2a] How to deal with sihr (magic/witchcraft)

2a]
(O Allaah, Lord of mankind, remove the harm and heal him, for You are
the Healer and there is no healing except Your healing, with a healing
which does not leave any disease behind)." This may be repeated three
times or more. And it was also narrated from him (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) that Jibreel (peace be upon him) performed
ruqyah for himand said three times: "Bismillaah arqeeka min kulli
shay'in yu'dheeka, wa min sharri kulli nafsin aw 'aynin haasid Allaah
yashfeek, bismillaah arqeek (In the name of Allaah I perform ruqyah
for you, from every thing that is harming you, from the evil of every
soul or envious eye may Allaah heal you, in the name of Allaah I
perform ruqyah for you)." This is a great ruqyah which was narrated in
a saheeh hadeeth from the Prophet(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him). It is prescribed to perform ruqyah for the one who has been
bitten or stung, and the one who has been affected by sihr, and the
one who is sick. There is nothing wrong with performing ruqyah for one
who is sick or has been affected by sihr or bitten or stung, by
reciting good du'aa's, even if they were not transmitted from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), so long as they
do not contain anything that is haraam, because of the general meaning
of the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace andblessings of Allaah be upon
him): "There is nothing wrong with ruqyah so long as it does not
involve shirk."
Allaah may heal the sick person and the person affected by sihr, and
others, without any ruqyah and without any action on the part of other
people, because He is Able to do all things, and He is Wise in all
that He does. Allaah says in HisHoly Book:
"Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to
it, 'Be!' and it is!"[Yaa-Seen 36:82]
To Him be praise and thanks for all that He willsand decrees, for He
is wisein all that He does.
The sick person may not be healed if his appointedtime has come and it
is decreed that he should die from this disease. Among the things that
may be used in ruqyah are the verses which speak of sihr, which may be
recited into water. These are the verses about sihr in Soorat
al-A'raaf, where Allaah says (interpretation of themeaning):
"And We revealed to Moosa (saying): 'Throw your stick,' and behold! It
swallowed up straight away all the falsehood which they showed.
Thus truth was confirmed,and all that they did was made of no effect.
So they were defeated there and returned disgraced
[al-A'raaf 7:117-119]
And in Soorat Yoonus (interpretation of the meaning):
"And Pharaoh said: 'Bring me every well-versed sorcerer.'
And when the sorcerers came, Moosa said to them: 'Cast down what you
want to cast!'
Then when they had cast down, Moosa said: 'What you have brought is
sorcery, Allaah will surely make it of no effect. Verily, Allaah does
not set right the work of Al-Mufsidoon.
And Allaah will establish and make apparent the truth by His Words,
however much the Mujrimoon may hate (it).'"
[Yoonus 10:79-82]
And in Soorat Ta-Ha (interpretation of the meaning):
"They said: 'O Moosa! Either you throw first or we be the first to throw?'
Moosa said: 'Nay, throw you (first)!' Then behold! their ropes and
their sticks, by their magic, appeared to him as though they moved
fast.
So Moosa conceived fear in himself.
We (Allaah) said: 'Fear not! Surely, you will have the upper hand.
And throw that which is in your right hand! It will swallow up that
which they have made. That which they have made is only a magician's
trick, and the magician will never be successful, to whatever amount
(of skill) he may attain.'"
[Ta-Ha 20:65-69]
These aayahs are among the things by which Allaah causes the ruqyah
against sihr to be beneficial. If the qaari' (reader) recites these
verses into water, and also reads Soorat al-Faatiha, Aayat
al-Kursiy,"Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad", and al-Mi'wadhatayn into the water,
then pours it over the person who he thinks has been affected by sihr
or is being prevented by magic from having intercourse with his wife,
then he will be healed by Allaah's Leave. If seven lotus leaves are
ground up and added to the water as well, this is appropriate, as was
mentioned by Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Hasan (may Allaah have mercy
on him) in Fath al-Majeed, quoting from some of the scholars in the
chapter entitled Ma jaa'a fi'l-Nushrah. It is mustahabb to recite the
three soorahs, namely QulHuwa Allaahu Ahad, Qul A'oodhu bi Rabb il
Falaq and Qul A'oodhu bi Rabb il-Naas....

