or resent Allah’s decree and destiny. There is no harm in informing people of one’s condition and the type of illness, provided one remains content with Allah’s decree. Complaining to Allah the Exalted and seeking healing from Him does not contradict patience; rather, it is legislated and recommended. Job—peace be upon him—called upon his Lord saying, “Indeed, adversity has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful” (Q 21:83).

Similarly, there is no objection to treating oneself with lawful medicines. Some scholars even underscored its importance to the point of deeming it nearly obligatory, for the hadiths affirm the linkage between causes and effects, command medical treatment, and clarify that doing so does not conflict with reliance on Allah—just as eating and drinking to ward off hunger and thirst do not conflict with it.

Conversely, it is impermissible to seek treatment through what is unlawful. In the Sahih it is narrated from Ibn Masʿūd (d. 32 AH) that he said, “Allah has not placed your cure in that which He has forbidden you.” Abū Dāwūd and others relate—traced back to the Prophet ﷺ—on the authority of Abū Hurayrah: “Allah has sent down the remedy and the disease, and He has made for every disease a cure; so do not treat yourselves with what is unlawful.” In Sahih Muslim the Prophet ﷺ said regarding wine, “It is not a remedy; rather, it is itself a disease.”