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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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What is the meaning of the hadith: "They do not seek ruqyah, nor do they apply cautery"?

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Question:
It was reported from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in a hadith praising some of the believers, and he said:
They are those who do not use charms nor cauterise themselves nor seek omens and who rely on their Lord.هم الذين لا يسترقون، ولا يكتوون، ولا يتطيرون، وعلى ربهم يتوكلون
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 911
We seek clarification of the aspect of praise in his statement, "They do not seek ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation)," knowing that ruqyah is prescribed based on the saying and the action of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

Answer:
This hadith is about the description of the seventy thousand who will be at the Gate of Paradise without reckoning or punishment. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said about them:
who do not use charms nor cauterise themselves nor seek omens and who rely on their Lordلا يسترقون ولا يكتوون ولا يتطيرون وعلى ربهم يتوكلون
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 911
and this is an authentic hadith. Know, O brother questioner and those present, that there are means that are forbidden and not permissible to do, such as taking omens, seeking help from sorcerers, fortune-tellers, and astrologers, and forbidden medicines. These are forbidden means that are not permissible. And there are permissible means that are used and benefited from, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O servants of Allah,"
Seek treatment, but do not seek treatment with what is forbidden. And he said, "There is no harm in ruqyah as long as it is not shirk (associating partners with Allah)."تداووا ولا تداووا بحرام النساء وقال لا بأس بالرقى ما لم تكن شركا
The permissible means include medicine and the like, from permissible medicines, and ruqyah is not a problem. As for you asking and saying, "Recite ruqyah for me, O so-and-so," seeking from the person that he recite ruqyah for you, it is better to leave that; because it is asking people, and asking people is originally better to be left. Do not ask people for their money or their needs, and be self-sufficient with Allah as much as you can. As much as you can, do not ask people for their money or what they have of needs. And among that is seeking ruqyah, saying, "Read for him." But if he reads for him without being asked, that is good. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "There is no harm in ruqyah as long as it is not shirk (associating partners with Allah)," and he said, "Whoever can benefit his brother, let him benefit him," meaning by recitation and the like. So leaving the seeking of ruqyah is better and more excellent. And if the need calls for it, there is no harm, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding Asma bint Umayyad, "Seek ruqyah for my brother's children when the evil eye struck them," or that she seek ruqyah for them. So seeking ruqyah in some needs is not a problem. And if there is no need, then seeking ruqyah is better, as in the hadith of the seventy thousand.
Did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say what he forbade? He said, "They do not seek ruqyah," forbidding the seeking of ruqyah. Rather, he informed that they do not seek ruqyah, preferring that for them. So that indicates that leaving the seeking of ruqyah and requesting ruqyah is better. But if need calls for it, as when the evil eye strikes him or the like, or a snake bite or something similar, it is retained because this is among the means of health. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered it in another hadith (peace and blessings be upon him), and it has been confirmed between the narrations. And likewise, cautery; leaving it is better because it is a type of torture. For this reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "It is like three burns of fire," or
A drink of a cup, or a drink of honey.شربة محجب، أو شربة عسل
, and I do not like to write it. And in a wording, he said, "And I forbid my Ummah from cautery." So cautery is a type of torture, so it is not resorted to except when needed. If the other medicine that benefits is not available, there is no harm in cautery. For this reason, some of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did it with him (peace and blessings be upon him), which indicates that his praise of leaving cautery does not mean forbidding it. No, but it indicates that leaving it is better if it is easy to be dispensed with by another medicine. But if it is not easy to be dispensed with, it is used because it is among the means of healing, as in the hadith:
The authentic hadith that al-Bukhari narrated in al-Sahih fromالصحيح الذي رواه البخاري في الصحيح عن
Sunan al-Bayhaqi 9:175
Ibn Abbas: "The cure is by three burns of fire, or a drink of a cup, which is cupping, or a drink of honey." Yes. The last medicine is cautery. Yes.
Source قناة «فضيلة الشيخ ابن باز Alsheikh Binbaz»، 051 ما معنى حديث لا يسترقون ولا يكتوون؟ للإمام ابن باز — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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