From the legal principles you mentioned in the explanation of the Book of Tawhid
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The questioner : He says:The questioner : O honorable Shaykh, among the legal principles you mentioned in the explanation of the Book of Tawhid is: "Any cause which Allah has not made a legislative or natural cause is shirk". We ask you, O our honorable scholar, to explain this principle and give examples of it.
The Shaykh : The cause has a definition among the scholars: "It is that which necessitates existence when it exists and non-existence when it does not exist". For this reason, we call it a cause, because it necessitates existence when it exists and non-existence when it does not exist. For example, kinship in inheritance is a cause; your relative inherits from you according to the known order. If you were not a relative, would he inherit from you and you from him? No. The cause is that which brings a thing into existence by its existence and removes it by its non-existence. So, if a person makes something a cause, and it is not a legislative or natural cause, then making it a cause is shirk, because the Creator of causes is Allah. So we do not transgress by saying this is a cause for such-and-such, and that is a cause, when it was not a legislative or natural cause. The legislative cause is what is established by the Shari'ah, and the natural cause is what is established by divine decree. There are legislative causes and there are natural causes. Is the Qur'an a cause for healing legislatively or naturally? Legislatively. Read Surat al-Fatihah over the sick person with sincerity and pure intention, and the sick person accepts it with sincerity and pure intention. If his time of death has not come, then the person is cured by the permission of Allah. Al-Fatihah is the greatest surah in the Book of Allah. Read it with sincerity, and the sick person accepts it with sincerity, then if his time of death has not come, he is cured by the permission of Allah. The evidence for this is that a man was bitten by a scorpion, and he was the leader of his people. A group of the Companions had descended upon them, so they said: "Look at these people, is there among them anyone who can recite?" They came to the Companions and said: "Our leader has been bitten, is there any of you who can recite?" They said: "Yes, but we will not recite over him unless you make a reward for us," meaning you give us something. They said: "We will give you this flock of sheep." They said: "Then we will recite." One of them went to the bitten man and began to recite Surat al-Fatihah over him. When he finished reciting over him, the bitten man stood up as if he had been untied from a rope. What does that mean? It means as if a camel had its rope untied; he stood up with nothing wrong with him. When they returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), they informed him. He said to the man:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2064Sahih (Darussalam) So al-Fatihah is among the most beneficial things for ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation). Is this a legislative cause or a natural one?
The student: Legislative.
The Shaykh : Good, yes. It is known now that some medicines cure the sick person. For example, aspirin; if a person with a headache eats it, does it alleviate the headache? It alleviates it. Is this cause natural or legislative?
The student: Natural.
The Shaykh : Natural. So I can say: if your head hurts, eat aspirin, on the condition that you consult a doctor. I am not a doctor, but ask the doctors. Do not, on any day, eat pills and say, "Ibn Uthaymeen said so-and-so." Yes, it is necessary to consult a doctor regarding these medicines, but by the permission of Allah, they cure from the disease, and they are a natural cause among the causes that are not legislative. What some people do now is take a rope and tie it on their arm and say that this wards off the evil eye, meaning it repels the evil eye. Is this a legislative cause? No. A natural one? No. And what the sick person imagines, that he is cured by it, meaning that the harm of the evil eye is repelled from him, is an illusion with no reality. So anyone who makes something a cause, and it has not been established as a cause neither by the Shari'ah nor by divine decree, then that is a type of shirk. For this reason, it came in the hadith: The tawilah is something they make, claiming that it makes the woman love her husband and the husband love his wife. In the meaning of the tawilah is what some people do today of wearing a ring called what? The dablah. The man takes a ring from his wife and writes the wife's name on it and wears it, and she takes a ring from her husband and writes the husband's name on it and wears it. They claim that this is the bond between the man and the woman. A man saw his brother wearing a gold ring, and a gold ring on men is haram (forbidden), so he said to him: "What is this?" He said: "This is the name of the sayyidah." The sayyidah means the number between five and seven.
The student: No.
The Shaykh : No? What is the sayyidah?
The student: The woman.
