The Ruling on Washing and Ablution for a Person Afflicted by Envy

The prescribed washing and ablution for the benefit of someone struck by the evil eye are even more emphatically required than invoking Allah’s blessing for him, while invoking His blessing is itself obligatory. The fundamental principles of the Sacred Law require that harms be averted or reduced and that benefits be secured and increased. It has already been explained that envy is sinful, and the envious person therefore incurs sin. In Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated a report traced back to the Prophet: “Whoever has wronged anyone, whether concerning his honor or anything else, must seek that person’s pardon today, before a time when there will be neither dinar nor dirham. If he has righteous deeds, some will be taken from him in proportion to the wrong he committed; and if he has no good deeds, some of the other person’s sins will be taken and laid upon him.” Ahmad also narrated it in al-Musnad.

Among those who held that the washing is obligatory was al-Qurtubī, the Quranic commentator. He said: “When someone harms another with his evil eye without invoking Allah’s blessing, he is instructed to perform the prescribed washing and must be compelled to do so if he refuses, for a command denotes obligation—especially in a case such as this, in which the afflicted person’s life may be feared for. No one should deny his brother something that will benefit his brother without harming him, particularly when he himself caused the harm and is responsible for the injury.” (1)

Treatment with the Quran

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The Quran is the complete cure for all ailments of the heart and body, and for the ailments of this world and the Hereafter. Not everyone, however, is enabled or granted success to seek healing through it. If a sick person uses it properly as treatment and applies it to his ailment with sincerity, faith, complete acceptance, firm conviction, and fulfillment of its conditions, no illness can ever resist it. How could ailments resist the words of the Lord of the earth and the heavens—words which, had they descended upon the mountains, would have split them apart, or upon the earth, would have rent it asunder? There is no ailment of the heart or body except that the Quran contains guidance to its remedy and cause, and to the means of guarding against it, for whomever Allah grants understanding of His Book. It further demonstrates how the Glorious Quran guides to the fundamental and comprehensive principles of medicine: preserving health, guarding against harmful things, and expelling harmful substances. From these principles, the particular cases within all these categories may be inferred. As for remedies for the heart, the Quran sets them out in detail and explains the causes and treatment of its ailments. Allah Most High says: ‘Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book, which is recited to them?