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Du‘ā by need

Du‘ā for illness, and visiting the sick

The du‘ā for visiting someone who is ill, the ruqyah and the du‘ā for one's own pain, as the Sabīl library has them, with the source and grade it gives, and where the library speaks of the visit itself.

Written by AI · scholarly review pending

The words of this article were written by AI from the Sabīl library and its sources, and checked by AI against them. No scholar has reviewed it yet. The Arabic texts, their meanings and their sources are the library’s and the Qur’ān’s own, shown exactly as they stand there. For a ruling on your own circumstances, ask a qualified scholar.

Published 3 October 20266 min read

This page gathers what the Pocket Companion of the Sabīl library holds under the heading "Illness & the sick": the du‘ā for visiting someone who is ill, the ruqyah over the ill, and the du‘ā for one's own pain. Each is shown as the library has it, with its Arabic, a transliteration, its meaning, and the source and grade the library gives it. After them come three other places of the library: a table with a row for illness, a card that counts a visit to the sick among rights owed, and a card on the manners of a visit.

It gives no ruling and no medical advice, and nothing on it is offered in the place of medical care. It sets no time or number of its own: where a count appears, it is the card's. Where a card is linked and not shown, the page says why. For a question of religion about your own circumstances, ask a scholar.

The "Illness & the sick" card

The Pocket Companion has a set of cards named "Du‘ā for life events", and one of its cards is headed "Illness & the sick". It holds three texts under three labels, each with a source line of its own.

The first label reads "Visiting the sick · 7×": the count is part of the label. The library cites this text to Abū Dāwūd and at-Tirmidhī and grades it ṣaḥīḥ. Its source line goes on with a sentence about healing. That sentence is shown with the card below and is not repeated here.

The second text is labelled "Ruqyah over the ill". The library cites it to al-Bukhārī and grades it ṣaḥīḥ, and the source line adds: "with al-Fātiḥah and the three sūrahs".

The third is labelled "For one's own pain". Its transliteration line prints "(3×)" after the opening word and "(7×)" after the words that follow. This page reports the two marks as the card prints them and adds nothing to them. The library cites this text to Muslim and grades it ṣaḥīḥ, and the source line adds: "hand on the place of pain".

03Illness & the sick
Visiting the sick · 7×
أَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ رَبَّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ أَنْ يَشْفِيَكَ
As’alullāhal-‘Aẓīma Rabbal-‘Arshil-‘Aẓīmi an yashfiyak
I ask Allah the Mighty, Lord of the Mighty Throne, to cure you.
Abū Dāwūd, Tirmidhī · ṣaḥīḥ — if his time has not come, he is healed.
Ruqyah over the ill
اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ النَّاسِ، مُذْهِبَ الْبَاسِ، اشْفِ أَنْتَ الشَّافِي، لَا شَافِيَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ
Allāhumma Rabban-nās, mudhhibal-bās, ishfi Antash-Shāfī, lā shāfiya illā Ant
O Allah, Lord of mankind, Remover of harm, cure — You are the Healer; there is no healer but You.
Bukhārī · ṣaḥīḥ — with al-Fātiḥah and the three sūrahs.
For one’s own pain
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ — أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ وَقُدْرَتِهِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا أَجِدُ وَأُحَاذِرُ
Bismillāh (3×) — A‘ūdhu billāhi wa qudratihī min sharri mā ajidu wa uḥādhir (7×)
I seek refuge in Allah and His power from the evil of what I feel and fear.
Muslim · ṣaḥīḥ — hand on the place of pain.
From Pocket Companion · Open the full title

The Du‘ā Compilation, the title behind Du‘ā by need, has no card headed for illness.

The table "What to read, and when"

The Qur’ān Companion, another set of the Pocket Companion, has a table headed "What to read, and when". Its row for illness reads: "al-Fātiḥah · the three sūrahs, with ruqyah". The table ends with a single source line, which names al-Bukhārī, Muslim, at-Tirmidhī and an-Nasā’ī and gives the grade ṣaḥīḥ.

03What to read, and when
Every night · Āyat al-Kursī · al-Mulk · the last two verses of al-Baqarah
Every morning & evening · al-Ikhlāṣ, al-Falaq, an-Nās — 3× each
Every Friday · Sūrah al-Kahf
After every farḍ · Āyat al-Kursī · the three sūrahs
Before sleep · The three sūrahs into the palms, wiped over the body 3×
Illness · al-Fātiḥah · the three sūrahs, with ruqyah
Bukhārī, Muslim, Tirmidhī, an-Nasā’ī · ṣaḥīḥ. Sūrah al-Wāqi‘ah against poverty is not established.
From Pocket Companion · Open the full title

The same title has a card headed The three sūrahs, which prints al-Ikhlāṣ, al-Falaq and an-Nās; al-Fātiḥah is in the Qur’ān reader. Neither the table's row for illness nor the "Illness & the sick" card says how these are recited over someone who is ill, or how many times. That is a question for a scholar.

The card "Rights owed"

Adab & Akhlāq, the library's title on manners and character, ends with a card headed "Rights owed". Its parts are labelled "Parents", "The neighbour" and "The road". Its last line begins "The Muslim upon the Muslim, six", and "visit him when ill" is one of the six it lists. The library cites that line to Muslim and grades it ṣaḥīḥ.

08Rights owed
Parents
Placed beside the worship of Allah Himself. Say to them no word of contempt, do not repel them, and lower to them the wing of humility. Their right stands whether they are believers or not, and continues after death through prayer for them and keeping their ties.
Q 17:23–24; Abū Dāwūd · ṣaḥīḥ
The neighbour
Jibrīl counselled him ﷺ concerning the neighbour until he thought he would make him an heir. He is not a believer whose neighbour is not safe from his harm. Send him from your cooking, and bear his inconvenience.
Bukhārī, Muslim · ṣaḥīḥ
The road
Lower the gaze. Remove what harms.
Return the greeting. Enjoin good, forbid wrong.
Guide the lost, and help the one who is struggling.
Bukhārī, Muslim · ṣaḥīḥ
The Muslim upon the Muslim, six: return his greeting, visit him when ill, follow his funeral, accept his invitation, reply to him when he sneezes, and advise him sincerely when he asks.
Muslim · ṣaḥīḥ
From Adab & Akhlāq · Open the full title

The card "The sick & the guest"

The card before it is headed "The sick & the guest". Its first part is labelled "Visiting the sick": it is on the manners of a visit, and a short du‘ā is printed beneath them.

That card is not shown on this page: the library's own checking has not settled a question about the English wording of another line on it. The card stands, as printed, in Adab & Akhlāq.

Where to go next

  • The Pocket Companion has the "Du‘ā for life events" set and the Qur’ān Companion, to read or to print as cards.
  • Adab & Akhlāq has the cards on manners and on rights owed.
  • The library's card headed "Medicine" is in Ḥalāl Consumables. It is not shown on this page: the library's own checking has not settled a question about a grading on that card.
  • Du‘ā for anxiety, distress and grief gathers the du‘ās the library files under distress, anxiety and grief.