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3] How to deal with sihr (magic/witchcraft)

What is the way to deal with sihr (magic/witchcraft)?
Praise be to Allaah.
Whoever is affected by sihr should not treat it with sihr, because
evil cannot be removed by evil, and kufr cannot be removed by kufr.
Evil is removed by good. Hence when the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) was asked about al-nushrah (treating sihr with
sihr), he said: "This is the work of the Shaytaan." Nushrahmeans
removing sihr from a person who has been affected by it by using more
sihr. But if it istreated by means of the Qur'aan and permissible
medicines or good ruqyahs, there is nothing wrong with that, but
treating it with sihr is not permitted, as previously stated, because
sihr means worshipping the shayaateen (devils). The saahir (magician,
practitioner of witchcraft) does sihr or learns sihr only after
worshipping and serving the shayaateen, and drawing close to them by
means ofthe things that they like. After that, they teach him the
means of sihr. But, praise be to Allaah, there is no reason why the
person who has been affected by sihr should not be treated by means of
reciting Qur'aan and the prayers for refuge with Allaah that are
prescribed in sharee'ah, and permissible medicines, just as
patientswith all kinds of sicknesses are treated by doctors. The
patient does not necessarily recover, because not every sick person
does recover. A sick patient might be treated and then recover if his
appointed time (of death) has not yet arrived,or he may not recover
and may die from this sickness, even though he may be been seen by the
most skilled physicians and knowledgeable doctors. When the appointed
time of death comes, no medicine or treatment will be of any avail,
because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And Allaah grants respiteto none when his appointed time (death) comes"
[al-Munaafiqoon 63:11]
Medical treatment is of benefit when the appointed time has not yet
come, and Allaah decrees that His slave should be healed. The same
applies in the case of one who has been affected by sihr; Allaah may
decree that he should recover, or He maynot decree that, as a test and
a trial, or for other reasons which are known to Allaah. Among those
reasons may be the fact that the one who is treating him does not have
the right treatment for this problem. It was narrated in a saheeh
report that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "For every disease there isa medicine, and if that medicine is
applied to the disease, he will recover byAllaah's Leave." And he
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah has not sent
downany disease but He has also sent down the cure; the one who knows
it knows it and the one whodoes not know it does notknow it."
Among the treatments prescribed in sharee'ah is the treatment of sihr
withrecitation of the Qur'aan. The greatest soorah in theQur'aan,
which is al-Faatihah, should be recited over the person who has been
affected by sihr. This should be repeated several times. If it is
recited by a believing,righteous reader who knows that everything is
subject to the will and decree of Allaah, that Allaah is in control of
all things, that when He says to a thing 'Be!' it is, if the reciting
is based on faith, taqwa and sincerity, and is repeated several times,
then the sihr may be removed and the person may recover by Allaah's
Leave. Some of the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) passed
by some Bedouins whose shaykh, i.e., their leader, had been bitten.
They had done everythingthey could but he had notgotten better. They
said to one of the Sahaabah, "Is there any raaqi (one who performs
ruqyah) among you?" They said, "Yes." So one of them recited Soorat
al-Faatihah over him, and he immediately got up full ofenergy as if
nothing had happened; Allaah healed him of the ill-effects of that
snakebite. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "There is nothing wrong with ruqyah so long as it does not
involve shirk." He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
performed ruqyah and had it performed for him. There is a lot of good
in ruqyah, and a great deal of benefit. Al-Faatihah, Aayat al-Kursiy,
"Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad", al-Mi'wadhatayn and other aayahs may be
recited over the person who has been affected by sihr, as well as good
du'aa's narrated in the ahaadeeth from the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), such as the du'aa' he said when he
performed ruqyah for a sick person and said, "Allaahumma Rabb al-naas,
adhhib il-ba's, washfi anta al-Shaafi laa shifaa'a illa shifaa'uka
shifaa'an laa yughaadir saqaman (O Allaah, Lord of mankind, ...

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2b] Definition of the evil eye, and ways of protecting oneself against it and treating it

2b]
In the event that you are afflicted by the evil eye, you should use
the treatments recommendedin sharee'ah, which are:
1 – Reciting ruqyah. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said, "There is no ruqyah except in the case of the evil eye
or fever." al-Tirmidhi, 2057; Abu Dawood, 3884. Jibreel used to do
ruqyah for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and
say, "Bismillaahi arqeeka min kulli shay'in yu'dheeka, min sharri
kulli nafsin aw 'aynin haasid Allaahu yashfeek, bismillaahi arqeek (In
the name of Allaah I perform ruqyah for you, from everything that is
harming you, from the evil of every soul or envious eye may Allaah
heal you, in the name of Allaah I perform ruqyah for you)."
2 – Asking the person who has put the evil eye on another to wash, as
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded
'Aamir ibn Rabee'ah to do in the hadeeth quoted above. Then the water
should be poured over the one who has been afflicted.
With regard to taking his waste, such as his urine and stools, there
is no basis for doing so; the same applies to taking any of his
belongings. Rather what is narrated is that which is mentioned above,
washing his limbs and washing inside his garment, or likewise washing
inside his headgear and garments. And Allaah knows best.
There is nothing wrong with taking precautions against the evil eye
before it happens, and this does not contradict the idea of tawakkul
(putting one's trust in Allaah). In fact this is tawakkul, because
tawakkul means putting one's trust in Allaah whilstalso implementing
the means that have been permitted or enjoined. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to seek refuge for al-Hasan and
al-Husayn and say: U'eedhukuma bi kalimaat Allaah al-taammati min
kulli shaytaanin wa haammah wa min kulli 'aynin laammah (I seek refuge
for you both in theperfect words of Allaah, from every devil and every
poisonous reptile, and from every evil eye).'" Al-Tirmidhi, 2060; Abu
Dawood, 4737. And he would say, "Thus Ibraaheem used to seek refuge
with Allaah for Ishaaq and Ismaa'eel, peace be upon them both."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3371.
Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen,/

