1. Knowledge of Ruqyah

We live in a time of instant knowledge. People demand instant knowledge, or a quick-course so they can act as the nobles, intellectuals and pioneers of society who specialise in a specific subject. With the demand for instant knowledge, naturally, comes the supply of simplified knowledge. The phrase of we follow “Quran and Sunnah” has therefore been abused and overused in the classes of Ruqyah.

This creates a domino-effect of a backward approach of gaining knowledge therefore it is not uncommon to hear a request asking for all the ‘Quran and Hadith’ pertaining to Ruqyah, assuming that once received and read a couple of times, it also assumes proficiency in the field of Ruqyah, hence defining the ‘consumer of knowledge’ capable of classifying right and wrong Ruqyah, effective and ineffective Ruqyah, permissible and impermissible Ruqyah, and so on.

The time has come to begin to understand what has caused the failures in the field of Ruqyah. The 2 concentrated areas of supposed Ruqyah knowledge; 1 in the Arab lands and the other in SE Asia, and its comparison to Ruqyah in the 7th Century and Ruqyah pre-Islam, need to be understood as the first stepping stones. After understanding the difference, only then can one begin to understand the introductory levels of Ruqyah.

Let’s take an example of what should be basic knowledge in the field of Ruqyah.

If one understands the difference of the spiritual build of a person, then one can begin to understand how certain spiritual builds are more stronger as an antagonist against certain negative beings in the spiritual world.

However, we live in a world where prevalent thoughts throughout the Muslim community do not allow an appreciation of the physical differences between a man and a woman in relation to the output of a Ruqyah session. Due to this lack of understanding of the physical differences and how they react against the spiritual composition of negative spiritual forces, how can one even begin to elevate their intellect to understand the different spiritual compositions of different human beings (regardless of gender) and how a factor of effectiveness is highly dependent on its interaction with the spiritual make up of each of the negative entities and forces?

As the above understanding is not appreciated, today, in this supposed glorious 21st Century, the arguments of how Ruqyah for women should be done by a woman and Ruqyah for men should be done by a man, still lingers. This holds back progression of Ruqyah by forcing Ruqyah into a religious dogma rather than the field of medicine it belongs in.

As a result, conventional medicine progresses. Ruqyah medicine regresses. The widening gap between the 2 disciplines allows for Ruqyah to be made mockery of, increasingly.

So how many times have we heard that Islam is a complete way of life and that Allah knows more about everything than anyone else? In fact, it’s common for Islamic activists to point out that for everything you do, there must be some form of evidence from Quran and Sunnah regardless of whether this is in the personal life or the public life.

Unfortunately, secularism has engulfed the prevalent thoughts throughout the Muslim Ummah. Therefore, reference to Allah’s laws are only reserved for some parts of life and not other parts. So in prayer and forms of Ibadah, it’s normal to refer to the Quran and the Hadith. In trade, it’s normal to refer to the Islamic way of not cheating in the marketplace (for example) and so on. In order to improve the society, you have to call for good things to happen in society as God’s justice must be in society.

However, when it comes to medicine, it is common for members of the Muslim Ummah (including the activists) to champion the need to go to the doctor as a first point of call if you’re ill. Ruqyah is often seen as the 2nd or even the last port of call i.e. if everything else fails, try Ruqyah! Common belief is that if someone has mental health problems, take them to the mental health clinic as they will know much more than the Raqi, as the Raqi hasn’t studied the secular education taught in secular institutions regarding the mind. So in conclusion, in the field of personal health, the secular Muslims state to leave the hand of God, and rather trust in the hand of a human being instead.

But the blame isn’t all on secularism. Of course, this above-described mentality partially exists because the field of Ruqyah and Islamic Medicine isn’t developed enough. For example, I don’t claim to be able to fully cure Schizophrenia, Bipolor Disorder, Depression or Multiple Scleroris with Ruqyah (although we’ve had good success in treating these ailments, we haven’t undergone rigorous trials yet), but that’s not due to the Quran not being able to cure it; that’s simply due to the field of Islamic healing being under-developed. If it was already proven that Ruqyah is capable of treating illnesses better than conventional medicine (or can act as a co-efficient to increase the power of conventional medicine), then it would squash the belief of secularism.

In summary, the reversal of Ruqyah decline needs to begin now. Research and Development is required now. Trials of Ruqyah need to occur in order to prove that Ruqyah works. The knowledge needs to be developed, the success needs to documented, and the skills needs to be taught worldwide.