Fatwa ID: 03215

Answered by: Maulana Tahsin Alam​

Question

My friend is suffering from headaches or sickness regularly and he always cures himself by reading Quran Ayats and duas. However, when it is really bad or worse, he will go to the doctor and they will give him medicine to eat for a long period of time. However, he does not believe in this as it is affecting his conviction upon Allah that medicine is the one curing, not Allah. He does not eat those medicines as Allah is the one giving Shifa and not the medicine. In this situation, how can one overcome this? What should one do?

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful 

Answer:

In any case, whether your friend is being cured through the recitation of duʿās and Qur’ān or taking prescribed medicine from the doctor, Allāḥ SWT is the one curing him in all the situations. It is incorrect to believe that one not should resort to medicine or a doctor, as it will affect their īmān; the Prophet SAW ordered Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ when he fell sick, to consult the doctor of the Arabs, Ḥārith ibn Kaldah (who was not even a Muslim) for medical advice.[1]Imām Ibn al-Qayyim said, “The Prophet SAW treatment for sickness was of three types: natural (physical) treatments, spiritual treatments and treatments which contain elements of both.”[2]

Therefore, your friend should seek reliable medical advice from a doctor and follow his instruction, as is proven from the Sunnah; he should also continue on with his duʿās and recitation of the Qur’ān as a means of cure as well.  It has also been narrated the Prophet SAW said, “Verily Allāh SWT has not sent down a sickness, except that its shifā’(cure) has been sent down with it, so use medicine and treat yourselves!”[3]

Only Allah SWT alone knows best.

Written by Maulana Tahsin Alam

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham