Imam Jalaaluddin Suyuti on the Permissibility of wearing a Ta’widh
(Excerpt from his Tibb un-Nabawiyya)
Know then that the recital of verses and the wearing of amulets are indeed useful if accepted by the patient and received with his consent as a method of cure. The recitation of charms and the wearing of amulets are a form of taking refuge with Allah for the purpose of securing health, just as is done in the case of medicine. Blameworthy recitations are those not made in Arabic when the meaning of the words is not known. But if the words are understood, then the practice is approved.
On this subject 'Awf bin Malik is reported to have said: You mean: as we used to do in the days of the ignorance. And they said: O Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم , how do you regard that? And he said: Recite to me your verses. And after hearing them he said: All well & good, always provided there is no suggestion of polytheism in them. This story is reported by Muslim. In another version it is reported that a man was brought to the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم saying: O Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم , is it true that you have forbidden the recitation of charms ? I once recited a verse to charm away a scorpion bite. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم replied: Whosoever among you is able to help his brother, let him indeed do so. This is related by Muslim.
Indeed the prohibition is directed against heretical charms. Or perhaps the prohibition was once absolute and later was cancelled. I once asked Abu 'Abd-Ullah about charms against scorpions. He saw no harm in the practice provided the words were understood or were taken from the Quran. Said Shifa bint 'Abd-Ullah: The Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم entered the tent while I was with Hafsa. He said to me: Teach her the charms against the herpes in the same way as I had taught her to write. Abu Dawud relates this. In this tradition it will be also noted that permission is given for women to be taught to write.
From 'Ayesha comes this tradition. When people used to complain of something such as an ulcer or a wound, the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم would put his finger in the dust. Then he would raise it and say: In the name of Allah, the dust of our earth united with the spittle of some of us will cure our sick with the permission of the Lord. About this traditional saying there is general agreement. The phrase ' dust of our earth ' is used because the constitution of dust is cold & dry and a desiccant for all damp. Now, ulcers and wounds contain much damp within, which checks the good functioning of the Faculties and so hinders speedy healing. And as for the phrase ' spittle of some of us ', that is our saliva, this means that if saliva be added to dust and dried and then placed upon ulcers or wounds, these will be cured by the permission of Allah. On this subject there are many traditions.
Regarding reading verses from the Quran, 'Ali is reported to have said: The best medicine is the Quran. Al-Tirmidhi reports this tradition.
Quran 17.82: Said Almighty Allah: We reveal of the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy to the Believers. The word ' of' does not refer to certain parts only, but the meaning is that all that is revealed in the Quran is curative. The Quran cures from physical diseases if used for that purpose just as it cures from error, ignorance and doubt. It will guide a man lost in amazement. It cures the heart by removing ignorance from it: it cures the body by removing sickness from it. Know that sound bodies are found with sound hearts. Make healthy your heart and healthy will be your body. Said the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم : There is within the body a lump of flesh. If this lump of flesh is healthy, then the whole body is healthy. This is a traditional saying (Hadith).
We have already discussed reading from the Quran as a cure. Said 'Ayesha: Whenever any member of the household of the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم was sick, he used to recite over him the two terminal chapters of the Quran ( Surah Falaq and Surah Nas). A tradition is reported by Dar Qutni in his List of Authorities, quoting Ibn 'Abbas, that the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم said: He who complains of the toothache, let him put his finger on the tooth and read the verse: He it is Who has brought you into being from a single soul, then there is for you a resting place and a depository: indeed We have made plain the communications for a people who understand. Quran 6.99.
If some words are endowed with special properties and are helpful by the permission of Almighty Allah, then what are you to think of the very words of Almighty Allah Himself? Wrote Ahmad: If words from the Quran are written down upon something and then washed off and the washings drunk, all well & good. Again, if a man write a text from the Quran and put it inside a vessel and then make a sick man drink from it or even if he only reads something from the Quran over the vessel and the sick man drinks from it, this too is well & good. Similarly if a person reads something from the Quran over water and then sprinkles this water over a sick man or in the case of a difficult labor, if a man writes something from the Quran and makes the woman drink it, all this is well & good.