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2a] Definition of the evil eye, and ways of protecting oneself against it and treating it

2a]
'Aamir and rebukedhim strongly. He said, "Why would one of you kill
his brother? If you see something that you like, then pray for
blessing for him." Then he said to him,"Wash yourself for him." So he
washed his face, hands, forearms, knees and the sides of his feet, and
inside his izaar (lowergarment) in the vessel. Then that water was
poured over him, and a man poured it over his head and back from
behind. He did that to him, then Sahl got up and joined the people and
there was nothing wrong with him.
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Mishkaat, 4562.
The majority of scholars are of the view that people can indeed be
afflicted by the evil eye, because of the ahaadeeth quoted above and
others, and because of the corroborating reports andother evidence.
With regard to the hadeeth that you mention, "One third of those who
are in the grave are there because of the evil eye," we do notknow how
sound it is, butthe author of Nayl al-Awtaar said that al-Bazzaar
narrated with a hasan isnaad from Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with
him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "Most of those who die among my ummah die because of the will
and decree of Allaah, and then because of the evil eye."
The Muslim has to protect himself against the devils among the evil
jinn and mankind, by having strong faith in Allaah and by putting his
trust in Himand seeking refuge with Him and beseeching Him, reciting
the prayers for protection narrated from the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), reciting al-Mi'wadhatayn [the last
two soorahs of the Qur'aan], Soorat al-Ikhlaas, Soorat al-Faatihah,
and Aayat al-Kursi.
Du'aa's for protection include the following:
A'oodhu bi kalimaat-illaahil-taammati min sharri makhalaqa (I seek
refuge in the perfect words of Allaah from the evil of that which He
has created).
A'oodhu bi kalimaat-illaahil-taammati min ghadabihi wa 'iqaabihi, wa
min sharri 'ibaadihi wa min hamazaat al-shayaateeni wa an yahduroon (I
seek refuge in the perfect words of Allaah from His wrath
andpunishment, from the evilof His slaves and from the evil promptings
of the devils and from their presence).
And one may recite the words of Allaah:
"Hasbi Allaahu laa ilaaha illa huwa, 'alayhi tawakkaltu wa huwa Rabb
ul-'arsh il-'azeem
(Allaah is sufficient for me.Laa ilaaha illa Huwa (nonehas the right
to be worshipped but He) in Him I put my trust and Heis the Lord of
the Mighty Throne)"
[al-Tawbah 9:129 – interpretation of the meaning]
And there are other similar du'aa's that are prescribed in sharee'ah.
This is what was meant by Ibn al-Qayyim in the words quoted at the
beginning of this answer.
If it is known or suspectedthat a person has been afflicted by the
evil eye, then the one who put the evil eye on him should be ordered
to wash himself for his brother. So a vesselof water should be
brought, and he should put his hand in it, rinse out his mouth into
the vessel. Then he should wash his face in the vessel, then put his
left hand into the vessel and wash his right knee, then put his right
hand in the vessel and wash his left knee. Then he should wash inside
his garment. Then the water should be poured over the head of the one
on whom he put the evil eye, pouring it from behind in one go. Then he
will be healed, byAllaah's leave.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah li'l-Buhooth al-'Ilmiyyah wa'l-Ifta, 1/186
Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih al-'Uthaymeen was asked:
Can the evil eye afflict a person? How is it treated?Does being on
one's guard against it contradictputting one's trust in Allaah?
He replied:
Our opinion concerning the evil eye is that it is real and is proven
both byIslamic teachings and by real life experiences. Allaah says
(interpretationof the meaning):
"And verily, those who disbelieve would almost make you slip with
their eyes (through hatred)"
[al-Qalam 68:51]
Ibn 'Abbaas and others said, commenting on this verse: this means,
they put the evil eye on you with their glances. The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The evil eye is real and
if anything were to overtake the divine decree, it would be the evil
eye. When you are asked to take a bath (to provide a cure) from the
influence of the evil eye, you should take a bath." Narrated by
Muslim. Al-Nasaa'i and IbnMaajah narrated that 'Aamir ibn Rabee'ah
passed by Sahl ibn Haneefwhen he was bathing… and he quoted the
hadeeth.
Reality confirms that and it cannot be denied.
In the event that you are afflicted by the evil eye, you should use
the treatments recommendedin sharee'ah, which are: ...

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