Should one abandon treatment and rely solely on tawakkul (reliance upon Allah)?
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Question:
Your Eminence! This questioner, Umm Abdullah, sent a long question, the summary of which is, Your Eminence: She mentions that she is a woman who has been married for three years and has not been blessed with children. She mentions that she and her husband have treated themselves with many doctors, and that they have lost a lot of money, effort, fatigue, and exhaustion, but to no avail. She says: Therefore, we abandoned treatment and turned to Allah ﷼, calling upon Him and hoping for His mercy. She says: My husband was in sin, so he left it after Allah guided him. The question remains, Your Eminence: Should I rely on Allah ﷼ alone and continue my supplication without completing the treatment? Or should I continue seeking treatment while having tawakkul (reliance upon Allah) and making du'a' (supplication)? And may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Combining both is better: treatment and supplication. If treatment is available from good doctors, then that is required. Taking the means is prescribed alongside tawakkul (reliance upon Allah), trust in Allah, supplication to Him, and humility before Him ﷼. However, it is not permissible to seek treatment from charlatans and sorcerers, or those who claim knowledge of the unseen... One must be cautious of these people. As for well-known doctors and well-known reciters who are not accused of wrongdoing, there is no harm. The Prophet ﷺ said:Sunan Abi Dawud 3874Da'if (Al-Albani) And he ﷺ said: Sunan al-Bayhaqi 17:517.
So seeking medical treatment is required, there is no harm in it, and there is no blame on one, alongside trust in Allah, tawakkul (reliance upon Allah), and belief that He, Glorified and Exalted is He, is the Decider, that He is the One in whose hand is everything. He, Exalted and Majestic is He, says in His great Book:[Ash-Shuraa 42:49] OR HE MAKES WHOMEVER HE WILLS BARREN. HE IS INDEED ALL-KNOWING, ALL-POWERFUL [Surat al-Shura: 49-50] ﷼.
People are of four categories: a category is blessed with females, a category is blessed with males, a category is blessed with both males and females, and a category is not given children; they are barren, both men and women. So you and your husband may be from the first category, or from the second category, or from the third category, or from the fourth category, where each of you is barren. You may be the one who is barren and he is not, or vice versa. Our Lord is the One who knows everything ﷼, so there is no objection to both you and your husband taking medication. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you and bless you, O Shaykh.
Your Eminence! This questioner, Umm Abdullah, sent a long question, the summary of which is, Your Eminence: She mentions that she is a woman who has been married for three years and has not been blessed with children. She mentions that she and her husband have treated themselves with many doctors, and that they have lost a lot of money, effort, fatigue, and exhaustion, but to no avail. She says: Therefore, we abandoned treatment and turned to Allah ﷼, calling upon Him and hoping for His mercy. She says: My husband was in sin, so he left it after Allah guided him. The question remains, Your Eminence: Should I rely on Allah ﷼ alone and continue my supplication without completing the treatment? Or should I continue seeking treatment while having tawakkul (reliance upon Allah) and making du'a' (supplication)? And may Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
Combining both is better: treatment and supplication. If treatment is available from good doctors, then that is required. Taking the means is prescribed alongside tawakkul (reliance upon Allah), trust in Allah, supplication to Him, and humility before Him ﷼. However, it is not permissible to seek treatment from charlatans and sorcerers, or those who claim knowledge of the unseen... One must be cautious of these people. As for well-known doctors and well-known reciters who are not accused of wrongdoing, there is no harm. The Prophet ﷺ said:
so treat yourselves medically, but use nothing unlawful
عباد الله تداووا ولا تداووا بحرامAllah has not sent down a disease except that He has sent down for it a cure, and the one who knows it knows it, and the one who does not know it does not know it.
ما أنزل الله داءً إلا أنزل له شفاءً علمه من علمه وجهله من جهلهSo seeking medical treatment is required, there is no harm in it, and there is no blame on one, alongside trust in Allah, tawakkul (reliance upon Allah), and belief that He, Glorified and Exalted is He, is the Decider, that He is the One in whose hand is everything. He, Exalted and Majestic is He, says in His great Book:
He gives to whom He wills female [children], and He gives to whom He wills males.
يَهَبُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ إِنَاثًا وَيَهَبُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ الذُّكُورَ People are of four categories: a category is blessed with females, a category is blessed with males, a category is blessed with both males and females, and a category is not given children; they are barren, both men and women. So you and your husband may be from the first category, or from the second category, or from the third category, or from the fourth category, where each of you is barren. You may be the one who is barren and he is not, or vice versa. Our Lord is the One who knows everything ﷼, so there is no objection to both you and your husband taking medication. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you and bless you, O Shaykh.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.