Sunan Ibn Majah
Chapters on Medicine
كتاب الطب
Chapter 34
مَا رُخِّصَ فِيهِ مِنَ الرُّقَى
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbdah ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us: Muʿāwiyah ibn Hishām narrated to us: Sufyān narrated to us, from ʿĀṣim, from Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith, from Anas: The Prophet permitted ruqya for venomous stings, the evil eye, and al-namlah (a named skin ailment).
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source English witness glosses al-namlah as sores or small pustules/ulcers on a person’s sides. The Arabic gives only the historical ailment name, so it is retained without assigning a modern diagnosis.
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ رَخَّصَ فِي الرُّقْيَةِ مِنَ الْحُمَةِ وَالْعَيْنِ وَالنَّمْلَةِ .
النَّمْلَة is an historical ailment name; the English witness describes sores/pustules or ulcers on the sides, but the Arabic clause does not further define it.
Should al-namlah be retained as a named ailment rather than equated with a modern skin diagnosis?
Chapter 35
رُقْيَةِ الْحَيَّةِ وَالْعَقْرَبِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah and Hannād ibn al-Sarī both narrated to us: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ narrated to us, from Mughīrah, from Ibrāhīm, from al-Aswad, from ʿĀʾishah: The Messenger of Allah permitted ruqya for snakebite and scorpion stings.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic explicitly names a snake and a scorpion as the causes for which ruqya was permitted.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ismāʿīl ibn Bahrām narrated to us: ʿUbayd Allāh al-Ashjaʿī narrated to us, from Sufyān, from Suhayl ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: A scorpion stung a man, and he did not sleep that night. It was said to the Prophet, ‘So-and-so was stung by a scorpion and did not sleep that night.’ He said, ‘If he had said at evening, “I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He created,” the sting of a scorpion would not have harmed him until morning.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report presents the protection conditionally: if the man had said the supplication at evening, the sting would not have harmed him until morning. حين أمسى is translated ‘at evening.’
فَقَالَ " أَمَا إِنَّهُ لَوْ قَالَ حِينَ أَمْسَى أَعُوذُ بِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ التَّامَّاتِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ - مَا ضَرَّهُ لَدْغُ عَقْرَبٍ حَتَّى يُصْبِحَ " .
The protection is stated in the hypothetical construction لَوْ قَالَ ... مَا ضَرَّهُ; the translation preserves it as a counterfactual rather than changing it into a general guarantee.
Should the counterfactual relation and ‘until morning’ limit both remain explicit?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: ʿAffān narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād narrated to us: ʿUthmān ibn Ḥakīm narrated to us: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm narrated to me, from ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, who said: I presented the recitation used for a snakebite to the Messenger of Allah, and he instructed that it be used.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says عَرَضْتُ النَّهْشَةَ مِنَ الْحَيَّةَ (‘I presented al-nahshah from the snake’) without explicitly naming ruqya in this sentence. The translation follows the contextual English witness in understanding it as a treatment/recitation for snakebite.
قَالَ عَرَضْتُ النَّهْشَةَ مِنَ الْحَيَّةِ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَأَمَرَ بِهَا .
النَّهْشَةَ مِنَ الْحَيَّةِ literally names a snakebite, while the English witness interprets it as a ruqya recited for snakebite; the Arabic sentence does not explicitly say ‘ruqya.’
Does عَرَضْتُ النَّهْشَةَ refer to presenting the snakebite itself or presenting the recitation/treatment for it?
Chapter 36
مَا عَوَّذَ بِهِ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ وَمَا عُوِّذَ بِهِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Jarīr narrated to us, from Manṣūr, from Abū al-Ḍuḥā, from Masrūq, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: When the Messenger of Allah visited a sick person and prayed for him, he would say: ‘Remove the affliction, Lord of humankind, and heal him. You are the Healer; there is no healing except Your healing—a healing that leaves no illness.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The supplication addresses Allah as Lord of humankind and describes Him as the Healer; ‘him’ in ‘heal him’ refers to the sick person just mentioned.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: Sufyān narrated to us, from ʿAbd Rabbih, from ʿAmrah, from ʿĀʾishah: Among the things the Prophet would say for a sick person, with his saliva on his finger, was: ‘In the name of Allah; with the soil of our land and the saliva of some of us, let our sick person be healed by the permission of our Lord.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic explicitly mentions the Prophet’s saliva on his finger and the supplication’s references to soil and saliva. The English witness adds a parenthetical action of dipping the finger in dust; that action is not stated in this Arabic clause.
