Healing non-Muslims with ruqyah

 

Healing non-Muslims with ruqyah

It is not a condition for healing with shar‘i ruqyah or with the Qur’an that the patient must be a Muslim, because reciting Qur’an, authentic supplications, and the use of shar‘i ruqyah are remedies for all people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Some scholars stated there is no disagreement among the scholars regarding the permissibility of reciting ruqyah for a kafir (non-Muslim).

The proof for the permissibility and validity of healing a non-Muslim with shar‘i ruqyah is the authentic hadith recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahih collections.

Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri r.a. narrated that a group of Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed by an Arab tribe, and they requested to be hosted, but the people refused to host them. While they were there, the chief of that tribe was stung by a scorpion. The people asked them:

“Do you have any remedy or a reciter of ruqyah among you?” 

One of the Companions said:

“Yes, by Allah, I am a reciter of ruqyah.”

They then said to them:

“You did not host us, therefore we will not help you unless you give us compensation.”

So they agreed that the compensation would be a flock of sheep (in one narration: 30 sheep). One of the Companions recited al-Fatihah over him, spitting lightly after recitation. The tribal chief was cured, and they brought them the sheep. The Companions then said they would not take the sheep until they asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) what he would say about it. They asked him, and he smiled and said:

“How did you know that al-Fatihah is a ruqyah? Take the sheep, and allocate a share for me as well.”

The chief of that tribe was not a Muslim, but a polytheist, and yet the recitation of al-Fatihah benefited him.

Shaykh Bin Baz was asked about the ruling of reciting ruqyah for a kafir (non-Muslim), and he replied that it is permissible if the kafir is among non-Muslims who are not at war with the Muslims.

In al-Mawsooah al-Fiqhiyyah it says:

There is no dispute among the fuqahaa (Islamic jursits) concerning the fact that it is permissible for a Muslim to perform ruqyah for a kafir. They take as evidence the hadith of Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri r.a. (which has been quoted above). Their evidence is that the tribe near whom they camped and from whom they sought hospitality were kuffar, and the Messenger (ﷺ) did not denounce that.

The difference between Muslims and non-Muslims in treatment by ruqyah, or between those who declare themselves Muslim but do not practice the religious duties, lies in the fact that a Muslim who prays, fasts, recites Qur’an, and engages in daily adhkar and similar acts has a shield of protection, making it harder for sihr (sorcery) to affect him, even though it is still possible. Non-Muslims, however, are easier prey for sihr and for its renewal, because they lack the protection that practicing Muslims have through their faith.