LAWFUL HEALING METHODS AS COMPARED TO FALSE SUPERSTITION
All the praises and thanks are for Allah, to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. His is all the praises and thanks in the Hereafter, and He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware. I thank and praise Him, for He is Worthy of all praise, and He is Able to do all things. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Alláh Alone, without partners, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. O Alláh! Bestow Your best blessings and mercy on Your Prophet Muhammad, his progeny and Companions.
Alláh the Exalted said:
“And if Alláh touches you with harm, there is none who can remove it but He; and if He intends any good for you, there is none who can repel His Favour which He causes it to reach whomsoever of His slaves He wills. And He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (10:107)
O Alláh’s slaves! Bringing harm or benefit is only in the Hands of Alláh and therefore, none among the crcation can avert any type of harm that Alláh has intended for him or her. This, and all other matters are Alláh’s Domain Alone. Consequently, there is neíther need, nor justification for anyone to seek anything other than Alláh to remove an affliction, avert it before it strikes, or bring a type of good or cause it to continue. Alláh Alone has power over such aspects, and thus, none else is worthy of being invoked or sought for help in this regard, or begged to remove hardships, or asked to repel afflictions.
O Muslims! Mankind is prone to fall il!, and in this case, Alláh has commanded them to seek healing for illnesses that might touch them, using only the lawful means and ways to remove the disease or relieve its severity. We were forbidden to use unlawful means and ways that Alláh has disallowed for us; such unlawful ways wíll never avaíl, but instead bring harm.
For instance, hanging lucky charms and beads around the necks of children or animals, for the claimed purpose of repelling the evil eye or to fend off an illness, are acts of Shirk (Polytheism) and reliance on others beside Alláh. The Messenger(pbuh) forbade these superstitious acts and stated that lucky charms and like methods, will only intensify the disease and magnify the presence of evil!
What benefit would tying knots, collecting beads on a string, wearing an iron ring on the hand or foot, magic spells or writing unintelligible words bring? None. Rather, they will only bring harm, misguidance and spoil the minds and pure nature:
“The Messenger of Alláh(pbuh) once saw aman wearing an iron ring around his hand and asked him, “What is this?” The man said, “To repel Al-Wahinah,” which was a common disease among Arabs during that time. The Prophet(pbuh) said, “Take it off of your hand, for verily, it will only increase your weakness! If you die while wearing it, you will never attain success.”
The Messenger of Alláh(pbuh) stated in this Hadith that wearing a ring or a lucky charm will not prevent illness. On the contrary, it will intensify the disease along with the weakness it brings to the body. He also told that man that if he died while wearing that ring, he would never attain success.
The Prophet(pbuh) also said:
“Whoever hangs a Tamimah (lucky charm), then may Alláh never complete his aim, and whoever wears a Wada ‘ah (beads), then may Alláh never allow him to rest.”
In another narration the Prophet(pbuh) said:
“Whoever wears a Tamimah, will have committed Shirk.”
In these Ahadith, the Prophet(pbuh) invoked Alláh against those who wear beads and lucky charms for the purpose of bringing benefit or averting harm. Therefore, they will never attain success in their aims, nor acquire what they wished, nor taste calmness or comfort, but will instead suffer from worry and depression, because they rely on other than Alláh and defy the Messenger’s command and way.
Once, a group of people came to the Messenger(pbuh) to swear their allegiance to embrace Islam and he accepted their Bai’ah (oath of allegiance) except for one mano When they asked the Messenger of Alláh why he accepted the Bai’ah from them all except that man, he said that he did so because that man was wearing a Tamimah (Iucky charm). So the man inserted his hand inside his clothing, took the lucky charm and tore it off. The Messenger accepted the Bai ‘ah from him, saying, “Whoever wears a Tamimah will have committed Shirk.” Further, when Hudhaifah visited an ill person and touched his arm, he found a knot tied around it. He asked him, “What is this?” The ill man said, “A Ruqyah (healer, or lucky charm) that was prescribed to me.” Hudhaifah tore the knot and said to him, “If you died while wearing this, I would not have prayed the funeral prayer for you.”
Hudhaifah admonished that ill man because he tied a piece of rope around his arm believing that it is a cause and a method to repel the illness, not that it actually heals just by wearing it. What about those who wear lucky charms and beads believing that they themselves avail?
As, Muslims, we are required to rely on Alláh Alone and before anything else, then seek the lawful means and ways to repel harm or heal illnesses. Every action, statement and creed that was not allowed for us to indulge in, we are required to abandon and shun it. We are required to raise our children to be righteous and to steer them away from all types of superstitions and whims. We are required to rear them to rely only on Alláh Alone and to nurture the pure nature that Alláh created in them. This way, they will trust in Alláh Alone for each and every thing, invoke Him Alone in times of affliction and hardship and stay away from liars and sorcerers. If we apply this good method, we will dissipate all types of evil creeds and statements and erase them from our society, while preserving our good nature from misguidance and superstitious whims.
We should also assert that wearing a Tamimah that neither contains a part of the Qurán, nor mentions Alláhs Name, is an act of Shirk. Wearing a lucky charm that contains the Qur’án or Alláhs Names, is a disallowed act because the Prophet(pbuh) forbade wearing the Tamimah, regardless of what is written inside it. Moreover, the habit of wearing the latter type of Tamimah might lead to Shirk and writing something other than the Qur’án in it later on. Also, when the Qur’án is hung around one’s neck, it will be taken into the bathroom and dirty places, along with the person who is wearing it.
Surely, the Qur’án was not revealed for the purpose of being hung around one’s neck, but as a healer for the iIIs ofthe hearts. The Qur’án was not revealed so that one makes Tamimah out of it, or sell Tamimah that contains parts of it for money, thus acquiring a miserable sum for selling Alláh’s Words.
I say this and invoke Alláh to forgive us all. Seek His forgiveness, for verily, He is Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
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John Doe
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