Treating the Evil Eye with Ruqyah

At the outset, I will offer a brief introduction to treatment with the Quran and ruqyah, condensed from my book, Treatment with the Quran and Ruqyah: Between the Sunnah and Innovation, insofar as space permits. Success is from Allah. I will discuss treatment through ruqyah and its ruling; whether legitimate forms of ruqyah and their means are fixed by revelation or open to reasoned judgment; and the ruling on accepting payment for treatment. I will then explain how treatment and washing are performed and the related rulings, followed by a discussion of protection against the evil eye, for prevention is better than cure.

Definition of Ruqyah

Linguistically, ruqyah means an invocation seeking protection, and its plural is ruqā. It is said that a practitioner performs ruqyah when he invokes protection and blows lightly while reciting that invocation. This is stated in Ibn Manzūr’s Lisān al-Arab.

In technical usage, ruqyah is the protective invocation recited over someone afflicted by fever, epilepsy, or another ailment. This is stated by Majd al-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr in The Ultimate Reference on Uncommon Terms in Hadith and Reports.

The Ruling on Ruqyah

Ruqyah is recommended. This is because the sunnah contains commands to perform it in more than one hadith, but there is contextual evidence showing that these commands indicate recommendation rather than obligation. One example is the authentic hadith of Ibn Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), in which the Prophet gave the woman who suffered seizures a choice as to whether he should supplicate for her or refrain from doing so. Had treatment been obligatory, he would not have offered her a choice between supplication and foregoing it.

Another indication is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) praised those who neither performed ruqyah nor requested it. Al-Bukhārī and Muslim related from Ibn Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The nations were shown to me. I saw a prophet accompanied by a small band, another prophet accompanied by one or two men, and another prophet with no one accompanying him. Then a vast multitude appeared before me, and I thought that they were my nation. But I was told, ‘This is Moses (peace be upon him) and his people. Look instead toward the horizon.’ I looked and saw a vast multitude. I was then told, ‘Look toward the other horizon,’ and there was another vast multitude. I was told, ‘This is your nation, and among them are seventy thousand who will enter Paradise without reckoning or punishment.’ He then rose and entered his home, whereupon discussion began