Al-Bukhari relates from Qatadah: “I asked Ibn al-Musayyib, ‘A man is afflicted with ṭibb (magic) or is prevented from approaching his wife—may the spell be undone for him; may a nushrah be performed?’ He answered, ‘There is no harm in that, for they only intend reconciliation. Whatever brings benefit has not been prohibited.’
It is reported from al-Hasan that he said, ‘No one breaks sorcery except a sorcerer.’
Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Nushrah is the removal of sorcery from the bewitched person, and it is of two kinds:
- Removing it with sorcery of the same type; this is the work of Satan, and al-Hasan’s statement is to be understood in this sense. The healer and the one being healed both draw near to Satan with what he desires, whereupon he cancels the spell affecting the victim.
- Nushrah carried out with ruqyah (Quranic recitations), protective supplications, lawful medicines, and permissible prayers; this is permissible.”
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Biographical note on Qatadah: He is Qatadah ibn Duʿāmah al-Sadūsi al-Basri, reliable and among the most memorising of the Successors; d. in the early teens of the second century AH.
“Afflicted with ṭibb”: the ṭāʾ is read with kasrah; it means sorcery—they referred to it as “medicine” by way of good omen.
“Yu’akhkhaḏ”: with an initial hamzah after the wāw and a doubled khāʾ—meaning he is held back from his wife and unable to have marital relations with her.
“There is no harm in it”: i.e., in treating him with lawful measures intended solely for benefit and the removal of harm.
“No one breaks sorcery except a sorcerer”: that is, no one is able to undo it except one who knows