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ كَانَ مِمَّا يَقُولُ لِلْمَرِيضِ بِبُزَاقِهِ بِإِصْبَعِهِ " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ بِتُرْبَةِ أَرْضِنَا بِرِيقَةِ بَعْضِنَا لِيُشْفَى سَقِيمُنَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّنَا " .
The Arabic says ببزاقه بإصبعه (‘with his saliva, with his finger’) but does not state in this clause that the finger was dipped in dust; the English witness supplies that detail parenthetically.
Should the added dipping action be omitted in a direct translation of this Arabic wording?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr narrated to us: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr narrated to us: Zuhayr ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn Khuṣayfah, from ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb, from Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr, from ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ al-Thaqafī, who said: I came to the Prophet while I had a pain that was nearly incapacitating me. The Prophet said to me, ‘Place your right hand on it and say, “In the name of Allah. I seek refuge in Allah’s might and power from the evil of what I feel and what I fear,” seven times.’ I said that, and Allah healed me.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The instruction is to place the right hand on the site of pain, then say the supplication seven times. The closing clause attributes the healing to Allah.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Bishr ibn Hilāl al-Ṣawwāf narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Wārith narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Ṣuhayb, from Abū Naḍrah, from Abū Saʿīd: Gabriel came to the Prophet and said, ‘Muḥammad, are you ill?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ Gabriel said, ‘In the name of Allah, I perform ruqya for you against everything that harms you, against the evil of every soul, an evil eye, or an envier. May Allah heal you. In the name of Allah, I perform ruqya for you.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The supplication repeats ‘In the name of Allah, I perform ruqya for you’ at both the beginning and end; both occurrences are preserved. The phrase ‘every soul’ is kept general as in the Arabic.
قَالَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ أَرْقِيكَ مِنْ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ يُؤْذِيكَ مِنْ شَرِّ كُلِّ نَفْسٍ أَوْ عَيْنٍ أَوْ حَاسِدٍ اللَّهُ يَشْفِيكَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ أَرْقِيكَ .
أَرْقِيكَ is an active first-person verb meaning ‘I perform ruqya for you’; ‘ruqya’ is retained rather than reduced to ‘recite’ because the Arabic leaves the exact ritual method unstated.
Should أَرْقِيكَ be rendered as ‘I perform ruqya for you’ or simply ‘I recite over you’?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār and Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar both narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us: Sufyān narrated to us, from ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, from Ziyād ibn Thubayt, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Prophet came to visit me and said, ‘Shall I perform a ruqya for you that Gabriel brought to me?’ I said, ‘May my father and mother be your ransom! Yes, Messenger of Allah.’
He said, ‘In the name of Allah, I perform ruqya for you. May Allah heal you from every ailment within you, from the evil of those who blow on knots, and from the evil of an envier when he envies.’ He said it three times.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The repeated ‘from’ phrases are retained in the supplication. النَّفَّاثَاتِ is feminine plural, rendered as ‘those who blow on knots’; the Arabic does not elaborate on the practice here. The closing phrase states that it was said three times.
قَالَ " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ أَرْقِيكَ وَاللَّهُ يَشْفِيكَ مِنْ كُلِّ دَاءٍ فِيكَ مِنْ شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ " .
النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ literally refers to feminine plural persons who blow on knots; the English witness interprets this as women practicing witchcraft, an explanatory expansion not stated in this clause.
Should the wording remain literal as ‘those who blow on knots’ without adding ‘witchcraft’?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān ibn Hishām al-Baghdādī narrated to us: Wakīʿ narrated to us. [Another chain:] Abū Bakr ibn Khallād al-Bāhilī narrated to us: Abū ʿĀmir narrated to us. Both narrated to us: Sufyān, from Manṣūr, from Minhāl, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Prophet used to seek protection for al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, saying, ‘I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from every devil and venomous creature, and from every harmful evil eye.’