Ibn 'Abbas reports a traditional saying: If a woman finds difficulty in giving birth, let her take a clean vessel and write inside it the following Quran 46.35 verses: On the day that they shall see what they are promised, they shall be as if they had not tarried. And again this: On the day that they see it, Quran 79.46, it will be as though they had not tarried. And again this verse: In their histories there is certainly a lesson for men of understanding. Quran I2.111 This writing will then be washed off and the woman will be given the washings to drink and some poured over her abdomen.
According to the Traditions of Muhanna Ahmad once gave judgement that it was lawful to free one who is enchanted from his enchantment by means of any sort of medicine and that it is quite possible to remove magical enchantment. For when the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم was bewitched, he drove it out and loosed himself and this loosening of himself was accomplished by medicine. In common speech the word ' enchantment' means a change in the form of a thing. Thus we say 'What has bewitched you like this?' meaning ' What has brought about this change in you ‘?
Enchantment is also used in the sense of sheer fraud. But on the other hand an enchanter may be a very wise man. Now, enchantments may take the form of amulets containing written verses or the weaving of spells or of words spoken over a person by an enchanter or of words written down by him. And so an effect is produced in the body of the man bewitched or in his heart or indirectly within his brain. In fact by these means a man may be killed or made sick or even removed from his womenfolk. It may indeed come between a man and his wife and cause one to hate the other and destroy their mutual love.
Said 'Ayesha: I used to imagine that the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم had done something which he had in fact not done. I seek refuge from it in Allah and His mercy. It was said to Ahmad: Physicians maintain that nothing can enter a human being, by which is meant all the inhabitants of the earth. He replied: That is mere babble, for the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم has said: Verily the Devil runs within a human being just as his blood runs within him. But I, the author of this work, maintain that the bodies of jinns are subtle bodies and that it is impossible for the humours of jinns to mix with human souls in the manner that blood and phlegm mix in human bodies with all their impurities.
When the news about 'Umr was late in reaching Abu Musa, he went to a woman within whose belly was a devil. He asked her about 'Umr and she replied: I will tell you when my devil gives me the answer. Then he arrived and she put the question to him. And the devil replied: I left him preparing camels as alms. This subject is a very wide one and many are the stories, too many to be related in this book. And Allah knoweth all.
ON THE WEARING OF AMULETS
Ahmad wrote that amulets are an abomination. He said: He who wears an amulet comes to depend upon it. Harab relates that he once discussed this subject with Ahmad: I said: With regard to the wearing of amulets is there anything about it in the Quran or elsewhere ? And Ahmad replied: Bin Mas’ud abominated them. He also quoted 'Ayesha and other women, saying that they were complacent in the practice. Ahmad himself was far from strict. From 'Abd-Ullah bin 'Umr comes the following tradition: If any one of you suffer from sleeplessness, let him say: I take refuge in all the words of Allah from His anger, from punishment, from the evil of His worshippers, and from the instigations of the devils, should they come. Surely these words will not fail you.
'Abd-Ullah bin 'Umr used to teach these words to his sons when they grew up and while they were still children he used to write them down as a text and hang it round their necks. Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi relate this tradition. These are his very words and al-Tirmidhi added:
It is strange but true. This is also reported by al-Nasai in his Al-Yaum wa al-Layla. The phrase about amulets being an abomination and about abandoning their use, the justification for this depends upon how much belief is placed upon their intrinsic power to do good or harm and how much of the words are not understood. This we have discussed above.
With regard to the method of cure by charms, known as al-Nushra, that is, water over which verses have been recited, then left in the open and used by the sick man for washing, Ahmad used to say: Bin Mas'ud abominated that.
Said Abu Dawud in his book called Kitab-ul-Marasil ba Ishnadahi:
I asked al-Hassan about the practice of charms. He replied: It was told me by the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم that such is the work of the Devil. And from Jabir comes the same tradition.
SPIRITUAL DRUGS
Abu Harira said: The Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم saw me when I was asleep. I was writhing with pain in the stomach. He said: Does your stomach give you pain ? And I answered: Yes, O Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم . Then he said: Arise and pray; for verily in prayer there is cure. This is related by Ibn Maja.