The Shaykh : The woman. And the origin of sayyidah is al-sayyidah (the lady), but there is an abbreviation in the word, meaning they deleted the yaa and moved the sin from fathah to kasrah and said sayyidah. Good, he said: "Why?" He said: "This, if I take it off, the sayyidah will be taken off." What does "will be taken off" mean? It means separation will occur. This is haram (forbidden); this is not permissible because it is not a legislative cause. How many people have a dablah, and perhaps they take a single dablah, and between them and their wife is hatred that Allah knows about? And how many people do not wear this dablah, and yet the affection between him and his family is at its peak. Yes.
The Shaykh : The cause has a definition among the scholars: "It is that which necessitates existence when it exists and non-existence when it does not exist". For this reason, we call it a cause, because it necessitates existence when it exists and non-existence when it does not exist. For example, kinship in inheritance is a cause; your relative inherits from you according to the known order. If you were not a relative, would he inherit from you and you from him? No. The cause is that which brings a thing into existence by its existence and removes it by its non-existence. So, if a person makes something a cause, and it is not a legislative or natural cause, then making it a cause is shirk, because the Creator of causes is Allah. So we do not transgress by saying this is a cause for such-and-such, and that is a cause, when it was not a legislative or natural cause. The legislative cause is what is established by the Shari'ah, and the natural cause is what is established by divine decree. There are legislative causes and there are natural causes. Is the Qur'an a cause for healing legislatively or naturally? Legislatively. Read Surat al-Fatihah over the sick person with sincerity and pure intention, and the sick person accepts it with sincerity and pure intention. If his time of death has not come, then the person is cured by the permission of Allah. Al-Fatihah is the greatest surah in the Book of Allah. Read it with sincerity, and the sick person accepts it with sincerity, then if his time of death has not come, he is cured by the permission of Allah. The evidence for this is that a man was bitten by a scorpion, and he was the leader of his people. A group of the Companions had descended upon them, so they said: "Look at these people, is there among them anyone who can recite?" They came to the Companions and said: "Our leader has been bitten, is there any of you who can recite?" They said: "Yes, but we will not recite over him unless you make a reward for us," meaning you give us something. They said: "We will give you this flock of sheep." They said: "Then we will recite." One of them went to the bitten man and began to recite Surat al-Fatihah over him. When he finished reciting over him, the bitten man stood up as if he had been untied from a rope. What does that mean? It means as if a camel had its rope untied; he stood up with nothing wrong with him. When they returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), they informed him. He said to the man:
How did you know it was Ruqyah?
وما يدريك أنها رقيةThe student: Legislative.
The Shaykh : Good, yes. It is known now that some medicines cure the sick person. For example, aspirin; if a person with a headache eats it, does it alleviate the headache? It alleviates it. Is this cause natural or legislative?
The student: Natural.
The Shaykh : Natural. So I can say: if your head hurts, eat aspirin, on the condition that you consult a doctor. I am not a doctor, but ask the doctors. Do not, on any day, eat pills and say, "Ibn Uthaymeen said so-and-so." Yes, it is necessary to consult a doctor regarding these medicines, but by the permission of Allah, they cure from the disease, and they are a natural cause among the causes that are not legislative. What some people do now is take a rope and tie it on their arm and say that this wards off the evil eye, meaning it repels the evil eye. Is this a legislative cause? No. A natural one? No. And what the sick person imagines, that he is cured by it, meaning that the harm of the evil eye is repelled from him, is an illusion with no reality. So anyone who makes something a cause, and it has not been established as a cause neither by the Shari'ah nor by divine decree, then that is a type of shirk. For this reason, it came in the hadith:
That amulets and the tawilah are shirk
أن التمائم والتولة شركThe student: No.
The Shaykh : No? What is the sayyidah?
The student: The woman.
The Shaykh : The woman. And the origin of sayyidah is al-sayyidah (the lady), but there is an abbreviation in the word, meaning they deleted the yaa and moved the sin from fathah to kasrah and said sayyidah. Good, he said: "Why?" He said: "This, if I take it off, the sayyidah will be taken off." What does "will be taken off" mean? It means separation will occur. This is haram (forbidden); this is not permissible because it is not a legislative cause. How many people have a dablah, and perhaps they take a single dablah, and between them and their wife is hatred that Allah knows about? And how many people do not wear this dablah, and yet the affection between him and his family is at its peak. Yes.