Explaining What Is Permissible and What Is Forbidden Regarding Ruqyah and Amulets

The following message was received by the program from the brother: Muhammad Ahmad Jad Allah Siraj, a Sudanese resident in the Kingdom. He says in his message, and at its beginning:
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. My question is: There are some jurists among us in Sudan whom we call a faqi, meaning a jurist, who write verses of the Qur’an on small pieces of paper or on a hijab, or on wooden boards, and they are erased and drunk according to the illness. Also, the hijab—for example—is against weapons or as protection from Satan and accidents, as another group claims, though it has not been tested by them, and they claim it is sorcery. Also, there are eyewitnesses to these jurists who have treated hundreds of the insane and those with disturbed minds, and they wear thousands of hijabs, claiming they are against weapons. What is your opinion of these people? Please inform us, may Allah reward you?
Answer: This matter requires detail. If a student of knowledge, or one who is called a jurist, writes verses from the Qur’an on a piece of paper or a plate with saffron or honey or the like, so that the patient washes it and drinks it, many scholars have permitted this. The scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned it in Zad al-Ma’ad, in the section on the guidance of the best of people, citing a group of scholars from the Salaf. Others have also mentioned it. So the matter is broad and easy. If he writes verses from the Qur’an or good supplications with saffron or honey, and then the patient washes it and drinks it, Allah may benefit him through it. But better than this is that he recites over the patient, blowing on him with the verses and good supplications, asking Allah for his healing. This is better. And if he recites in water and the patient drinks it, or it is sprinkled on him, it will benefit by the permission of Allah as well.
As for the hijab, which refers to what is written on papers and hung on a sick person, such as writing verses to be hung on the patient against weapons or against jinn, this is not permissible. Even if some scholars permitted hanging the Qur'an... some scholars allowed hanging verses, but that is a weak and weaker position. The correct view is that it is not permissible to use hijab, whether from verses or from other things. As for things other than verses, such as bones, amulets, talismans, and unknown names, this is not permissible without doubt; because the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: And because it is from the practices of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and because it diverts hearts from Allah and attaches them to other than Him. Hearts must be attached to Allah and rely upon Him. So hanging these amulets causes hearts to lean toward them, attach to them, and find comfort in them, and this is a great danger. Therefore, it is not permissible to hang amulets, which are called hijab, and they are also called jawami' and have other names among people.
And from this is what came in the hadith of ‘Imran ibn Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that this ring which some people hang on their hand for a disease called al-wahinah does not increase it except weakness, and that it is denounced and not permissible, so it is of the same kind as amulets. And Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him), the noble Companion, took hold of a man’s hand and found a thread from fever on it, so he cut it. He asked about this, and he said: It is for the fever. So he cut it and recited the saying of the Exalted: [Yusuf:106].
So this indicates that the action of the Companions was to denounce this thing and prohibit it. So it is not permissible for a Muslim man or woman to hang these amulets, or these threads and hijabs, on a patient, or on a child, or on anyone else, to repel jinn or weapons or the like; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited this, and he clarified that hanging amulets is not permissible. He did not distinguish between one amulet and another, and he did not say: except from the Qur’an, but he generalized. So that indicates that all amulets, from the Qur’an and other than the Qur’an, are prohibited; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) generalized in the prohibition, and he is the legislator and the most sincere of people to people. If there had been something in amulets that was excepted, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would have excepted it. Also, hanging amulets from the Qur’an is a means to hanging other amulets, so the matter becomes confused and hidden from people, and shirking amulets spread. And blocking the means to harm is among the most important matters for the Islamic Shari’ah. So it is obligatory to prohibit all amulets, acting on the generality of the hadiths and blocking the means to shirk, and protecting the Muslim community from what corrupts its belief and causes the anger of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). We ask Allah for guidance and success for everyone.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.