Note: The above words of the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم are quoted in Persian. Their meaning is ' Have you a pain in your stomach ?'. For the Persian word ' shikam' is the equivalent of the Arabic word 'batan ' and ' dard ' is the same as ' waja '. With regard to the above tradition wise men say that there are two things to be learnt from it. The first is that the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم could speak Persian. And the second is that prayer cures pain in the heart, in the stomach and in the bowel. In the same way we can deduce three principles. First there is the divine command to worship. Secondly there is the psychological aspect i.e. the sufferer will forget his pain in his prayer so that his feeling of pain will grow less and so finally his strength will overthrow the pain and cast it out. And thirdly it teaches that the best doctor is he who uses all manner of guile to strengthen the faculties. At one moment he will give strength by food, at another by setting in motion joy and grief or even hope and fear. But prayer is the best of them all. If a man is engaged in worship, he will feel apprehension, fear, hope, nervousness, and love. And when he takes thought of the next life, he will strengthen the faculties, delight the heart, and drive away disease by this very means.
It is related from some source that the child of 'Ali once had an abscess. No one dared to make the necessary incision. His family gave him the opportunity to go away and say his prayers. Then they were able to make the incision, for he paid no attention to them, being engrossed in prayer.
Abu Ayyub used to order his family to keep silence in the house when he was there. But when he was at prayer, he used to allow talk, saying: I cannot hear your conversation now, for I am at prayer. Once a wall of the mosque fell down while he was praying. It did not distract him.
Praying is a natural thing, being both a psychological and a physical exercise. For it contains within itself standing, bowing, and prostration as well as pauses, tranquillity, piety, worship, submission, self-humiliation, and other things. By all these the joints of the body will be moved and relaxed and in addition most of the organs, especially the stomach and bowel. How strong is the power of all of these to void the two impurities and to hasten the exit of food from the stomach.
Said al-Muwaffaq 'Abd-ul-Latif in his book called Kitab-ul-Arba'in:
I once saw a group of idlers and vile people all enjoying good health. So I enquired the cause of this and learnt that they prayed often, repeating their prayers during the night. So at last I said to myself: How great are the benefits of prostration for sufferers from colds and catarrh.
Prostration is indeed of the greatest use in opening the nostrils when they are blocked. And how great is the help of prostration in casting forth of the two impurities and the hastening of the exit of food from the stomach and bowels and in moving waste matter within them and ejecting it. For within some of the vessels there is food pressing upon food and one meal will fall upon another. Again, many a time prayer brings pleasure to the individual and removes bad thoughts and puts out the fire of anger. Prayer produces humbleness before Allah and submission to others. Prayer softens the heart and makes to a man forgiveness dear and revenge hateful.
Many times when engaged in prayer right opinion enters in and a good conduct of affairs and a well-chosen answer are clear. Often the worshipper remembers in prayer what he had previously forgotten.
Prayer makes a man think of his beginning and his end and of how he stands in this world and the next. It will remind him of his personal reckoning, especially if he stands long in prayer, above all during the night, when the eyes droop and voices are hushed and the power of the under-world is weakened and the thirst of the flocks is quenched and the power of the spiritual world is increased and gloomy thoughts turn happy. This is what the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم meant when he said: O Bilal, let us take rest in prayer. And again when he said: I have made my comfort in prayer because from it man derives pleasure and the pleasure of it brings comfort and because prayer contains the excellencies of this world and of the next.
We have already mentioned the saying of the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم : Digest your food with the name of Allah and with talk of Him. This is one of the reasons why the Tarawih prayer is customary. And so from prayer is derived the best of this world and of the next.
From prayer descends the power emanating from the beatific vision of Allah the Creator. And hence it is that prayer drives out all that is in the body of sickness and infirmity and discovers to a man his own character so that he strives to make perfect what is good and to abandon what is evil.
Sahil bin Sa'd reports as follows: The Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم spat into the eye of 'Ali when he was suffering from ophthalmia and had implored his blessing. And 'Ali was cured. Al-Bukhari and Muslim report this tradition. Indeed this chapter falls short in its description of the virtues of prayer. But Allah knoweth best.
