Is it permissible for him to open a business offering treatment with ruqyah and cupping?

Question: 60162

I am a young Muslim man who is among those who call people to the way of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah. Three years ago I started to recite ruqyahs that are prescribed in sharee’ah for people, according to proper guidelines but not in any organized fashion, in return for money which I use on some of my needs. Allaah decreed that my ruqyahs be accepted and Allaah has healed many people at my hands and guided others to the right path and helped them to believe in His Oneness and to keep away from shirk, despite the hassles that I have faced from some of the charlatans, biased people and those who seek to prevent shar’i ruqyah which they describe as bid’ah and haraam earnings. Too many people started coming to me and urging to help them because there are no people who devote their time to reciting ruqyah. All of these people are coming to me for ruqyah in my home which is very humble, which causes me a lot of hardship and difficulty, and it bothers my family because people knock at the door so much, and I have started to neglect my other duties because of reciting ruqyah for them because I feel too shy to refuse. I thought of renting a place which I can use specifically for reciting ruqyah as prescribed in sharee’ah and cupping in return for approximately 20 riyals for doing ruqyah for one person, and that charge will go towards paying the rent and some of my essential needs. But I was surprised when some Muslims who claim to have knowledge denounced me for specializing in this and said that specializing in this was a bid’ah and was not known among the salaf of this ummah, and that money earned in this way is haraam.

It is permissible to open a clinic for ruqyahs that are prescribed in sharee’ah and cupping in return for money, especially since I am in need and am not well off, and I have responsibilities towards my family, and I am suffering from a chronic illness and cannot do heavy work, and the Muslims are in need of someone who can specialize in ruqyah and call them to Tawheed and forbid them from shirk?

If it is permissible to open a Qur’aanic clinic, then after that I find a job, there are further questions to be answered:

1- Should I stop doing ruqyah and take this job even though this would result in several negative consequences such as not being able to do this good deed and this will create a vacuum in this area?

2- Should I combine both and try to reconcile between them without letting one of them affect the other?

3- Should I refuse to work and be content with doing ruqyah because it benefits others and serves the interests of the Muslims?

If it is not permissible to open a Qur’aanic clinic:

1- Should I stop doing ruqyah altogether?

2- Is it better to carry on doing ruqyah in my house and not specialize in it, and put up with people’s annoyances?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

Firstly:

If the situation is as described, that you recite ruqyahs that are prescribed in sharee’ah and the people really need that, then we ask Allaah to reward you and help you and guide you. There is nothing wrong with you receiving payment in return for that.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: We heard of some people who treat others by means of the Qur’aan; they recite Qur’aan and du’aa’s that are prescribed in sharee’ah over water or olive oil as a remedy for witchcraft, the evil eye and madness (the touch of the shaytaan), and they receive payment for that. Is this permissible according to sharee’ah? Does reciting over water or olive oil come under the same ruling as reciting over the sick person himself?

He replied:

There is nothing wrong with receiving payment for reciting ruqyah for one who is sick, because it is proven in al-Saheehayn that a group of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) set out on a journey and travelled until they made came near one of the Arab tribes. (These people were either kaafirs or very stingy, as Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in al-Madaarij). They asked them for hospitality but they refused to do so. Then the leader of that tribe was stung, and they tried everything but nothing helped him. Then some of them said, Why don’t you go to those people who are staying (nearby)? Maybe some of them have something. So they went to them and said, O people, our leader has been stung and we have tried everything and nothing helped him. Do any of you have something? One of them said, Yes, by Allaah. I will perform ruqyah for him, but by Allaah we asked you for hospitality and you did not give us anything, so we will not perform ruqyah for you unless you give us something in return. So they agreed on a flock of sheep, then he started to blow on him and recite Al-hamdu Lillaahi Rabb il-‘Aalameen. Then he recovered quickly from his complaint and started walking, and there was nothing wrong with him. Then they have them what they had agreed to, and some of them (the Sahaabah) said, Let us share it out. The one who had performed ruqyah said, Do not do anything until we come to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and tell him what happened, and we will wait and see what he tells us to do. So they came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and told him what had happened. He said, “How did you know that it is a ruqyah?” Then he said, “You did the right thing.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2115) and Muslim(4080).

There is nothing wrong with reciting over water or olive oil to treat the sick person, the one on whom a spell has been cast or the one who is insane, but reciting over the patient and blowing over him is better and preferable. Abu Dawood (may Allaah have mercy on him) narrated with a hasan isnaad that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) recited over water for Thaabit ibn Qays ibn Shammaas and poured it over him. And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There is nothing wrong with ruqyah that does not involve shirk.” Muslim (4079). This saheeh hadeeth is general in meaning and includes ruqyah recited over the patient himself and ruqyah recited over water and olive oil etc. And Allaah is the Source of strength. End quote.

Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz (19/338).

The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked about a man who performed ruqyah for people in return for payment, and he did not know anything but that which was proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and he referred to the books of trustworthy scholars concerning that.

They replied:

If the situation is as you describe and you treat the sick with ruqyahs that are prescribed in sharee’ah, and you do not recite any ruqyahs except those that are proven from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and you are keen to refer concerning that to that which was stated by the great scholar Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) in his well known books, and what was written by the great scholar Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) in Zaad al-Ma’aad and other similar books by Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah, then you work is permissible, and your efforts are appreciated and will be rewarded in sha Allaah. And there is nothing wrong with you receiving payment for that, because of the hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) to which you referred in your question. End quote.

The hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri is the hadeeth mentioned above, about reciting al-Faatihah as a ruqyah for the man who had been stung by a scorpion.

As ruqyah is permissible and it is permissible to receive payment for it, it makes no difference whether that is in your home or in a rented place, or in separate premises, so as to ward off hardship for the family at home. There is no basis for those who object to that on the grounds that it is not known that the salaf earned a living in this manner; once it is proven that job is permissible and that being paid for it is permissible, the view that this profession is haraam is the view of one who speaks without knowledge.

Al-Bukhaari said in his Saheeh in Kitaab al-Ijaarah (the Book of Employment): Chapter on what is given for reciting the Opening of the Book (al-Faatihah) as a ruqyah for an Arab tribe. Ibn ‘Abbaas narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “The most deserving thing for which you receive payment is the Book of Allaah.” End quote.

Secondly:

In the answer to question no. 71303 we stated that there is a difference of scholarly opinion with regard to receiving payment for cupping. The correct view is that it is permissible and is not haraam. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) only disallowed it in the sense of it being makrooh, not haraam.

Thirdly:

There is nothing wrong with you opening a clinic to treat people with ruqyah and cupping, as stated above. Even if you find other work, you do not have to give up ruqyah; you could combine both types of work if you think that is appropriate, without it affecting you or your family.

If treating the sick with ruqyah offers a good opportunity to call them to Allaah, advise them and direct them towards what is good – as you say – then you should not give up this work, even if other work becomes available to you. This is a way of doing good to others.

The one who offers this treatment should remember that Allaah is always watching him, in secret and in public, so he should be easy going with people and not press them for payment or the cost of the treatment, and he should remind them that healing is in the hand of Allaah alone. He should remind them to repent to Allaah and give up the sins that lead to many problems and calamities.

And Allaah knows best.

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