He said, ‘Our forefather Ibrāhīm used to seek protection with these words for Ismāʿīl and Isḥāq’—or he said, ‘Ismāʿīl and Yaʿqūb.’ This is Wakīʿ’s version of the hadith.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic recitation does not include the English witness’s added words ‘for you both’; the context identifies al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn as those being protected. The narrator explicitly gives two alternatives for the second son’s name: Isḥāq or Yaʿqūb.
قَالَ كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يُعَوِّذُ الْحَسَنَ وَالْحُسَيْنَ يَقُولُ " أَعُوذُ بِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ التَّامَّةِ مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْطَانٍ وَهَامَّةٍ وَمِنْ كُلِّ عَيْنٍ لاَمَّةٍ " .
هَامَّةٌ can refer to a venomous creature/reptile, and عَيْنٌ لَامَّةٌ to a harmful or afflicting evil eye; the Arabic does not give more specific identifications.
Should these terms remain broad as ‘venomous creature’ and ‘harmful evil eye’?
أَوْ قَالَ " إِسْمَاعِيلَ وَيَعْقُوبَ " .
The text explicitly gives alternate names for the second son: Isḥāq or Yaʿqūb.
Should both names remain as alternatives exactly as transmitted?
Chapter 37
مَا يُعَوَّذُ بِهِ مِنَ الْحُمَّى
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us: Abū ʿĀmir narrated to us: Ibrāhīm al-Ashhalī narrated to us, from Dāwūd ibn Ḥuṣayn, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās: For fever and every kind of pain, the Prophet used to teach them to say: ‘In the name of Allah, the Great. I seek refuge in Allah, the Magnificent, from the evil of a throbbing vein and from the evil of the heat of the Fire.’
Abū ʿĀmir said: ‘I differ from the others in this; I say yaʿʿār.’ A second chain: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dimashqī narrated to us: Ibn Abī Fudayk narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Ḥabībah al-Ashhalī informed me, from Dāwūd ibn al-Ḥuṣayn, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, from the Prophet, with similar wording, but saying, ‘from the evil of a throbbing vein.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The main reading is عِرْق نَعَّار, rendered ‘throbbing vein.’ Abū ʿĀmir explicitly reports a different reading, يَعَّار, which is retained in transliteration because its precise sense is uncertain here. The second chain gives the main reading again.
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ كَانَ يُعَلِّمُهُمْ مِنَ الْحُمَّى وَمِنَ الأَوْجَاعِ كُلِّهَا أَنْ يَقُولُوا " بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الْكَبِيرِ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ مِنْ شَرِّ عِرْقٍ نَعَّارٍ وَمِنْ شَرِّ حَرِّ النَّارِ " .
نَعَّار describes the vein in an unusual expression; ‘throbbing’ conveys a surging/pulsing sense, while the English witness renders it as gushing or screaming.
What is the most faithful English rendering of عِرْق نَعَّار in this supplication?
قَالَ أَبُو عَامِرٍ أَنَا أُخَالِفُ النَّاسَ فِي هَذَا أَقُولُ يَعَّارٍ .
Abū ʿĀmir says he differs from the others and reads يَعَّار instead of نَعَّار; its intended meaning is unclear from this report.
Should the variant يَعَّار remain transliterated without assigning a meaning?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd ibn Kathīr ibn Dīnār al-Ḥimṣī narrated to us: My father narrated to us, from Ibn Thawbān, from ʿUmayr, who heard Junādah ibn Abī Umayyah say: I heard ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit say: Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to the Prophet while he was suffering from fever and said: ‘In the name of Allah, I perform ruqya for you against everything that harms you, against the envy of an envier and every evil eye. May Allah heal you.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says the Prophet was يوعك, suffering from fever/feverish illness. The supplication mentions harmful things, an envier’s envy, and every evil eye.
Chapter 38
النَّفْثِ فِي الرُّقْيَةِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, ʿAlī ibn Maymūn al-Raqqī, and Sahl ibn Abī Sahl narrated to us: They said: Wakīʿ narrated to us, from Mālik ibn Anas, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah: The Prophet used to blow lightly while performing ruqya.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The verb يَنْفُثُ refers to blowing lightly; the report does not specify the words of the ruqya or where the breath was directed.