It is said that a man complained to the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم about pain in his eyes. Replied the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم : Gaze upon the Holy Book. It is said that a certain man complained to the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم about the stubbornness of his own heart. Replied the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم : Stroke the head of an orphan and give him to eat. The same complaint was once made to Abu Dawud who said: Visit the sick, accompany corpses (to the grave yard), and visit tombs.
Said al-Marizi: Ahmed related: I once had fever and a man wrote for me the following charm against fever: In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful: by the Name of Allah: by Allah Himself. And I confess that Muhammad is the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم of Allah. Fire be thou cold and agreeable to Ibrahim upon whom harm is intended. But we have defeated them.
O Lord of Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, cure the owner of this writing by Your skill and by Your power and by Your might. O Lord of Creation. Amen. So be it.
Said 'Uthman ibn abi al-'Asi: A man complained to the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم of a pain that he felt in his body ever since he had become a Muslim. The Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم replied to him: Put your right hand on the place of the pain and say seven times: I fly to the protection of Allah and His power from the evil which I find. Muslim reports this tradition.
Said Khalid bin al-Walid: O Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم , I cannot sleep at night by reason of my insomnia. So the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم replied: When you go to your bed to sleep, then say: O Allah, Lord of the Seven Heavens and whatsoever is overshadowed thereby and Lord of the Seven Earths and whatsoever is upon them and Lord of the Devils and of those they have misled, be for me a Helper against all the evils of creation if any one of them oppresses me. May Your help stay long with me. Exalted be Your praise. There is no Allah other than You and no Allah excepting You. Al-Tirmidhi extracted this tradition. Note: The word ' insomnia' means an inability to sleep.
Of Khalid it is said that he complained to the Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم of Night Terrors. The Prophet صلى الله عليه واله وصحبه وسلم replied: Shall I teach you certain words that I was taught by Gabriel? I fly to the Face of Allah, the Generous, and to the complete words of Allah, more than which no man can do, be he good or bad. I fly from the evil which comes down from Heaven, which struts therein, and from the evil which is on the ground, and from the evil of temptations by day and by night, and from the evil of calamities of both day and night, and from all except what brings with it a blessing. 0 Merciful One. This is reported by al-Tabari.
PRESCRIPTION FOR AN ELECTUARY WHICH BRINGS PEACE TO THE HEART AND DRIVES OUT ALL APPREHENSION.
This is made up from the eating of only what is lawful, from scrupulous observance, from refraining from what is doubtfully allowed, from the control of all bad external emotions and the keeping in check of all internal feelings, from the governing of oneself by wisdom, from the careful preservation of secrets, and from humble supplication to Allah (all Honour & Glory be His) for preservation from the evils of one's own lusts and one's own devil.
Said Bilal: These evils are removed from you by worship of Allah by night, for this was the habit of good men who came before you and is a preventive of sin and renders you close to Allah. It is an expiation of evil deeds and drives away disease from the body. This saying is reported by al-Tirmidhi.
ANOTHER PRESCRIPTION
It is said that Dhu-ul-Nun walked past some doctors one day. Around them were a lot of folk, men and women, holding bottles of urine in their hands. The doctors were writing out prescriptions for them all, suitable for the disease which each one had.
Said Dhu-ul Nun: I drew near to a doctor and saluted him and he returned my salutation. Then said I to him: May Allah have mercy upon you, pray give me a remedy for sin. The doctor lowered his head for the space of an hour and then raising it said: If I prescribe for you a medicine, will you give me your attention and understanding? And I replied: Yes, Allah willing.
Then said the doctor: Take the root of poverty with the pollen of patience with the myrobalan of submission and the belleric of concentration on Allah together with the tamarinds of humility and the polypody of sincerity, the rhubarb of purity, and the agaricum of fidelity. Put all these into the cauldron of sinlessness. Set beneath them the fire of devotion until the bubbles of wisdom froth up. When these bubbles of wisdom appear, sieve them in the sieve of remembrance. Then strain into the goblet of acceptance. Fan with the fan of the praise of Allah until cool. When cold, drink and taste the temperance therein. Thereafter never will you commit sin. So treat your heart with these medicines just as you treat your body with those drugs. Thus will you enjoy perfect and complete restoration to health both in this World and the next. And verily there is no power but Allah, the High, the Great.