of consulting soothsayers and diviners and believing them.
It is those who claim the knowledge of the unseen, and seek the help from Jinn, or whose behavior is indicative of this fact. It is those people whom the Prophet(ﷺ)described their work as the work of Satan, saying:
هِيَ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ
(It (Nushrah) is a practice of Shaitan.)[59]
The scholars explained that the Nushrah is an incantation or amulet used in pre-Islamic ignorance to deactivate magic. Every remedy that is sought from diviners, soothsayers, or hoaxes falls under Nushrah.
Hence, it should be known that remedies for all ailments and epileptic fits, or the like, are only permissible when they are legally pursued through permissible means, such as reciting Qur’anic Verses and supplications on the patient, and blowing by the mouth on him. The Prophet(ﷺ)said:
لا بأس بِالرُّقَى مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ شِرْكًا
(There is no harm in seeking protection by such means, as long as they do not involve Shirk.)[60]
He also said:
عِبَادَ اللَّهِ تَدَاوَوْا وَلَا تَدَاوَوْا بِحَرَامٍ
(O worshippers of Allah!, seek medical help, but never use an unlawful thing for remedy)[61]
As for writing Verses and legal supplication with saffron in a clean plate, or clean paper, then to be washed for the patient to drink the washing, there is no harm in that. Many of the Pious Predecessors did so, as scholar Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah grant him his mercy, asserted in his book Zadul-Ma’ad and other works, provided the one who does so is known to be a good practicing Muslim. It is Allah Who grants success.
Ibn Baz
[57: Muslim no. 2230 and Ahmad 4:68, 5:380]
[58: Abu Dawud no. 3904, At-Tirmithi nos. 135, 639, Ahmad 2:408 and 476.]
[59: Abu Dawud no. 3868.]
[60: Muslim no. 2200.]
[61: Abu Dawood no 3874]
REFERENCE:
BOOK: Fatawa Islamiyah[Islamic Verdicts] volume: 01
From Noble scholars along with The permanent committe & the decisions of the fiqh council.