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ كَانَ يَنْفِثُ فِي الرُّقْيَةِ .
يَنْفُثُ indicates blowing lightly, but this brief report does not specify the target or exact manner.
Should يَنْفُثُ be rendered as ‘blow lightly’ without adding a target?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Sahl ibn Abī Sahl said: Maʿn ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us. [Another chain:] Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us: Bishr ibn ʿUmar narrated to us. Both said: Mālik narrated to us, from Ibn Shihāb, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah: Whenever the Prophet was ill, he would recite the protective sūrahs (al-Muʿawwidhāt) over himself and blow lightly. When his pain became severe, I would recite over him and pass his hand over him, hoping for its blessing.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Al-Muʿawwidhāt is the name for protective Qur’anic sūrahs; the report does not list them here. The Arabic says ʿĀʾishah wiped using his hand (بِيَدِهِ), not her own, and says she hoped for its blessing.
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ كَانَ إِذَا اشْتَكَى يَقْرَأُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ الْمُعَوِّذَاتِ وَيَنْفِثُ فَلَمَّا اشْتَدَّ وَجَعُهُ كُنْتُ أَقْرَأُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَمْسَحُ بِيَدِهِ رَجَاءَ بَرَكَتِهَا .
بِيَدِهِ refers to wiping with the Prophet’s hand, while بَرَكَتِهَا (‘its blessing’) most likely refers to the hand; the antecedent is implicit.
Does ‘its blessing’ refer to the Prophet’s hand used to wipe him?
Chapter 39
تَعْلِيقِ التَّمَائِمِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ayyūb ibn Muḥammad al-Raqqī narrated to us: Muʿammar ibn Sulaymān narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bishr narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from Yaḥyā ibn al-Jazzār, from a nephew of Zaynab, the wife of ʿAbd Allāh, from Zaynab, who said: An old woman used to come to us and perform ruqya for al-ḥumrah. We had a bed with long legs. Whenever ʿAbd Allāh entered, he would clear his throat and make a sound. One day he entered, and when she heard his voice, she veiled herself from him. He came and sat beside me and touched me; he felt a thread. He said, ‘What is this?’ I said, ‘A ruqya for me for al-ḥumrah, in this thread.’ He pulled it, cut it, and threw it away. He said, ‘The family of ʿAbd Allāh has become free of shirk. I heard the Messenger of Allah say, “Ruqyas, amulets, and love charms are shirk.”’
I said, ‘I went out one day and so-and-so saw me. The eye nearest him began to water. Whenever I performed ruqya over it, its watering stopped, but when I left it, it watered again.’ He said, ‘That is Satan. If you obey him, he leaves you alone; if you disobey him, he jabs your eye with his finger. But if you were to do as the Messenger of Allah did, it would be better for you and more likely to bring healing: sprinkle water in your eye and say, “Remove the affliction, Lord of humankind; heal me, You are the Healer. There is no healing except Your healing—a healing that leaves no illness.”’’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Al-ḥumrah is retained as the name of a condition; the English witness identifies it as erysipelas, but the Arabic does not give a modern diagnosis. The thread is explicitly described as containing a ruqya, while the Messenger’s saying mentions ruqyas and amulets; the report later gives a supplication to use. The wording مس خيط means he felt a thread, not a sting. The eye described as watering is the one nearest the man who saw her.
قَالَتْ كَانَتْ عَجُوزٌ تَدْخُلُ عَلَيْنَا تَرْقِي مِنَ الْحُمْرَةِ وَكَانَ لَنَا سَرِيرٌ طَوِيلُ الْقَوَائِمِ وَكَانَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ إِذَا دَخَلَ تَنَحْنَحَ وَصَوَّتَ فَدَخَلَ يَوْمًا فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ صَوْتَهُ احْتَجَبَتْ مِنْهُ فَجَاءَ فَجَلَسَ إِلَى جَانِبِي فَمَسَّنِي فَوَجَدَ مَسَّ خَيْطٍ فَقَالَ مَا هَذَا فَقُلْتُ رُقًى لِي فِيهِ مِنَ الْحُمْرَةِ فَجَذَبَهُ وَقَطَعَهُ فَرَمَى بِهِ وَقَالَ لَقَدْ أَصْبَحَ آلُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ أَغْنِيَاءَ عَنِ الشِّرْكِ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " إِنَّ الرُّقَى وَالتَّمَائِمَ وَالتِّوَلَةَ شِرْكٌ " .
