[Q 474] Islamic Guidance on Taweez, Burning Items and Ruqyah

QUESTION:

There are some people who go to certain individuals or Hafiz(ah) to make dua, and they ask to bring different things such as flour, vinegar (kitchen items), lemons, etc., to make dua.
Sometimes they might also give taweez, and in that, there is nothing from the Qur’an — sometimes they just draw some lines, etc., which I think is not permissible.
They also give things to burn, etc.

Is this permissible, or should one rather do ruqyah only?
I need this fatwa as there are a lot of people who still run to X, Y, Z individuals for “treatment.”

ANSWER:

Just as there are different methods of physical treatment using medicines, there are also various methods of roohani ilaaj (spiritual healing), such as dum karna (reciting and blowing over something), wearing taweez (amulet), or reciting over certain items and then using them, etc.

It is not necessary that a taweez must contain only Qur’anic verses — it may also include any permissible and valid words (jaiz kalam) that do not contradict the Shari‘ah (Islamic law).

Dum (recitations) and taweez can consist of Qur’anic verses, the Asma-e-Ilahiyyah (Names of Allah Almighty), or permissible words transmitted from pious elders (buzurgs). At times, the words are not explicitly written but represented by numbers or symbols (adad), which also falls within permissibility.

However, making taweez that contains meaningless words, or anything involving kufr (disbelief) or khilaf-e-shar‘ (un-Islamic content) is not allowed.

Similarly, giving amulets or items to be burnt can also be one form of ilaaj (treatment), such as when chillies (mirchay) are burnt to remove the effect of nazar bad (evil eye). As long as these practices do not include anything against the Shari‘ah, all such methods are permissible.

The main point is that the person from whom treatment is sought must be a ba-shar‘ o naek (righteous and Shari‘ah-abiding) individual. One should not go to faasiq o faajir (sinful and immoral) practitioners.

Allah Almighty states in the Holy Qur’an:

وَ نُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْاٰنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَآءٌ وَّ رَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِیْنَۙ
“And We reveal in the Quran that which is healing and mercy for the people of faith.”

(Part 15, Surah Bani Isra’il, Ayah 82)

Under this verse, Tafseer Rooh al-Ma‘ani mentions:

:’’قال مالک: لا باس بتعلیق الکتب التی فیھا اسماء اللہ تعالی علی اعناق المرضی علی وجہ التبرک بھا اذا لم یرد معلقھا بذلک مدافعۃ العین، وعنی بذلک انہ لا باس بالتعلیق بعد نزول البلاء رجاء الفرج والبر، کالرقی التی وردت السنۃ بھا من العین، واما قبل النزول ففیہ باس وھو غریب، وعند ابن المسیب یجوز تعلیق العوذۃ من کتاب اللہ تعالی فی قصبۃ ونحوھا وتوضع عند الجماع وعند الغائط، ولم یقید بقبل او بعد، ورخص الباقر فی العوذۃ تعلق علی الصبیان مطلقاً وکان ابن سیرین لا یری باساً بالشیء من القرآن یعلقہ الانسان کبیراً او صغیراً مطلقاً وھو الذی علیہ الناس قدیماً وحدیثاً فی سائر الامصار‘‘.

(Tafseer Rooh al-Ma‘ani, under Ayah 82, Vol. 8, p. 139)

Mufassir-e-Sharh Hadith, Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan Naeemi عليه رحمۃ الحنان, writes in Mir’at al-Manajih:

“The popular remedies among the common people, if not against the Shari‘ah, should not be stopped. For example, washing the hands and feet of a person believed to have caused the evil eye and sprinkling that water on the affected person was a common practice in Arabia, and the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم approved it.
In our region, people use a bit of flour husk and three red chillies, move them seven times around the affected person from head to toe, and then burn them. If there is truly an evil eye, the husk does not catch fire, and Allah Almighty grants healing. Just as medicine is based on experience and not necessarily textual proof, similarly, spiritual remedies and such practices are valid if not against the Shari‘ah, though the ma’soorah duas (authentic supplications) remain superior.”

(Mir’at al-Manajih, Vol. 6, p. 224, Qadri Publishers, Lahore)

Answered by: Mubashir Attari (AskMufti Scholar)
Verified by: Mufti Sajid Attari
Translated answer
Date: 19th October 2025