سورة الإسراء

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Healing lies only in the knowledge of the Quran, for Allah says: مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَ رَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِینَ [that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers], meaning for its people, and there is no doubt or hesitation in it. And its people are the infallible Imams, the very ones about whom Allah has said: "Then We gave the Book (from the heavens) as inheritance to a group of Our chosen servants." (Fatir/32)

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): If any believer suffers from a pain, then with sincerity draws his hand over the place of pain and says: وَ نُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ ما هُوَ شِفاءٌ وَ رَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِینَ وَ لا یَزِیدُ الظَّالِمِینَ إِلَّا خَساراً [And We reveal of the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers, and it adds only to the perdition of the unjust], he will find relief from that pain, whatever it may be. And the proof of this matter is also mentioned in the verse: شِفاءٌ وَ رَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِینَ [a healing and a mercy to the believers].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A man complained to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) of an incurable pain, and he said to him: "Do you have a wife?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Ask her, with her consent, for one dirham of her dowry; with it buy honey, and with the honey mixed with rainwater write the Quran and drink it." And he brought as evidence for this that Allah has said: وَ نُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ ما هُوَ شِفاءٌ وَ رَحْمَةٌ [And We reveal of the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Sinan narrates: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the incantation for scorpion and snake, and the incantation for the insane and the bewitched who are tormented. He (peace be upon him) said: "O Ibn Sinan, incantations and undoers of spells must be from the Quran. And if someone is not healed by means of the Quran, Allah will not heal him thereafter. And has anything clearer than these matters come in the Quran? Does not Allah the Exalted say: وَ نُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ ما هُوَ شِفاءٌ وَ رَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِینَ [And We reveal of the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers]? Does not Allah the Exalted say: 'If We had sent down this Quran upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and split apart from the fear of Allah!' (Hashr/21) Ask us so that we may teach you and inform you of the qawari' al-Quran (striking verses) for every ailment. ["Qawari' al-Quran" refers to verses whose recitation is beneficial for safety from the evil of Satan.]"

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The Jews came to a Jewish woman named Abdah and said: 'You know that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has demolished the foundation of Bani Israil and destroyed the Jewish religion. Now the elders of the Jews wish to take him by surprise with this poison. They have prepared this poison and set a reward for you to poison the meat of this sheep with it and poison Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family).' Abdah poisoned the sheep and then roasted it, and gathered all the chiefs of the Jews in her house, and she herself came into the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and said: 'You know the respect due to me; the chiefs of the Jews have come to my house. Grace my house with yourself and some of your companions.' The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) rose, and while Amir al-Muminin Ali (peace be upon him), Abu Dujanah, Abu Ayyub, Sahl ibn Hunayf, and a number of the Muhajirin accompanied him, he came to Abdah's house. As soon as they arrived and the Jewish woman brought out the poisoned sheep, the Jews stopped up their noses with woollen cloths and stood up, leaning on their staves. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to them: 'Sit down.' They said: 'Whenever a prophet visits us, none of us sits, and we do not like our breath to reach him lest he be troubled.' But the Jews — may Allah curse them — were lying, and they did this out of fear of the effect of the poison and its rising vapour. As soon as the poisoned sheep was placed before the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), the shoulder and blade of that sheep spoke: 'O Ahmad (peace be upon him and his family), hold back and do not eat me, for I am poisoned and toxic.' The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) summoned Abdah and said to her: 'What drove you to this deed?' She said: 'I said to myself, if he is a prophet (peace be upon him and his family) it will not harm him, and if he is a sorcerer and a liar I will rid my people of him.' At that moment Jibril (peace be upon him) descended and said to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): 'Allah conveys His greeting of peace to you and says: Say, in the name of that Allah whose name every believer invokes and by whose name all the believers are honoured, and by the light of that Allah who has illuminated the heavens and the earth, and by His power before which every obstinate tyrant and every rebellious devil bows. Protect me from the evil of poison, magic and treacheries. And in the name of Allah the Most High, the sole Master of the world, other than whom there is no god, وَ نُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ ما هُوَ شِفاءٌ وَ رَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِینَ وَ لا یَزِیدُ الظَّالِمِینَ إِلَّا خَساراً [And We reveal of the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy to the believers, and it adds only to the perdition of the unjust].' The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) spoke these words and also told his companions to recite them. Then he said to them: 'Eat from this.' And afterwards he ordered them to perform cupping (hijamah).