الحُمْرَة is a named condition associated with redness; the English witness identifies it as erysipelas, but the Arabic does not itself establish that modern diagnosis.
Should al-ḥumrah remain transliterated, or be identified as erysipelas?
قَالَتْ كَانَتْ عَجُوزٌ تَدْخُلُ عَلَيْنَا تَرْقِي مِنَ الْحُمْرَةِ وَكَانَ لَنَا سَرِيرٌ طَوِيلُ الْقَوَائِمِ وَكَانَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ إِذَا دَخَلَ تَنَحْنَحَ وَصَوَّتَ فَدَخَلَ يَوْمًا فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ صَوْتَهُ احْتَجَبَتْ مِنْهُ فَجَاءَ فَجَلَسَ إِلَى جَانِبِي فَمَسَّنِي فَوَجَدَ مَسَّ خَيْطٍ فَقَالَ مَا هَذَا فَقُلْتُ رُقًى لِي فِيهِ مِنَ الْحُمْرَةِ فَجَذَبَهُ وَقَطَعَهُ فَرَمَى بِهِ وَقَالَ لَقَدْ أَصْبَحَ آلُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ أَغْنِيَاءَ عَنِ الشِّرْكِ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " إِنَّ الرُّقَى وَالتَّمَائِمَ وَالتِّوَلَةَ شِرْكٌ " .
The Arabic says he felt the touch of a thread (مَسَّ خَيْطٍ); the English witness renders this as a sting, which is not what the Arabic says.
Should the literal ‘felt a thread’ be retained rather than ‘found a sting’?
قَالَتْ كَانَتْ عَجُوزٌ تَدْخُلُ عَلَيْنَا تَرْقِي مِنَ الْحُمْرَةِ وَكَانَ لَنَا سَرِيرٌ طَوِيلُ الْقَوَائِمِ وَكَانَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ إِذَا دَخَلَ تَنَحْنَحَ وَصَوَّتَ فَدَخَلَ يَوْمًا فَلَمَّا سَمِعَتْ صَوْتَهُ احْتَجَبَتْ مِنْهُ فَجَاءَ فَجَلَسَ إِلَى جَانِبِي فَمَسَّنِي فَوَجَدَ مَسَّ خَيْطٍ فَقَالَ مَا هَذَا فَقُلْتُ رُقًى لِي فِيهِ مِنَ الْحُمْرَةِ فَجَذَبَهُ وَقَطَعَهُ فَرَمَى بِهِ وَقَالَ لَقَدْ أَصْبَحَ آلُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ أَغْنِيَاءَ عَنِ الشِّرْكِ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " إِنَّ الرُّقَى وَالتَّمَائِمَ وَالتِّوَلَةَ شِرْكٌ " .
The report calls the thread’s contents a ruqya, quotes a saying that ruqyas and amulets are shirk, then reports a recommended supplication; it does not spell out a distinction between these practices.
Should these statements remain together without adding a distinction not expressed in this passage?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAlī ibn Abī al-Khaṣīb narrated to us: Wakīʿ narrated to us, from Mubārak, from al-Ḥasan, from ʿImrān ibn al-Ḥuṣayn: The Prophet saw a man with a brass ring on his hand and said, ‘What is this ring?’ He said, ‘It is for al-wāhinah.’ He said, ‘Take it off, for it will only increase your weakness.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The man names the condition/remedy as الوَاهِنَة; it is retained in transliteration because the report does not specify a modern diagnosis. The Arabic says the ring is made of brass (صُفْر).
قَالَ هَذِهِ مِنَ الْوَاهِنَةِ .
الوَاهِنَة is a historical condition/name associated with weakness, but the passage does not define it or identify a modern diagnosis.
Should الوَاهِنَة remain transliterated as al-wāhinah or be glossed with a specific condition?
