3. Ruqyah doesn’t only emanate from Muhammad’s Sunnah

It’s a very simple statement, but it startles those with little understanding of Ruqyah.

To assume that because Islam is complete at the time of Muhammad (SAW), that he was therefore the master of all trades is incorrect. Yes, he was amazing in terms of building his Ummah. However, he approved many things which he didn’t specialise in.

For example, he promoted Hijama (cupping), however he never practiced it. So the origins of Hijama is not Islam. It was a pre-Islamic practice that has now been labelled as ‘Sunnah’ in the 21st Century, even though Muhammad (SAW) never practiced it, had nothing to do with the development of it, and simply benefited from having it done.

Jesus (AS) raised people from the dead, cured leprosy and did many other forms of healing. Compare that to the accomplishment of Muhammad’s (SAW) healing achievements. The most Muhammad (SAW) did was to get some evil out of a boy that caused epilepsy. The accomplishments of some of the Sahabah was more impressive than this. For example, one of the Sahabah used Al-Fatiha to cure poison from a snake.

Let’s put this into perspective. In today’s modern era, many Raqis claim to be able to cure or reduce epilepsy via Ruqyah. That’s nice. I myself have done the same thing, it’s not something that requires a high amount of skill in terms of Ruqyah. But no Raqi (that I’m aware of), including myself is able to claim that they know how to cure poison using Al-Fatiha. That in itself is proof that the Sahabah were better in Ruqyah than our beloved Prophet (SAW). Not only that, it also shows how that particular Sahabah had knowledge that supersedes Muhammad’s (SAW) knowledge in Ruqyah.

More so, how about the famous hadith in which the Prophet accepted Ruqyah from the days of pre-Islam? By de facto, this means that if you sincerely wish to understand Ruqyah in depth, you need to study Ruqyah from the days of pre-Islam and not just from the Sunnah of Muhammad (SAW). If the Prophet accepts it, then what right does anyone of the modern era have to forbid what the Prophet has allowed? What right does anyone have to reform Islam simply because he or she does not agree with the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)?

So there you have it. To be good at Ruqyah, you need to look into the days of pre-Islam. After all, Ruqyah came much earlier than Islam came. What may assist you in the journey is also the study of other Prophets and investigate how they accomplished healing. Jesus is an obvious choice. Dhul Kifli is a less obvious choice, but if you understand his work, then you’re really onto something.

Don’t be ashamed of being better than Muhammad (SAW) in the field of Ruqyah. Don’t be ashamed of introducing techniques in Ruqyah that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) never did. The Sahabah did not apologise for having knowledge greater than Muhammad (SAW) nor did they apologise for introducing innovation in the field of Ruqyah. In contrast, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) appreciated their efforts. But somehow today, a culture has developed that condemns new techniques in Ruqyah as ‘Bid’ah’ (innovation), even though the Prophet accepted and appreciated Bid’ah in Ruqyah.

What’s perplexing is that the Bid’ah of reading Quran and then blowing into water, in order to consume the ‘Ruqyah water’ is an acceptable Bid’ah (there’s no hadith pertaining to this practice). No-one has a problem with Ruqyah water. Yet other forms of Bid’ah are rejected. The hypocrisy needs to stop.