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Reading Quran for various questionable occasions

Question

My question is regarding reading Quran on a sick person or for a sick person. When a person or child is not well, my family cooks large meals and calls people who are well versed in the Quran to read together on the person. They don't only read the Faatihah (Chapter 1) or Mu̔awwithataan (Chapters 113 and 114), which I know from the Hadeeth that is part of Ruqyah, but they read the whole Quran together for/on the person at the same time without proper reading with Tajweed or anything. Then they spit into some water called Tahleel and this water is wiped over the person. They also do this to read on a house that has nothing wrong with it. Are these practices from the Sunnah, and are they permissible, as they do not even read Quran for themselves but rely always on people to come and read for them?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

The practice you mentioned in the question is unlawful because it was neither reported from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, nor from the righteous predecessors  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, warned against innovating in the matters of religion saying: "Whoever innovates an act that is not in accordance with ours (concerning religion); it will be rejected." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Therefore, the person who performs Ruqyah should have a sincere intention and he should act according to the Quran and the Sunnah. He should follow only the legislated way of performing Ruqyah in order for his Ruqyah to yield fruitful and beneficial results, Allaah willing.

The scholars  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them have set three conditions for performing Ruqyah:

  1. It should be with Quran or supplications reported from the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, or other lawful supplications.
  2. It should be in Arabic or in any other understandable language.
  3. The person who performs Ruqyah and the one to whom it is performed should believe that Allaah is The One Who cures, and that Ruqyah is only a means that does not benefit by itself.

As regards reciting verses of the Quran other than Chapter Al-Faatihah and Chapters 112, 113 and 114, then this is permissible because the entire Quran is a cure, even though it is preferred to recite these Chapters when performing Ruqyah.

Allaah Knows best.

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