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Authenticity of reciting the Quran and blowing on water

Question

I am requesting authentic information regarding performing Ruqyah by reciting Quran and blowing into water for drinking and washing to help remove Sihr by the will of Allaah. I am not by any means trying to undermine your authority or any past scholars, may Allaah have mercy on them, I am seeking to understand the permissibility which is prevalent throughout many Fatwa websites. However there is no Hadeeth on the Rusool (saw) doing this with the Fatwa themselves to my knowledge. Please prove with Hadeeth and Quran. If the Rusool did not blow into water what did he do?
May Allaah guide you and me to His Right Path and help us all to follow His Religion and Law.

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 'alyhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

It is permissible to read the Quran and blow on water and then drink it or perform Ghusl (ritual bathing) with it, as there is evidence for this in many Prophetic narrations, and it is confirmed that many Companions  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  them did it.

For instance Imaam Muslim may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him reported that 'Awf Ibn Maalik Al-Ashja'i  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him narrated, "We used to perform Ruqyah (Quranic healing) in the pre-Islamic era, and we asked the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, 'What do you think about it?’ He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied: ‘Show me how you perform Ruqyah,’ (and then) he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘There is no harm in performing Ruqyah [your way] as long as it does not include associating anything with Allaah.’" [Muslim]

Blowing in water after reciting the Quran is not an act by which one associates partners with Allaah.

'Aa'ishah  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  her narrated that when a man used to come to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and complain about a pain or ailment or injury, he would put his finger in the dust [then Sufyaan  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him one of the narrators of this narration put his index finger on the ground] then he would raise it up and would say: "In the name of Allaah, with the soil of our land, with the saliva of one of us, in order that a diseased person amongst us would be cured, with the permission of our Lord." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim; and this wording is Muslim's] This is evidence that putting the saliva along with the soil to the afflicted person is something permissible when performing Ruqyah. This can also be done by blowing on water, which is pure and is a purifier, and then performing Ghusl with it as water purifies more than soil does.

Moreover, Abu Daawood may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him reported in his Sunan that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, entered into the presence of Thaabit Ibn Qays  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him who was sick and said to him: "O Lord of mankind, take away the harm from Thaabit Ibn Qays,” then he took some earth from Buthaan (a place in Madeenah) and then put it in a container and put water in it and then splashed the water on him.

Furthermore, Ibn Abu Shaybah may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him reported that Ibn 'Abbaas  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him said, “If a woman who is about to give birth cannot bear the pain (of the process of giving birth), she should write these two verses on a sheet of paper and then she should wash and drink from it, ‘Bismillaah, laa Ilaaha Illallaah Al-Haleem, Al-Kareem, Subahaanallaah Rabbus-Samaawaati As-sab' wa rabbul-'Arshil Al-'Aatheem. (In the name of Allaah, none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah, the Forbearing, the Generous. Glory be to him, Lord of the heavens, and Lord of the noble Throne.) And then (the verse from the Quran which means) {It will be, on the Day they see it, as though they had not remained [in the world] except for an afternoon or a morning thereof.} [Quran 79:46] And then (the verse what means): {It will be - on the Day they see that which they are promised — as though they had not remained [in the world] except an hour of a day. [This is] notification. And will [any] be destroyed except the defiantly disobedient people?} [Quran 46:35]

So, the above narrations and other narrations are evidence that it is permissible to use water, saliva and soil when performing Ruqyah, if the recitation is acceptable and provided the purpose of using the water, soil and saliva is to transmit the effect of Ruqyah onto the body of the patient. It is for this reason that many early and contemporary scholars may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them are of the view that it is permissible to recite the Quran on water and then blow on it. Indeed Wahb Ibn Al-Munabbih, Imaam Ahmad, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Al-Qayyim, Shaykh Ibn Baaz, Ibn 'Uthaymeen, and Shaykh Ibn Ibraaheem Aal Ash-Shayykh  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them all, said that it is permissible to perform Ruqyah this way.

For further details, please refer to Fatwas 82918, 81643 and 88660.

Allaah Knows best.

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