The Book of Greetings

كتاب السلام

Chapter 21: It Is Recommended To Recite Ruqyah For The Evil Eye, Pustules, And Stings

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported that Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) granted a special sanction for incantation in case of the snake poison to a tribe of 'Amr. Abu Zubair said

I heard Jabir b. 'Abdullah as saying that the scorpion stung one of us as we were sitting with Allah's Messenger (may peace upon him). A person said: Allah's Messenger, I use incantation (for curing the effect. of sting), whereupon he said: He who is competent amongst you to benefit his brother should do so.

Jabir reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) prohibited incantation. Then the people of Amr b. Hazm came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said

We know an incantation which we use for curing the sting of the scorpion but you have prohibited it. They recited (the words of incantation) before him, whereupon he said: I do not see any harm (in it), so he who amongst you is competent to do good to his brother should do that.

Chapter 23: The Permissibility Of Accepting A Reward For Reciting Ruqyah With Qur'an And Supplications

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported

We landed at a place where a woman came to us and said: A scorpion has bitten the chief of the tribe. Is there any incantator amongst you? A person amongst us stood up (and went with her). We had no idea that he had been a good incantator but he practiced incantation with the help of Sura al-Fatiha and the (the chief) was all right. They gave him a flock of sheep and served us milk. We said (to him): Are you a good incantator. Thereupon he said: I did not do it but by the help of Sura al-Fatiha. He said: Do not drive (these goats) until we go to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and find out (whether it is permissible to accept (this reward of incantation). So we came to Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) and made a mention of that to him, whereupon he said: How did you come to know that this (Sura al-Fatiha) could be used as an incantation? So distribute them (amongst those who had been present there with him) and allocate a share of mine also.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Hisham with the same chain of transmitters and he said

There stood up with her a person amongst us whom we did not know before as an incantator.

Chapter 25: Seeking Refuge With Allah From The Devil Who Whispers During Prayer

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of 'Uthman b. Abu al-'As with a slight variation of wording.

Chapter 26: For Every Disease There Is A Remedy, And It Is Recommended To Treat Disease

Anas b. Malik reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) got himself cupped and never withheld the wages of anyone.

Ibn 'Umar reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

Fever is from the vehement Paging of the Hell-fire, so cool it with water.

Chapter 28: Treatment With Indian Aloeswood, Which Is Costmary

Umm Qais, daughter of Mihsan, the sister of 'Ukasha b. Mihsan said

I visited Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) along with my son who had not, by that time, been weaned and he urinated over his (clothes). He ordered water to be brought and sprinkled (it) over them. She (further) said: I visited him (Allah's Apostle) along with my son and I had squeezed the swelling in the uvula, whereupon he said: Why do you afflict your children by compressing like this? Use this Indian aloeswood, for it contains seven types of remedies, one among them being a remedy for pleurisy. It is applied through the nose for a swelling of the uvula and poured into the side of the mouth for pleurisy.

Chapter 29: Healing Sickness With The Black Seed

Abu Huraira reported that he heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

Nigella seed is a remedy for every disease except death.

Chapter 32: The Plague, Ill Omens, Soothsaying And The Like

Usama b. Zaid reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had said

Plague is the sign of a calamity with which Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, affects people from His servants. So when you hear about it, don't enter there (where it has broken out), and when it has broken out in a land and you are there, then don't run away from it.

Usama b. Zaid reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) having said this

This calamity or illness was a punishment with which were punished some of the nations before you. Then it was left upon the earth. It goes away once and comes back again. He who heard of its presence in a land should not go towards it, and he who happened to be in a land where it had broken out should not fly from it.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zuhri with a different chain of transmitters.

Ibrahim b. Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas reported

Usama b. Zaid and Sa'd had been sitting and they had been conversing and they said this hadith.

This hadith has been reported on the authority of Ma'mar with the same chain of transmitters but with this addition

" Do you think that he would graze in the barren land but would abandon the green land? Would you not attribute it to be a failing on his part? He said: Yes. He said: Then proceed. And he moved on until he came to Medina. And he said to me: This is the right place, or he said: That is the destination if Allah so wills."

Chapter 33: There Is No 'Adwa, No Tiyarah (Evil Omens), No Hamah. No Safar, No Nawa', And No Ghoul, And No Sick Camel Should Be Brought To A Healthy Camel

Jabir reported Allal's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There is no transitive disease, no ill omen, no ghoul.Note: The majority of scholars interpret this to mean that these things in and of themselves do not transmit or cause harm through supernatural or hidden means but that Allah is ultimately in control and any fearful superstition around these is false.

Chapter 34: (Evil) Omens And Al-Fa'l, And That Which May Be Regarded As Inauspicious

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying

There is no transitive disease, no divination, but I like good words.

'Umar b. Muhammad b. Zaid reported that he heard his father narrating from Ibn 'Umar that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had said. If bad luck is a fact, then it is in the horse, the woman and the house.

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported on the authority of his father that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said

If there is bad luck in anything, it is the horse, the abode and the woman.

Chapter 35: The Prohibition Of Soothsaying And Going To Soothsayers

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Zuhri with a slight variation of wording.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Mu'awiya b. Hakam as-Sulami through another chain of transmitters. The hadith transmitted on the authority of Yahya b. Abu Kathir (there is an addition of these words)

I said: Among us there are men who draw lines and thus make divination. What about this? Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: There was a Prophet who drew lines, so whose lines agree with his line for him it is allowable.