Chapter 40
النُّشْرَةِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, from Sulaymān ibn ʿAmr ibn al-Aḥwaṣ, from Umm Jundub, who said: I saw the Messenger of Allah stone Jamrat al-ʿAqabah from the middle of the valley on the Day of Sacrifice, then depart. A woman from Khathʿam followed him, with her young son who was afflicted and could not speak. She said, ‘Messenger of Allah, this is my son and the last of my family. He is afflicted and cannot speak.’
The Messenger of Allah said, ‘Bring me some water.’ Water was brought, and he washed his hands and rinsed his mouth. Then he gave it to her and said, ‘Give him some of it to drink, pour some of it over him, and seek healing from Allah for him.’ Umm Jundub said: I later met the woman and said, ‘If only you would give me some of it.’ She said, ‘It is only for this afflicted one.’ A year later I met the woman and asked her about the boy. She said, ‘He recovered and developed an intellect unlike that of other people.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The woman’s description of her son as بَقِيَّةُ أَهْلِي is translated as ‘the last of my family.’ The final phrase says that he recovered and had an intellect unlike that of other people; the exact intended sense of the comparison is not further explained.
قَالَتْ فَلَقِيتُ الْمَرْأَةَ مِنَ الْحَوْلِ فَسَأَلْتُهَا عَنِ الْغُلاَمِ فَقَالَتْ بَرَأَ وَعَقَلَ عَقْلاً لَيْسَ كَعُقُولِ النَّاسِ .
عَقَلَ عَقْلاً لَيْسَ كَعُقُولِ النَّاسِ says he developed/possessed an intellect unlike people’s; the precise intended force of this unusual praise is not explained.
Should the phrase be rendered literally as ‘an intellect unlike that of other people’ or more idiomatically as ‘exceptionally intelligent’?
Chapter 41
الاستشفاء بالقرآن
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd ibn ʿUtbah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Kindī narrated to us: ʿAlī ibn Thābit narrated to us: Muʿād ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Abū Isḥāq, from al-Ḥārith, from ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘The best remedy is the Qur’an.’
Chapter 42
قَتْلِ ذِي الطُّفْيَتَيْنِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us: ʿAbdah ibn Sulaymān narrated to us, from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: The Prophet ordered that the two-striped snake be killed, for it takes away eyesight and causes miscarriage. That is, it is a harmful snake.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The text calls it ذُو الطُّفْيَتَيْنِ (‘the one with two stripes/markings’) and glosses it as a harmful snake; it does not identify a zoological species. The phrase وَيُصِيبُ الْحَبَلَ is rendered as causing miscarriage, following the source English witness’s reading of harm to pregnancy.
قَالَتْ أَمَرَ النَّبِيُّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ بِقَتْلِ ذِي الطُّفْيَتَيْنِ فَإِنَّهُ يَلْتَمِسُ الْبَصَرَ وَيُصِيبُ الْحَبَلَ .
ذُو الطُّفْيَتَيْنِ names a snake by two markings, while يَلْتَمِسُ الْبَصَرَ وَيُصِيبُ الْحَبَلَ is traditionally rendered as taking away sight and causing miscarriage; exact zoological and physiological referents are not specified.
Should the name be rendered descriptively as ‘two-striped snake,’ and does يُصِيبُ الْحَبَلَ specifically indicate miscarriage?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr ibn al-Sarḥ narrated to us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb narrated to us: Yūnus informed me, from Ibn Shihāb, from Sālim, from his father, that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘Kill snakes, and kill the two-striped snake and the short-tailed one, for these two take away eyesight and cause miscarriage.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic uses the descriptive names ذُو الطُّفْيَتَيْنِ (‘the one with two markings/stripes’) and الأَبْتَر (‘the short-tailed one’). The source English witness glosses these as snakes with two white stripes and a short or damaged tail; no species is named in the Arabic.
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " اقْتُلُوا الْحَيَّاتِ وَاقْتُلُوا ذَا الطُّفْيَتَيْنِ وَالأَبْتَرَ فَإِنَّهُمَا يَلْتَمِسَانِ الْبَصَرَ وَيُسْقِطَانِ الْحَبَلَ " .
ذُو الطُّفْيَتَيْنِ and الأَبْتَر are descriptive snake names; the Arabic does not identify their zoological species, though the English witness adds details about their appearance.
Should these be translated descriptively as ‘two-striped’ and ‘short-tailed’ without a species identification?